I rarely use my blog to wax poetic about various causes as you all probably know. I’m just not that deep. But there are a few causes that I will advocate for:
- BPA in bottles and other household products. And shame on you Sigg!
- Excessive swag
- Trying to be frugal (Which is impossible to be, by the way, when pregnant as I need to consume whatever food I want at whatever time and whatever the cost.)
And…
- High Fructose Corn Syrup in our products (No blog post, but it doesn’t mean I don’t care.)
Since Liz first posted about HFCS in our food, the dangers of HFCS and the brands that were doing things to eradicate it from their products, I’ve been vigilant about checking labels and weaning out HFCS from our home. (The candy Dots aside, because, hey, I’m pregnant and not perfect.)
I thought I had been doing a good job until recently, when I went to eat my high fiber breakfast of champions (remember the anemia-induced digestive problems?) – presented by Kelloggs Raisin Bran and Frosted Mini Wheats – only to find that they both have HFCS in them. So does Post Raisin Bran. (Yes, I like sugar cereal).
I was so pissed. As Liz points out in her post two days ago, marketers and big name brands like Kraft and Pepsi have responded to consumer demand and have taken the HFCS out of their big name products. We’re making progress.
But, as with all major movements, we still have a ways to go to get more big brand names on the anti-HFCS bandwagon. And g-ddammit, I need my fiber, so please, Kelloggs and Post, please step on it?!
P.S. next on my activist watch, endocrine disrupting chemicals… watch for my interview with Dr. Karp in next month’s Babble. You won’t want to get your nails done ever again.
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On one hand I’m pissed. On the other hand, how do I have the right to be? It’s a supply-demand issue and when consumers as a whole start demanding healthier alternatives, they will come.
Good for you for doing your part. And zomg I saw these JUMBO candy dots at the Fancy Food show this year. I have to find them for you. They were amazing! Even the Martha Stewart editor in the booth with me was flipping out.
Have you tried ground flax seed? It’s a great source of fiber — it also has omega 3’s, which are great to add to your diet while you are pregnant or nursing. You can add it to cereal, oatmeal, smoothies, yogurt, etc. I think it tastes good.
hmmm I oughta try that, thanks Danielle!
Blahblahblha flax seed healthyblabhblah
(Go for the candy dots!)
I agree that they should try to make products with out hfcs but at the same time it is never going away.
I’ve been wary of HFCS for years, but it wasn’t until last fall that it even occurred to me to check the label on my “natural” whole-wheat bread…the one processed food my family eats kind of a lot of, given our communal toast-and-peanut-butter-sandwich addictions.OMG! HFCS in EVERY brand we had been buying, even the so-grainy-it’s-chewy brands. I had to search the grocery store shelves for a good fifteen minutes to find a brand that didn’t have it (settled on Nature’s Pride, it has the texture & size we like). Like others said on Liz’s post, it’s not so much this one ingredient that worries me, as much as it is how EVERYFREAKINIGWHERE it is. I don’t trust anything that’s in EVERYTHING…even “good” stuff like wheat is over-done these days. And HFCS isn’t even “good”.
I get a lot of flack for the way the girls eat (basically organic vegeterians). I don’t have any regrets about reading every label. There is too much junk in food these days. Who knows what the long-term effects are? I’m not willing to risk the girls’ futures on it.