Ingredient Label Surprises
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ceciliaslater
Posts: 457 Member
I was at my parents' house over the weekend and looking for something quick and easy for a snack. I saw a jar of peanut butter--it's the cheap/generic stuff--so I picked it up and looked at the label. I was not the least bit surprised to see corn syrup on there. Regular peanut butter always has either corn syrup or sugar. What did surprise me was a tad farther down the ingredients list: molasses! Really?! Molasses?! Why??? Needless to say, I kept on searching.
What items have you found to have surprising ingredients?
What items have you found to have surprising ingredients?
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Ya, seems like sugar or soy are in every damn thing.0
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Ya, seems like sugar or soy are in every damn thing.
I can't believe all the stuff soy is used in. Nearly every label has it listed somewhere. There was a conversation a couple days ago about twizzlers, I know none of us eat those frequently, if at all, but my sister used to eat a bag a day, then she had to go gluten free, I was stunned to find the second ingredient after corn syrup is wheat flour.
Truly shows how little attention I paid to this stuff before this woe.0 -
MSG is in a ton of things, too, including bouillon cubes.0
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I grew up on Jif creamy peanut butter (with the sugars and all). I remember when they first came out with Reeses Peanut Butter and I found molasses on the label. It actually gives it a wonderfully different flavour and also a touch of iron. I would thereafter seek out peanut butter with molasses in it.
I can't remember when, but at some point, I started buying natural peanut butter. I was scared of it at first because it looked all gross and separated in the jar. Nobody ever taught me how to prepare it for use. I finally discovered that you could turn it upside down on the counter for a while then mix it up with a knife or spoon, and put it into the freezer to help solidify it in its mixed state. That same process works for almond butter, too, which I had started having sometimes instead...and now I actually prefer plain almond butter over any other nut butters.
Of course now I rarely eat any nut butter because my carbs are SO low, but when I do, I have the almond or macadamia nut butter. Mac nut butter pretty much ONLY comes in "natural" separated state.
Fun times.
MSG...oh man yes.
Pick up a bag of flavoured pork rinds / chicharrones. Read ingredients. Weep, and grab the plain bag instead with a dish of Daisy sour cream.
-T.
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We don't have sugar in peanut butter in New Zealand, so it always surprises me to hear it does overseas.0
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I'm a celiac so automatically a good 80% of processed foods aren't safe for me or my family. I get annoyed when it says "May contain gluten" on nuts though. Ugh. It's in many sausages, sauces (soy or worchestershire), beef jerky... Why does beef jerky need gluten?!
It does make the cereal aisle easy though. There is only GF Rice Chex or the "healthy" flax/chia type cereals.... My boys don't even bother asking anymore. LOL0 -
I blend the oil back into nut butters using a hand mixer--scrape it into a bowl, mix it up, then pour it back into the jar and refrigerate. I don't have the patience for hand stirring it, and some brands are definitely more challenging to hand stir than others.
The gluten in the beef jerky has to come from the worchestershire in the marinade (and/or soy sauce). Hard to find jerky without one or both, as they're a huge part of the flavor profile.0 -
I was complaining about the company Hampton Creek showing an EGG in their logo..so eco groovy a mayo..but there is NO EGG..and they are being sued for the marketing sneakiness by Hellmans.
I KNOW most mayo is not real anymore, they all have soybean oil....and dont buy it. It is what it is ..so I am free to choose.
But to IMPLY/INFER your product is so healthy, etc..and it be a marketing lie really ticked me off.. I complained to them, and tell everyone. ..boycot if you like. My HFS stopped selling it. ( oh and the tricky part?..they don't SHOW a real egg..the label has a die cut "egg shape" in the plain brown wrapper label..to indicate 'goodness and eco healthy, we're anon commercial" Mayo..which is even worse in my book.
http://time.com/money/3578338/just-mayo-hellmanns-mayonnaise-lawsuit/
REPLY: Helen Cox <wecare@hamptoncreek.com>
Thanks for the feedback , So sorry if something was misleading, definitely not the intent. << really? why not square shape then?
Twizzlers- licorice..so disappoiting. NO real licorice in any of it..all wheat and HFCS and junk dyes.0 -
We don't have sugar in peanut butter in New Zealand, so it always surprises me to hear it does overseas.
Hi Nzer!
I live in chch and there is sugar in lot of the peanut butters here in NZ. You have to read the labels all the time. At the moment I have a jar of Pics peanut butter, it is delish. no sugar.0 -
ceciliaslater wrote: »I was at my parents' house over the weekend and looking for something quick and easy for a snack. I saw a jar of peanut butter--it's the cheap/generic stuff--so I picked it up and looked at the label. I was not the least bit surprised to see corn syrup on there. Regular peanut butter always has either corn syrup or sugar. What did surprise me was a tad farther down the ingredients list: molasses! Really?! Molasses?! Why??? Needless to say, I kept on searching.
What items have you found to have surprising ingredients?
My sweet son got me some "natural! No sugar added!" PB the other day. I sure love him. But... Sweetened with honey. Lol. Well, he likes it anyway.
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Oh yeah, Kraft Mayo "with olive oil" and pictures of olives on it contains mostly soybean oil with a dash of olive oil in it.0
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We got snowed in several years ago at a friend's house. When my then-4 year old daughter requested a snack of banana and peanut butter I warned her that it wasn't the peanut butter she's used to (she never tried anything other than natural). She tasted one bite and made a disgusted face and refused to eat it lol.0
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Queenmunchy wrote: »We got snowed in several years ago at a friend's house. When my then-4 year old daughter requested a snack of banana and peanut butter I warned her that it wasn't the peanut butter she's used to (she never tried anything other than natural). She tasted one bite and made a disgusted face and refused to eat it lol.
That is awesome!0 -
ceciliaslater wrote: »I blend the oil back into nut butters using a hand mixer--scrape it into a bowl, mix it up, then pour it back into the jar and refrigerate. I don't have the patience for hand stirring it, and some brands are definitely more challenging to hand stir than others.
This is genius!0 -
How do you make Mayo without egg??? I'm befuddled.0
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We don't have sugar in peanut butter in New Zealand, so it always surprises me to hear it does overseas.
Hi Nzer!
I live in chch and there is sugar in lot of the peanut butters here in NZ. You have to read the labels all the time. At the moment I have a jar of Pics peanut butter, it is delish. no sugar.
I don't eat the stuff, it's gross, but never seen anything other than nuts and oil as an ingredient? I think I have pams and eta in the cupboard for the kids.
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@annalisbeth74 - I tried a new method for the peanut butter yesterday. Just use one beater on the hand mixer instead of two, and it fits in the jar perfectly. So, no need for the bowl and scraping at all! Just make sure you start out on super low speed or oil goes everywhere. Thank god I have dogs to clean my floors. lol0
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My natural pb says to refrigerate. Is it necessary?0
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How do you make Mayo without egg??? I'm befuddled.
Ingredients list pea protein and modified food starch, so that must contribute to emulsification.
For homemade eggless mayo without all the other garbage, you can get *kinda* close using flaxseed: http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/2013/10/27/egg-less-homemade-mayo/0 -
