One of the things that I have noticed over the last several years is a demand for "transparency." This demand comes from "We the people" and, specifically for this post, its directed at the food industry. Now why are the People asking for transparency from the food industry? I have three letters for you GMO. Say whaaa? GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. What is that specifically?
"A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified using recombinant DNA methods (also called gene splicing), gene modification or transgenic technology. This relatively new science creates unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods." (Non-GMO Project)
To make that easier to understand: Take the gene for spider silk (from a spider), and insert it into the DNA of a goat. Sounds totally Outer limits or twilight zone, but YES they have done this, and I want to say this is an extreme version of what a GMO is.
Now there is LOTS of concern over GMO crops and the use of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. These plants have been designed to have no response to, most of, these chemicals (the most notable one is glysophate, or in laymen's terms Round up) or in the case of Bt-Corn, to make their own toxin.
Now I can see you scratching your head and asking yourself, why does this matter? It matters because of the potential impact on the environment and our overall physical health. In the United States GMO crops have been around for about 20 years, and no one really knew anything about them. Hell, most people didn't even know they existed till a few years ago. In my own state, we voted on whether or not companies needed to label products that included GMO derived ingredients, and unfortunately it was voted against. And despite being voted against, some companies are taking the high road and labeling their products that do have GMO ingredients. Now let me tell you which crops in the United States we have that are GMO and are produced commercially, and the most common, are: Soybean, Canola, Sugar Beet, Corn and Cotton. There are 9 main groups and if you include all the different varieties and cultivars, there are actually 60 in all.
Now the main reason I started with this information is because consumers have become more interested in what is now going into the products they are buying and, because of this, it has made companies shift their labeling practices and change what ingredients they are using in their products.
Now to get to the ooey gooey center of this whole thing: Consumer Products! I purchased two items from the same company (I have ZERO affiliation with any of these companies) and wanted to do a side by side look at the different ingredients each of them have. I did something similar with cake frosting and homemade frosting some time back, but this time I'm lookin at instant pudding! The reason why I am looking at the "same" item, both from the same company, is to highlight the exact shift in labeling and ingredients I mentioned above. Now lets get this dog and pony show started!
When you read an ingredient list, whatever is first in the list is what makes up the vast majority of the product (by weight), each ingredient after that is a smaller and smaller amount (by weight).
Pudding A:
Now the main reason I started with this information is because consumers have become more interested in what is now going into the products they are buying and, because of this, it has made companies shift their labeling practices and change what ingredients they are using in their products.
Now to get to the ooey gooey center of this whole thing: Consumer Products! I purchased two items from the same company (I have ZERO affiliation with any of these companies) and wanted to do a side by side look at the different ingredients each of them have. I did something similar with cake frosting and homemade frosting some time back, but this time I'm lookin at instant pudding! The reason why I am looking at the "same" item, both from the same company, is to highlight the exact shift in labeling and ingredients I mentioned above. Now lets get this dog and pony show started!
When you read an ingredient list, whatever is first in the list is what makes up the vast majority of the product (by weight), each ingredient after that is a smaller and smaller amount (by weight).
Pudding A:
Sugar: Refined sugar, most likely from GMO sugar beets.
Modified cornstarch: Chemically treated cornstarch to maintain texture in some foods
Natural Flavor: Must be found in nature and provide flavor to the product but not actually add to the nutritional value of the item
Artificial Flavor: Synthetic chemicals mixed together to create a specific flavor profile.
Salt: "A crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc
Disodium Phosphate: "used to enhance food characteristics including nutritional value and cooking performance"
Tetrasodium Phosphate: Inorganic chemical phosphate sometimes used as a leavening agent.
Monoglycerides: Emulsifying agent used to extern the shelf life of a product.
Diglycerides: Emulsifying agent used to extern the shelf life of a product.
Artificial color: "A combination of the 7 approved artificial food dyes"
Yellow 5: AKA tartrazine; it is a yellow dye produced from petroleum and has been deemed safe by the FDA in food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Yellow 6: A Coal Tar derived dye that ranges in color from yellow to orange and even red.
BHA: Butylated hydroxyanisole, a compound that is added to preserve fats.
Grand total: 13 Ingredients
Package Weight: 3.4oz
Cost: $0.97
Pudding B:
Cane Sugar: Juice extracted from Sugarcane then spun to form sugar crystals.
Modified Cornstarch: Chemically treated cornstarch to maintain texture in some foods.
Disodium Phosphate: "used to enhance food characteristics including nutritional value and cooking performance"
Tetrasodium Phosphate: Inorganic chemical phosphate sometimes used as a leavening agent.
Salt: namely Sodium chloride, a crystalline mineral compound added to enhance flavor
Natural Flavor: Must be found in nature and provide flavor to the product but not actually add to the nutritional value of the item
Diglycerides: Emulsifying agent used to extern the shelf life of a product.
Vanilla Beans: are the seed pods from the Flat leafed vanilla orchid, but can come from any of the vanilla orchid verities.
Annatto (for coloring): "Annatto is the seed or extract from the achiote tree, which is indigenous to Latin and South America. Annatto is used heavily in Central and South America as a dye, medicine, and as an ingredient in many foods."
Grand total: 10 ingredients
Package weight: 3.4oz
Cost: $1.59
Both products weigh the same, and make the same amount.
Pudding A:
62 cents cheaper
Cardboard box Packaging (recyclable)
Inner paper pouch (recyclable)
Pudding B:
More expensive
Plastic pouch packaging (Downcyclable)
Just based on ingredients Pudding B wins.
Here are the links!
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