oh look, there's no post here
I've had so much stuff scheduled, I forgot to check and see if there was something scheduled for today. Well there wasn't and there is nothing scheduled for the rest of the week either.
Guess I'll be busier this afternoon than originally planned.
Oops.
Well, here's something I heard on TV last night.
I wasn't paying attention, because that's how I watch TV, so I don't have the full story, but Today Tonight was on Channel 7 and there was a woman exposing something about the false advertising on "health" foods.
Something about multigrain bread being just white bread with a few grains thrown in, if you want a better option buy wholewheat multigrain or something. I eat plain white bread and yes, I know it isn't good for me, but that's what my teeth can handle, so that's what I eat.
Then she said something about items containing fruit, apparently it isn't always real fruit that you are getting but a fruit flavoured paste. Like those special K snack bars I recently tried and liked.
Most of this I already knew because I read labels pretty carefully, checking the numbers for the ones I'm allergic to. (so I knew those bars had fruit flavoured paste, but they're not a part of my daily diet)
What she said next made me listen a little more closely. Foods that are "high in fibre", foods that have extra fibre added, blah, blah....apparently, according to this lady, all that extra fibre is filler made from.......wait for it.......wood pulp.
WOOD PULP.
If you see number 460 listed in the ingredients panel, you're getting wood pulp as the fibre content.
Now I don't know about you, but if I'm eating cereal, I want it to be grains, not somebody's ground up pine tree. Or whatever waste wood they are using. This is probably a by-product from paper and cardboard manufacture. At least that's my thinking, my opinion. Not that I do much thinking.
Remember an advertisement from a few years ago where somebody was sampling a "healthy" food and said "mmm, cardboardy". Wait a minute, that was actually "Xander" in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, eating a "health bar".
Remember all those ads that claim "this cereal is so tasteless you might as well be eating the box"?
Maybe now we know why!
Maybe half the content is made of cardboard! Mmm, fibrousy goodness. Ha Ha.
Don't quote me on this, remember I wasn't paying close attention, I was buried pretty deeply in the book I was reading.
Do a little label reading, do some research, call or email the companies about any concerns you may have.
Unless it doesn't bother you.
After all, wood pulp is fibre, so essentially you are getting what the wording on the packet claims.
High in fibre.
Guess I'll be busier this afternoon than originally planned.
Oops.
Well, here's something I heard on TV last night.
I wasn't paying attention, because that's how I watch TV, so I don't have the full story, but Today Tonight was on Channel 7 and there was a woman exposing something about the false advertising on "health" foods.
Something about multigrain bread being just white bread with a few grains thrown in, if you want a better option buy wholewheat multigrain or something. I eat plain white bread and yes, I know it isn't good for me, but that's what my teeth can handle, so that's what I eat.
Then she said something about items containing fruit, apparently it isn't always real fruit that you are getting but a fruit flavoured paste. Like those special K snack bars I recently tried and liked.
Most of this I already knew because I read labels pretty carefully, checking the numbers for the ones I'm allergic to. (so I knew those bars had fruit flavoured paste, but they're not a part of my daily diet)
What she said next made me listen a little more closely. Foods that are "high in fibre", foods that have extra fibre added, blah, blah....apparently, according to this lady, all that extra fibre is filler made from.......wait for it.......wood pulp.
WOOD PULP.
If you see number 460 listed in the ingredients panel, you're getting wood pulp as the fibre content.
Now I don't know about you, but if I'm eating cereal, I want it to be grains, not somebody's ground up pine tree. Or whatever waste wood they are using. This is probably a by-product from paper and cardboard manufacture. At least that's my thinking, my opinion. Not that I do much thinking.
Remember an advertisement from a few years ago where somebody was sampling a "healthy" food and said "mmm, cardboardy". Wait a minute, that was actually "Xander" in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, eating a "health bar".
Remember all those ads that claim "this cereal is so tasteless you might as well be eating the box"?
Maybe now we know why!
Maybe half the content is made of cardboard! Mmm, fibrousy goodness. Ha Ha.
Don't quote me on this, remember I wasn't paying close attention, I was buried pretty deeply in the book I was reading.
Do a little label reading, do some research, call or email the companies about any concerns you may have.
Unless it doesn't bother you.
After all, wood pulp is fibre, so essentially you are getting what the wording on the packet claims.
High in fibre.
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I just cooked some lamb sausages and all I tasted was nothing, I 'm pretty sure they were made of cardboard, they were from Woolworths so back to the butchers for me.
ReplyDeleteMerle...............
The lady on the TV knew whereof she spoke. Just reading labels is enough for me. Divide grams of sugar by 4 = number of teaspoons of sugar in a serving. A day's worth of salt in a single serving. And so on. Something is wrong.
ReplyDeleteNone of that surprises me one little bit. We use multi-grain bread and they are definitely some type of grain in there.
ReplyDeleteThere's of course the old joke about raspberry jam....takes ages to make the pips!!
I doubt we are told the truth about what we eat very often but then again should we believe what we hear either.
We don't watch Today Tonight very often, but we've heard some tall tales on there at times and often feel we'd like a second opinion. i.e. a medical breakthrough that will be a sure cure for ........ and should be available to the public in 20 years. Then you never hear of it again.
Helpful people try to hand me bread that says "Wheat" on it when I said the "100% Whole grain wheat" loaf. They are often baffled as to why I reject the first. "I just thought wheat was whole wheat." They just don't get it and I cannot educate everyone.
ReplyDeleteForty-years ago, I taught my children to read labels. We were mostly looking for sugar then. Unfortunately, most people read labels without knowing what they are actually reading.
High in fibre? So, I've been "barking" up the wrong tree :)
ReplyDeleteThe wood pulp, or cellulose, is a "texturiser" or filler which bulks up so many pre-packaged and processed foods. Most have some sort of "agents" or fillers in them.
You're very right to be better informed and find out exactly what is on the labels.
It's then our choice whether to ingest them, or not.
Merle; that's because they kill the lambs too soon, they've had no chance for the meat to develop flavour. Hogget is a much better buy if you can get it. That is older lamb, just a month or so short of being mutton. They don't use hogget for making sausages though.
ReplyDeleteJoanne; and they wonder why the world is in an obesity crisis. I knew about the sugar and salt.
Mimsie; I'd like to eat multi-grain breads but all those grains get stuck in my teeth which are already sore enough. Raspberry pips give me the pip! I love the flavour of raspberry jam and years ago I used to heat it and strain it to get the pips out. now I eat apricot jam instead.
I agree that what we hear on shows like Today tonight and A Current Affair needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Those shows are largely sensationalised just like the tabloid newspapers that used to be available on weekends. but they do get you thinking a bit about manufacturers methods and those who are concerned enough will start checking up on how and where things are produced.
Practical Parsimony; "they just don't get it" and that's the sad part. they don't understand or aren't taught the difference and if they are salespeople, they should know exactly what they are selling.
I've been reading labels for years as I have a few allergies, nothing serious, but I'd like to avoid those numbers where I possibly can. The trouble with sugars is there are so many different forms.
Vicki; :) :)
I've known for a long time that most things have some sort of fillers, but I never thought of wood pulp. Usually there is some sort of thickening agent in most canned foods especially soups, ever noticed how the consistency is the same in all of them? I make my own soups, so that isn't a problem for me, but things like baked beans, canned spaghetti (yuk!) etc either have so much filler the "sauce" is almost jelly or so little it is watery and tasteless.
That 460 and wood pulp is really scary.
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering why leaves have been growing on my limbs!
ReplyDeleteHaddock; I don't think anyone will die from it, it has been used for years, it was a surprise to find out what 460 really is though.
ReplyDeleteLee; you're a tree spirit!! :)