Hello All,
What does the title of my blog today have to do with food? Well, let me take a moment to explain. When shopping for food, (or any pre-packaged item for that matter) one should read the label. For food items, the largest quantities are at the beginning of the ingredients list. Say for instance you're buying cookies, flour is the first ingredient (usually enriched flour, meaning wheat/white flour with other things added to enrich the shelf life of the product) then other things you may or may not be able to pronounce, vitamins, sugar, oils etc. Let's look at Quaker oats (not the instant)- these contain "natural whole grain Quaker quality rolled oats", no additives, fillers, or sugars.
I decided to bring you this topic because the other day I was in the store to get some sweetened condensed milk which is what I sweeten my coffee with. Because I like my coffee with milk or cream and sugar I found that this was a good way for me to lighten and sweeten my coffee both at the same time. Cutting down on my sugar intake, and the flatulence that occurs when I eat certain dairy products (as I'm lactose intolerant and some dairy products also contain carrageenan which is a thickener). So as I proceeded down the aisle there were some cans of sweetened condensed milk on sale. And I thought okay, I can save a bit by purchasing this brand instead of my regular brand. Fortunately for me, I decided to put on my glasses and read the label. There was oil in that brand of milk! Now for the life of me I can't figure out why there was oil in something that should only be milk and sugar. Needless to say I was mortified!!! LOL.
Anyway, once I got the right brand of milk and left the store, I reflected on the importance of reading the label of everything I/we buy to make sure that we know what we're putting into our bodies.
Another thing I've been noticing is that a simple box of shortbread cookies is just about $5. For those of you who are challenged in the culinary arts the cost is not prohibitive, but for me, I was aghast at how much it cost for one box with two stacks of cookies. Needless to say I did not buy them, I ate an apple instead.
So, all this to say take the time to read the labels of the items you want to purchase. I've found that a lot of products list their ingredients on their websites. I think this is an excellent practice because it allows you, the consumer to do a bit of research before you buy to make sure that you're eating as healthy as you can. One of my professors has an expression you may not get at first, but think about it, and it will make sense to you - he would say "more than enough is not better than enough".
Take a moment when you're shopping to read the label, pull out your smart phone and do a bit of research and make sure you're getting not only the best for your money, but ingredients that will not cause you or the environment undue harm over time.
Simply sharing, as always with love,
J
