For food enthusiasts, Whole Foods is the Neiman Marcus of the grocery industry. The thing about Whole Foods that caught our attention was their list of "Unacceptable Ingredients for Food". If a food contains any of these ingredients, Whole Foods won't carry it. Among the items on the list are artificial sweeteners, colors, and flavors, as well as hydrogenated fats. While not everyone shops at Whole Foods, we suggest taking a look at their list, and if any of the foods you eat at home contain these ingredients, you might want to think again.
You can view the whole list here
Here were a few of our favorites on the list:
The Artificial Sweeteners:
Acesulfame-K (acesulfame potassium), Sucralose (splenda), Aspartame (equal), Saccharin (sweet 'n low)
The Artificial Colors: FD & C colors
These are the colors that end in a number i.e. Red40, Blue5, etc...they are actually banned for consumption in almost all European countries
High Fructose Corn Syrup:
Remember those commercials from back in the day that tried to tell us that HFCS was healthy? If you want to laugh, check out this condescending commercial . High fructose corn syrup is made from corn, which is one of the highest GMO crops in the country. Yes the corn that it is made from is "natural", but so is arsenic, and you won't find us eating that any time soon. HFCS is that it is so highly processed, that food manufacturers were able to pack in more sugar then ever before. There is a correlation between when HFCS was introduced in foods and when children started to see an increase in type 2 (or Adult onset) diabetes.
Hydrogenated Fats:
These are no bueno either, but they are hidden in our foods. There is a loophole law in the labeling system that says if there is less then .5g per serving of fat, manufacturers can say 0. Many food manufacturers responded by making the serving size so small, it could fit that criteria. When you see "dehydrogenated oils" in your peanut butter, that is code for trans fats, even if the food label says there are zero grams!
The list contains 82 ingredients...time to do some serious label reading!
Sources:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/about-our-products/quality-standards/food-ingredient