With the London Summer Olympics about to begin, were bracing ourselves to see many of our favorite world-class athletes advertising popular ‘unhealthy’ snacks and drinks on TV. You might not jump off the sofa so quickly to reach for a bag of Nacho Doritos if you knew the ingredients lurking inside.
Frito-Lay food scientists use 39 different ingredients to make Doritos. How many does it take to make a regular tortilla chip? About three. That means 36 ingredients are used to make the yellow cheese powder. Of those 36, only two are ingredients you’d use to make nachos at home: Romano and cheddar cheeses. Doritos also contain empty carbohydrate fillers like dextrin, maltodextrin, dextrose, flour, and corn syrup solids and any combination of corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, and sunflower oil. Some of those will be partially hydrogenated, meaning they give the chip a longer shelf life and spike your heart with a little shot of trans fat. (The reason you won’t see this on the nutrition label is that FDA guidelines allow food manufacturers to “round down” to zero.)
And then, after the fats and nutritionally empty starches, there’s a seasoning blend, which includes things like sugar, “artificial flavoring,” and a rather worrisome compound called monosodium glutamate. Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is the flavor enhancer largely responsible for the chip’s addicting quality.
Reprinted from Eat This, Not That. Read more: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/truth-about-your-food
What are you eating this summer? The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic talks to everyday people about their healthy appetites at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA.
Meet Mr. Divabetic on the red carpet at the American Diabetes Association Expo in Pittsburgh, PA and New York, NY and the Taking Control Of Your Diabetes Conference in Austin, TX in Fall 2012. For more glitter, games and glucose advice visit: http://www.divabetic.org
LISTEN NOW: Free Diabetes Podcast Inspired by Katy Perry http://www.blogtalkradio.com/divatalkradio1/2012/07/10/diabetes-roundtable-inspired-by-katy-perry
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