Okay, so it’s time to admit it. For a long period of college, I subsisted almost entirely on ramen and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Ramen is cheap, filling, and versatile. You can add meat to it, add frozen veggies to it, dress it up or down. It’s also super tasty and addictive. But after my Real Food conversion, ramen could no longer be my go-to choice for a quick lunch. It was packed with MSG, artificial colors and flavors, deep fried noodles, you name it. It’s been years since I’ve eaten it. And then, a reader emailed me asking about a “natural” ramen she’d found at her supermarket that’s made with organic noodles. It’s called KOYO Asian Vegetable Ramen. Here’s what I found out about KOYO.
DECODING LABELS: Beyond Meat Chicken
Want to know exactly what ingredients are in Beyond Meat’s Beyond Chicken Southwest Style Strips? It’s not as healthy as you think it is.
Decoding Labels: Glutino Toaster Pastries
Navigating store-bought gluten-free baked goods can be like walking through a minefield. On the one hand, the cracker or cookie or pastry is wheat-free. SCORE. On the other hand, it’s almost always full of genetically-modified sugar and isolated starches that aren’t part of a traditional diet. FAIL. Recently a reader emailed me asking me to decode the label on her Glutino Gluten-Free Toaster Pastries Strawberry Flavor. This is what I found.
DECODING LABELS: Pacific Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup
Ages ago, when I was a very young cook, cream of mushroom soup was a wonder. I could open a can and easily transform it into beef stroganoff, broccoli rice casserole, green bean casserole, you name it. My Taste of Home magazine came crammed with recipe after recipe featuring these condensed soups. When I started transitioning to real food, the canned soups were among the first to go. I learned that it was almost as easy to make my own mushroom roux, and I never looked back. I also didn’t think that any kind of an alternative existed out there. Last week, though, a reader emailed me asking me to decode the ingredients label on her go-to cream of mushroom soup: Pacific Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Decoding Labels: Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli
Want to know what’s in the ever-ubiquitous Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli? This is the world’s #1 selling pre-cooked pasta, and parents everywhere happily feed it to their kids? But what’s it made of? Do the ingredients really measure up? Or is this just glorified junk food?
DECODING LABELS: Oh Boy Oberto Natural Beef Jerky
Everybody loves beef jerky. It’s a handy, portable, high-protein snack that’s compact and worry-free. You don’t have to worry about it spoiling, even if you’re out in the heat. You don’t have to worry about it spilling or leaking inside your purse or gym bag. You just grab it and go. Most people prefer to avoid the MSG-laden brands of beef jerky, instead opting for more “natural” varieties. That’s where this week’s Oh Boy Oberto Natural Beef Jerky comes into play.
Decoding Labels: Campbell’s Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup
Marketed as a “healthier” version of their famous Cream of Mushroom soup, Campbell’s Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup is full of quite a few downright scary ingredients. So much so that I marvel they can get away with calling it “healthy,” let alone “food.”
Decoding Labels: Yoplait Greek Yogurt
Thanks to food industry behemoth General Mills, most of us can find Greek yogurt in our neighborhood grocery stores. Lured by the extra flavor and the promise of twice the protein of regular yogurt, you may have bought this week’s product: Yoplait Greek Yogurt Honey Vanilla.