Leave those preservative-laden ”100 calorie packs” on the shelves and pick up some scrumptious Indigo Rabbit cookies so your kids get the taste they want and the nutrition they need to make the most of their school day.

If you’ve got college students in your brood, send along a care package they’ll LOVE filled with their favorite varieties of Indigo Rabbit cookies!  They AND their roommates will be the hit of the dorm.

NO high fructose corn syrup

NO hydrogenated oils

NOTHING artificial

You can PRONOUNCE every item in the ingredient list

Make sure you try every delicious flavor

Heavenly Chocolate Pillows, Seriously Cinnamon Almond, Gingerlicious, Luscious Lemon Chewies, Perfectly Peanut Butter

In a section discussing artificial flavorings, the authors list ingredients needed to concoct a typical at-home strawberry milk shake – “ice, cream, strawberries, sugar, and a touch of vanilla”. 

I get that.

They then print the ingredients found in a typical fast-food strawberry milk shake – “milkfat and nonfat milk, sugar, sweet whey, high fructose corn syrup, guar gum, mono- and diglycerides, cellulose gum, sodium phosphate, carageenan, citric acid, red food coloring #40, and artificial strawberry flavor”. 

Hmmmm.

The FDA permits the use of that phrase – “artificial strawberry flavor”.  This, however, is what that additive really contains – here goes:

“amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, diporpyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hyroxyphrenyl-2-butanone (10% solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, y-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh?

“Chew On This”, by Eric Scholosser and Charles Wilson, is the book by my daughter’s bed right now.  It documents the inception, growth, mass production practices, and health realities of a part of our world we all take for granted – fast food.

I will, on occasion in this blog, point out some of the more poignant (read heartrending) particulars that I end up not being able to pry out of my head.

Here are just a few morsels from the inside flap.  Did you know that…

1) “Americans now spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, and recorded music – combined”?

2) “A child of ten who is diagnosed with Type II diabetes can expect to lose seventeen to twenty-six years of his or her life”?

3) “The Golden Arches are now more widely recognized than the Christian cross”?

Are you kidding???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a conversation the other morning with a group of women I hold in very high regard.  They are a compassionate, ambitious, and discerning group and they had an excellent point to make.

These women have been eager to learn more and more about decoding nutrition labels and making healthful decisions about the foods they bring into their homes.  They described recent shopping visits (now as avid label reading consumers) as empowering, eye-opening, disheartening, sometimes disgusting, and, in the end, totally depressing.  They were, it seemed, dismayed that so many of their favorite foods were downright harmful to their health.  The chant – “Ignorance is Bliss”.

Once you know what to look for – the rotten stuff on food labels – and you can’t  pretend you don’t see it, there’s no turning back.  It’s just like being a committed recycler and then visiting a location that doesn’t facilitate recycling of your morning paper.  You can’t simply throw it in the trash.  You’re tempted to put it in your suitcase and cart it back to your hometown for proper disposal!

Food label reading is the same thing.  Now that the high fructose corn syrup, the hydrogenated oils and trans fats alerts are in your head, you simply can’t shake them out.

The reality is – for the new label reader, it does get easier.  Grocery shopping becomes an adventure, an expedition perhaps?  My kids get a kick out of correcting  me and/or my husband when we inadvertently place a “non-okay” (kiddo term) item in the cart during a shopping excursion.  Taking charge over what we CHOOSE to take in can make you feel refreshingly capable, no matter what your age.

Now, beneath the Total Fat line, the label will further detail the number of grams of Saturated Fats, Unsaturated Fats, and Trans Fats. 

Saturated Fats come from high fat animal products, such as cheese, whole milk, butter, fatty meats, lard etc.  Avoid Saturated Fats as these can lead to high blood cholesterol and heart disease.

Unsaturated (mono- and poly-) Fats are found in vegetable oils, olives, most nuts, avocados, and fatty fish.  These fats are good for your body in moderation as they are necessary for gland health, brain cell function and digestion.

Trans Fats are found in Hydrogenated Oils, and you know how I feel about those – see entry dated 04/03/09.

Hydrogenated oils (trans fats) are created in an industrial process engineered to extend a food product’s shelf-life.  Consumption has been linked to heart disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes, arthritis and MS.  Be aware that regulations for food claims on the front of a package are very loose, and a package might claim 0% trans fat but actually contain up to 2 grams of trans fats per serving. 

If you see hydrogenated oils in an ingredient list, put the product back on the shelf.