CrazyBusy Mama! (Dot Calm)

If I could shout a clarion call to all parents in the civilized world, it would be this (if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you could probably say it with me): “READ FOOD PACKAGING LABELS!”

When shopping, it’s easy to take the smooth road and toss things in our carts without even glancing at the label, especially if we’re tired, money’s tight, or if our kids are with us. I know how that is – that used to be me. But when we take the time to learn about what major food manufacturers are putting in the foods we buy and the effects those ingredients have on our health (immediate and future), we suddenly begin to see that reading labels is no longer a chore…it’s our right and our responsibility. We must understand and own the fact that good health is our right and no one’s responsibility but our own.

What really makes my blood boil is when unhealthy packaged foods are marketed to our children with flashy packaging, cartoon-type drawings, and promises of treats. This kind of unscrupulous, unethical marketing has been going on for decades, but I’m hoping the day will come – and soon – when the majority of parents become wise to it.

My husband and I were grocery shopping the other day, and while he was looking for the ingredients he needed to make chili, a huge sign advertising a product called LunchMakers by Armour caught my eye. LunchMakers are a Lunchables-type product, and were being sold for just 88 cents each. (Interestingly, I couldn’t find a link on the Armour site to view the nutritional information for LunchMakers. File that under “things that make you go hmm.”)

Wow. What a great deal, huh? Sure, if someone wants to fill their child full of “food grade” garbage, including a cancer-causing chemical that’s been banned in Europe (see below).

Here, in all it’s non-glory, is the too-long ingredients list from the back of the package (so long that it had to be printed in a very tiny font just to make it all fit on the label). I’ve said before…I’ll say it again: If the ingredients list on a package contains more than just a handful of items, put the item back on the shelf and walk away. You may see some things on the list that you recognize (flour, milk, etc.), but the rest is little more than preservatives, fillers, flavor enhancers, non-nutritive sweeteners, artificial sweeteners, and the like. Yuck.

So, here we go. The ingredients every parent should definitely be concerned about are in bold font. Maybe I should have hired a speed reader to read this in a video for you (it would have at least made it entertaining):

LunchMakers by Armour “Pepperoni Flavored Sausage Pizza Kit” Ingredients

Pizza Crust: Enriched bleached wheat flour (flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, corn oil, yeast, sugar, salt, calcium proprionate, guar gum, xantham gum, food starch, monoglycerides.

Pizza Sauce: Water, tomato paste, high fructose corn syrup, salt, spices, soybean oil, modified food starch, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preservative), garlic powder, xantham gum, onion powder.

Low-moisture, Part-skim Mozzerella Cheese: Pasteurized part-skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, anti-caking agent (cellulose), natamycin (preservative).

Pepperoni Flavored Sausage: Pork, mechanically separated turkey, corn syrup, pepperoni [pork, beef, salt, contains 2% or less of beef, dextrose, flavorings, lactic acid starter culture, oleoresin of paprika, sodium nitrite, BHA, BHT, citric acid], salt, water, contains 2% or less of beef, dextrose, oleoresin of paprika, flavorings, modified food starch, potassium lactate, smoke flavoring, sodium diacetate, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, BHA, BHT, citric acid.

Then it lists the ingredients of the included Nestle’ Crunch Bar, which I’m not going to copy here since it’s not the issue (though it could be, as it does contain sugar…but letting kids eat candy during the school day is another topic for another time). Following are the highlighted questionable ingredients — and why you should question them:

Sugar. Ahh, sugar. It’s in almost everything we purchase. It’s really not in that high of a dose in this package (9 grams total, and that includes the mini candy bar), but because we should limit the amounts of sugar our kids eat, especially during the school day when even a slight blood sugar crash could affect learning, I’m mentioning it here.

Calcium propionate. Calcium propionate (I’ll call it CP) is a preservative that’s included in breads for its mold-inhibiting activities. It’s not added for the calcium – calcium can be included in other ways. Many children, often with undiagnosed food allergies, have negative behavioral reactions to calcium propionate. If your child often seems “off the wall” after eating foods containing CP, look for preservative-free breads (and, because whey powder usually contains CP, make sure your bread is also whey and whey powder-free).

Food starch, modified food starch, flavorings, cheese cultures, and enzymes. According to the site Truth in Labeling, these ingredients “sometimes or always contain or create monosodium glutamate.” (Click here for a very informative list of hidden sources of MSG that you can print out and take to the grocery store next time you go.)

High fructose corn syrup. A cheap sweetener, usually only included because it’s so inexpensive, that is being increasingly implicated in a growing (no pun intended) epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes. Why is it used in so many of our food products? As mentioned in the article referenced in this paragraph, HFCS is about six times sweeter than sugar and costs about half as much.

Mechanically separated turkey. I’m including this in the list just because it’s gross. Mechanically separated meat isn’t cut up by sharp machines on a conveyor belt, it’s meat that is separated from the bones by being pressed – mechanically – through a sieve under high pressure. Imagine the meat your child is going to consume being pressed through tiny holes like paste. That’s disturbing and creates a disgusting mental picture. You may also remember the Mad Cow scare from several years ago. The UK banned mechanically-separated beef from being sold to consumers because the meat often contained portions of the cow’s spinal cord, which is where the Mad Cow virus was typically found. I don’t know – I’ll leave this one up to you, but I’m staying away from mechanically-separated meat of any kind. (What happened to the days when Grandma used to boil the bones to remove the extra meat in order to make soup? These big companies can’t do that?)

Sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrite is a dangerous chemical once in danger of being banned – decades ago – by the USDA. The meat industry, of course, convinced them otherwise (another example of how money talks). Sodium nitrite is used to stabilize the color in processed meats, like hotdogs. When eaten, it turns to nitrosamines, highly carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals that have been implicated in cancers such as pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, and leukemia. Cancer rates in the U.S. skyrocketed after the addition of sodium nitrite to our food supply.

BHA and BHT. According to About.com, “Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and the related compound butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are phenolic compounds that are often added to foods to preserve fats.”

BHA has been found to be positively carcinogenic, and BHT possibly carcinogenic. BHA, identified as a known carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has been banned in Europe but not here in the US. I find the fact that it has not been banned here, quite honestly and simply, pathetic.

Smoke flavoring may also have a toxic effect on the body.

The amounts of dangerous additives in this package are small enough to not really cause any noticeable harm if eaten just once (unless your child is severely allergic to one or more of the chemicals/additives present). What is alarming to me is the seriously high number of unhealthy and/or dangerous substances crammed into this one package. And if a child is fed this garbage on a regular basis, these chemicals and additives WILL build up in his body and – very likely – cause serious health problems later. (Some sooner than later.)

It’s like playing Russian Roulette with our children’s health.

Besides all of these unnecessary additives, you’ll notice the amount of sodium in this one small package is very high at 550 milligrams. According to the Mayo Clinic, that’s one-half to one-third of the recommended daily limit of sodium intake for children, depending on the child’s age and size. A steady diet of high sodium foods like this could put any child on the path to developing hypertension (high blood pressure).

Obviously, we can’t avoid every dangerous additive in our food supply. But with diligence and knowledge we can significantly decrease our families’ exposure to it. Study up and spend some time on Google learning about the additives mentioned above.

After all, knowledge is power. The more we know, the less of these “foods” we’ll buy, and perhaps then these big manufacturers will begin to change the way their products are made. Like I said…money talks.

By the way, a friend of mine had a great suggestion if your child likes this type of lunch: “Small cookie cutters do a great job of mimicking the meat in the package. And you can get fun designs in the cutter that Lunchables and the like will NEVER have.” (Thanks to Eric Ehrman for that idea.) It’s also a fun way to get your kids involved with making their own lunches.

Comments welcome!

©2010 Sally Dinius
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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sdinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here.

In yesterday’s post, we talked about the importance of reading the labels on the prepackaged foods we buy for our kids’ sack lunches. Keeping a vigilant eye out for ingredients like MSG, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners now can positively affect the quality of life our children have later.

Today, I’d like to share with you something else you can do to ensure your kids have healthier lunches, and that’s taking common sandwiches that you and I have grown up on and switching the ingredients a little to make them more nutritious for this generation.

The first tip, and this applies to every sandwich you ever make: Stop using white bread! We’ll talk more about the dangers of white bread — and other things made with white flour — in a future blog post.

Now…sandwiches. We’ll start with good ol’ PB&J!

You may remember from yesterday’s post that not all peanut butters are created equal. Some are healthier than others — just read the labels. Besides choosing healthier peanut butter, think about dropping the sweet jelly from the sandwich altogether and replacing it with sliced bananas. If you’ve never had a peanut butter and banana sandwich, or even heard of it, you’re in for a treat.

First, toast two pieces of bread…whole wheat or multi-grain, of course (if your child likes multi-grain). Spread one piece with peanut butter, and top with thin banana slices. Finish with the other piece of toast and cut in half diagonally. Yummy and healthy!

Next, we’re going to tackle two other perennial sandwiches: tuna salad and egg salad. We’re not going to change them much…we’re just going to trim down one ingredient and add another.

For the tuna salad, make sure you’re using tuna packed in water. I prefer albacore tuna, but the kind of tuna you use really depends on personal preference.

After flaking it into a bowl, add some mayonnaise. However, only use half the amount you usually do. Now, make up that other half with plain, low-fat yogurt. Add a little sea salt and ground black pepper for flavor, if you’d like (I also like to add a small amount of dried dill). By switching out half of the mayo for low-fat yogurt, you’re giving your child fewer calories and fat. They’re also getting calcium and good cultures from the yogurt.

For egg salad, I like to use two parts mayonnaise and one part plain, low-fat yogurt. The only reason for this is that plain yogurt, while good for you, doesn’t taste like anything. Tuna has a strong enough flavor on its own to make up for it, but hardboiled eggs don’t. If you’d like, you can still use half mayo and half yogurt like we did for the tuna sandwich, above, but add a little sea salt for flavor. (One variation: my kids like bacon bits added to their egg salad. True, bacon bits have their own issues, but adding them once in a while is fine. Everything in moderation, right?)

To add a little more nutritional value to tuna and egg salad, I like to toss in some chopped celery. It adds crunch and much-needed fiber.

Finally, we’re going to look at one more sandwich that has a somewhat unhealthy reputation: the ham sandwich.

We don’t eat ham a whole lot around here, but when we do, I prefer to give my family my made-over version, instead of the typical ham and cheese variety.

It’s simply made with lean ham, honey mustard, a peeled and sliced apple, thinly sliced cheese (if any is used at all), and lettuce — the darker green, the more nutrients it contains. Spread each slice of bread (toasted is best) with 1-2 tablespoons of honey mustard. If you don’t want to use that much, just put it on one slice of bread or use mayo or plain, low-fat yogurt on the other slice.

Place two or three slices of ham on top of the honey mustard. Top with sliced apple, cheese (or leave it off — it’s just as good or better without cheese), lettuce, and remaining slice of bread. It’s very good, and has become a new family favorite.

Enjoy!

©2010 Sally Dinius
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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sdinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here.

When I was at the doctor with my 13 year-old a couple of weeks ago, he suggested I start her on a daily multi-vitamin. My daughter’s eyebrows went up. I forced a smile. “Okay” is what I heard myself say, but on the inside all I felt was “ugh.”

Vitamins and I go way back. And not in a good way. When I was six, my mother fed my brother and I these strange, round, white-coated vitamins that we had to swallow on a daily basis. I think I tried it once or twice…I was determined to never do it again. Upon my return from a weekend visitation with my dad, my mom told me a “funny” story. It seemed that she and my stepdad had a party while my brother and I were gone, and they had to pull the dining room table apart to insert the leaf. As they did, hundreds of those round white vitamins spilled onto the floor. My vitamins.

Fascinated by new research of what vitamins could do for our bodies (this was the 1970s), my mom wasn’t done with her experimenting. She tried giving us niacin tablets to take. I was seven. I’m gathering I didn’t really need niacin, as every time I was made to take it I felt a painful, prickly burning sensation from the inside out. It hurt so bad I cried. Eventually, she understood that maybe…probably…I shouldn’t take it.

In my teens, she gave me multi-vitamins and B-100 supplements to take. I gagged when I tried. (I’ve never done well trying to take horse pills.) I’m sorry to say I gradually resorted to lying when she asked if I’d taken them.

This may all seem like a form of torture (sure felt like it), but I know my mom meant well and just wanted us to be healthy.

I think having such bad experiences with vitamins myself is why I’ve never forced them on my kids. Nowadays, thankfully, vitamins come in various forms for young and old alike: liquid, chewable, lozenges, and yes, the good old-fashioned (why don’t they learn?) horse pills. If one kind doesn’t work for my kids, I can try another.

To finish my story, I bought a small bottle of multi-vitamins for my daughter. Small bottle=small vitamins, right? Not so. They were huge! She tried to take one and had trouble getting it down. I assured her she didn’t have to finish them and that they’d be going back to the store.

That same day, I bought multi-vitamins for my three year-old. They were gummy bears! When I tried one, I was pleased to learn they didn’t taste like vitamins, and she didn’t seem to mind them either. Why didn’t they have those when I was little?

For my 13 year-old, I will probably try liquid vitamins. They’re a little more expensive, but painless to take when mixed with a glass of juice.

If you’re looking for a good vitamin for your youngins, here are some of my recommendations. (And you can get them by mail-order — that’s a big stress-buster right there!)

Rhino Gummy Bear Vitamins, 190-Count Bottle These are the exact gummy vitamins I bought for my three year-old. They’re definitely tasty…I have to use real self-discipline to not take them myself (be sure to store them up high and out of the reach of your young ones).

Nature’s Plus – Animal Parade – Cherry/Orange/Grape, 180 Chewable TabletsAvailable in cherry, orange, or grape flavors (or all three together), these are ideal for the child who isn’t ready to swallow vitamins but also may not like the gummy bear kind. Highly recommended by many parents. Doesn’t contain yeast, soy, milk, wheat, corn, or artificial colors or preservatives. Score!

Childlife Multi Vitamin & Mineral Liquid 8 oz.
This liquid vitamin supplement is ideal for infants and young children. Liquid vitamins are absorbed faster and more completely than regular vitamins, and are ideal for sensitive tummies. Child Life Vitamin and Mineral Liquid is gluten and dairy free.

Next time: Supplements to help your body fight stress (no horse pills, I promise).

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