The Ingredient Labels On Your Food?...

[K'riq Sa]

Now that I've become a "Conscious Eater" I read all the labels, on everything, before I buy or consume, and I study the percentage chart as well, and if I see something I don't know or have never heard of I look it up on the Internet (thank G-d for Wiki), luckily I only have to do it once.

So my Question(s) today is do you read the info on the packages of the food you consume? When do you read it? Do you read it before or after you buy it? Would you put the item back if you saw it contained some nefarious ingredient that you knew was bad?

When I go shopping now, for supplies for up here at the Cabin (my wife shops at home) I take my time, and leisurely shop, even though I have what I call, my Master List, most of the stuff I buy I already am familiar with, but any casual purchase, I immediately scan the label. You be shocked at the stuff you find, milk products in juices, formaldehyde agents, ect... Now it seems more and more I see others reading the labels, in the store as well. Just wondering about others...

opportunistically,

K'riq Sa

 

[RoJoHen]

The only thing I ever check is the Protein content. I'm not really concerned with the rest.

 

[Trekker4747]

Keep in mind that "stuff you can't even read" at the end of the ingredients list is usually preservatives, shelf-life extenders and the like make up tiny amounts of what you eat. Other things might be "chemical names" for various types of oils and fats, and then there's "high fructose corn syrup" which is, well, corn syrup which is a common replacement for sugar in most foods.

The ingredients label I wouldn't worry too much about. The only thing I'd avoid are any "partially hydrogenated" oils (transfats) and maybe looking for actual sugar instead of HFCS.

The various chemicals and additives are all non issues as they pretty much make up nothing in the product you are eating.

 

[K'riq Sa]

I am a recent convert to the whole "Conscious Eater" group so I am still amazed, when I look up some of the stuff, luckily, Wiki gives all the good, Bad , and Ugly and many times I see stuff that has been banned in other countries with Major consumer Lawsuits pending, with a pic of the Defendants enmasse headed toward the Courthouse with Pitchforks and Torches. Is this an ominous warning I should be worried about?

My Wife is not a Convert (yet), and she hates when I go shopping with her, she is forever snatching things out of my hands, throwing it back in the basket. And if do ask about things, like at the table, she will walk by and slap me in the back of the head and say, "Just shut up and eat! There are people in Fresno starving right now, so count yourself lucky that your even eating." Maybe she's right, the AMA, the FDA, and the big Agro-Conglomerates, would never allow any harm to come the general Public would they? I can trust them unconstitutionally, right, 47?


pendantly,
K'riq Sa

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Yes, I always read labels, except for products that I've bought recently and often enough that I know there's nothing problematic in them. I avoid trans fats and HFCS completely, limit sodium and saturated fats, and look for high fiber (and, while my body is still recovering from surgery, protein).

 

[RoJoHen]

I am a recent convert to the whole "Conscious Eater" group so I am still amazed, when I look up some of the stuff, luckily, Wiki gives all the good, Bad , and Ugly and many times I see stuff that has been banned in other countries with Major consumer Lawsuits pending, with a pic of the Defendants enmasse headed toward the Courthouse with Pitchforks and Torches. Is this an ominous warning I should be worried about?

My Wife is not a Convert (yet), and she hates when I go shopping with her, she is forever snatching things out of my hands, throwing it back in the basket. And if do ask about things, like at the table, she will walk by and slap me in the back of the head and say, "Just shut up and eat! There are people in Fresno starving right now, so count yourself lucky that your even eating." Maybe she's right, the AMA, the FDA, and the big Agro-Conglomerates, would never allow any harm to come the general Public would they? I can trust them unconstitutionally, right, 47?


pendantly,
K'riq Sa

I very rarely buy anything that is pre-packaged anyway, so it's really not an issue for me. I do all my cooking with fresh ingredients.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I rarely check the labels, unless I am looking for a specific ingredient. For example, I have a bad reaction to caffeine so I make sure it's not in any of the products I buy (you'd be surprised what they throw that stuff in). There are things I have been buying for many years, so I don't check them either because I already know what's in them, or I don't want to know! But normally, I just don't check. The thing is, I am a picky eater, and it takes me a long time to find a new recipe or product that I love. So once I find that, and I've perfected it to my liking, I am very reluctant to give it up or change it. Taste and price are the most important factors to me.

 

[Vulcan Princess]

I check all the labels because I'm a vegetarian and I'm sensitive to aluminum. It's crazy where aluminum shows up. (Baked goods, mostly. It's in some kinds of baking powder.)

 

[iguana_tonante]

I am a compulsive reader, so I always read all the labels. I mean, they are just there, being all readable and stuff! How could I resist?

 

[Tora Ziyal]

^ You couldn't! Neither could I.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

I normally don't care what's in the ingredients. I may give them a cursory glance, but nothing more than that, really.

 

[scotpens]

I seldom, if ever, read ingredients labels. I eat what I like. As far as I'm concerned, if it contains proteins, carbohydrates and/or lipids that my body can assimilate, it's food.

If I find myself putting on too much weight, I just eat less of everything.

. . . The ingredients label I wouldn't worry too much about. The only thing I'd avoid are any "partially hydrogenated" oils (transfats) and maybe looking for actual sugar instead of HFCS.

What's all the fuss over high-fructose corn syrup? It's just another form of sugar. It all eventually gets broken down into glucose in your body anyway, so what's the big deal?

. . . My Wife is not a Convert (yet), and she hates when I go shopping with her, she is forever snatching things out of my hands, throwing it back in the basket. And if do ask about things, like at the table, she will walk by and slap me in the back of the head and say, "Just shut up and eat! There are people in Fresno starving right now, so count yourself lucky that your even eating."

I thought parents told their kids they should be grateful for their food because children in Asia or Africa were starving. Fresno?? Man, things are worse than I thought!

 

[K'riq Sa]

I seldom, if ever, read ingredients labels. I eat what I like. As far as I'm concerned, if it contains proteins, carbohydrates and/or lipids that my body can assimilate, it's food.

If I find myself putting on too much weight, I just eat less of everything.

. . . The ingredients label I wouldn't worry too much about. The only thing I'd avoid are any "partially hydrogenated" oils (transfats) and maybe looking for actual sugar instead of HFCS.

What's all the fuss over high-fructose corn syrup? It's just another form of sugar. It all eventually gets broken down into glucose in your body anyway, so what's the big deal?

. . . My Wife is not a Convert (yet), and she hates when I go shopping with her, she is forever snatching things out of my hands, throwing it back in the basket. And if do ask about things, like at the table, she will walk by and slap me in the back of the head and say, "Just shut up and eat! There are people in Fresno starving right now, so count yourself lucky that your even eating."

I thought parents told their kids they should be grateful for their food because children in Asia or Africa were starving. Fresno?? Man, things are worse than I thought!

Well it appears according to research, if you are ingesting HFCS, even if you cut your food intake you still get fat, well at least the rats did...

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/

haphazardly,

K'riq Sa

 

[K'riq Sa]

Strangely enough, the FDA after an exhaustive 4 year study they found no problems at all concerning HFCS, and gave it another clean bill of health, on the other hand after only a few months of study, by an independent study done at Princeton they found alarming contridictions to the FDAs study...

Go figure...

parapsychodogicaly,
K'riq Sa

 

[Trekker4747]

My understanding is that HFCS isn't quite recognized by your body as being a true sugar, which suppresses a hormone in your body that tells you when you're full.

 

[OmahaStar]

I'm looking for carbs and sodium ... low in both is good. Unless it's fish. Then it's yucky.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I am a compulsive reader, so I always read all the labels. I mean, they are just there, being all readable and stuff! How could I resist?

You couldn't! Neither could I.

To properly reflect my interest in the written word more than in the carb content of my pizza, I voted both "I always read labels" and "meh, I don't care".

 

[MLJames]

I tend to buy the same things most of the time. Since I know what's in them, I rarely check the labels on my regular purchases. The only times I really pay attention to the labels are when I'm making something for a family get-together. One of my relatives is allergic to artificial food dyes, with varying degrees of severity depending on the color. It was a real eye-opener to find out just how many foods use them, even on ones you wouldn't expect; for example, it never occurred to me that pickles would be loaded with food coloring.

 

[scotpens]

Well it appears according to research, if you are ingesting HFCS, even if you cut your food intake you still get fat, well at least the rats did...

Good thing I’m not a rat, then.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

I am a compulsive reader, so I always read all the labels. I mean, they are just there, being all readable and stuff! How could I resist?

You couldn't! Neither could I.

To properly reflect my interest in the written word more than in the carb content of my pizza, I voted both "I always read labels" and "meh, I don't care".

I didn't know one could vote twice. Learn something new every day.