Ingredient Lists

Navigating Nourishment Podcast

Sometimes ingredient lists have words we can't pronounce or understand. But what are these ingredients? Are they safe? How are we supposed to know? In this podcast, we'll explain what some of those ingredients mean and whether or not to put that package down! Transcribed Podcast, Ingredient Lists Edited for clarity. Wendy: We’re so glad you joined us on the podcast today we're going to be talking about icky stuff in our foods. Debbie: That’s a good way to put it. Yeah, food additives and stuff that’s in packaged and processed foods that we all eat. Wendy: There are so many things in packaged foods, so we’re going to start out with a lesson, right? The take-home message is that we need to look at ingredients labels. Debbie: Right. If you're going to eat packaged and processed foods, which we all do. It’s practical and it’s realistic. But please, before your buy it, take it off the shelf look at the ingredient list. That’s a habit. And it’s one that you can get used to doing. I didn’t used to do it but now I don't even think twice. It's like the first thing I do when I grab a box is that I look at it. Wendy: And there are trusted stores out there that we go to that we might just grab something in the package because we think that they’ve already done their due diligence and we take it home or halfway through eating it and it's sitting on the table, we're like, “ohhh!” Debbie: That’s happened to me! Wendy: “Yeah, I wish I hadn't had that.” So we live it and breathe it and we still do it. Debbie: So, no matter what is it, whether you trust the brand or not, look at the ingredients list. Wendy: Yeah because brands get gobbled up by other brands. Things change. So, there are more than 10,000 additives allowed in our food in the United States. Debbie: And that means “allowed,” meaning they're legal. Meaning the United States doesn't say, “no these cannot be in our foods, they’re OK, they’re OK to be here. Wendy: So, the United States does not have the same qualifications, restrictions, protection really, as many of the European countries. You notice it in your Beautycounter stuff for things we use on our faces. And I see in the Young Living stuff too. Debbie: A lot of ingredients aren’t governed in food, in beauty products, and the government is not doing its job. It’s not doing its due diligence to protect us to keep us safe that way. Wendy: One of the greatest resources that we have that we want to share with you is the Environmental Working Group and they have a food score database. Debbie: It’s really cool. You can just type in any product and it comes up with a score, one through ten--ten not being good. Wendy: That’s right. You want to stay away from 7,8,9, and 10. Right? Debbie: Right. Wendy: Right? Yeah, maybe even 6’s. Debbie: Yeah, I would try to always stay below, five or below. But they give reasons why a food is a 7 or an 8 or 9. You might be surprised by doing that. You just go to Google and type in “EWG’s food scores database” and you’ll find it where you can type in any kinds of foods and get your score. So the government uses the classification system called “GRAS”--generally recognized as safe. And they use that for the additives that are put into our foods. And so they assume that these foods or these additives are safe--they’re generally recognized as safe, and they're not required to undergo any pre-market testing. And they can use it for such benign things as salt and pepper, but it's also used in other chemicals that are not from the earth and are really damaging to us. Having that GRAS status is really not something that is, to us, safe. We don't think of it as safe, so some people might look at that and be like, “oh, well, this food is fine, it’s GRAS.” Wendy: But not necessarily. Debbie: Right. Because, look at some of the ones that we have on our list that are considered GRAS, and they're not safe.