Here’s a snapshot of what some would condemn as an ultra-processed food. That assertion would be based on the additives in it. Who would ever have thought that a product as simple as Bread Crumbs had an encyclopedic Ingredients List?
It’s what I’d call an ‘extreme of extremes’: A cannister of Bread Crumbs with a 58-item Ingredients List (pictured above)! Fortunately for most of us, it’s apparently only being sold in Australia..
What it is
You might think it’s some kind of hoax, or maybe a vendetta against the brand in question. But no. Australia-based TikTok user @taralouisesmartsavings (pictured above) posted a video her shocking discovery.
Delish food blogger Gabby Romero noted the Crumbs,”…included cultured whey, vinegar, fish extract, and fish gelatin. We’re not exactly sure why all those ingredients belong in breadcrumbs in the first place.”
TikTok commenters were unanimously go-smacked. One wrote: “One commenter wrote, “I always look at ingredient but never have with bread crumbs, as [I] just assumed it would be bread crumbs.”
Another asked, “Was it, like, a competition to see the maximum number of ingredients [they could put] in one food?”
My take
Geeze, Louise! I’ve never seen anything like this before! And I hope never to see one again. It’s amazing to me that there was room for any actual Bread Crumbs in the package after all those additives were chucked into the mix…
It did occur to me that this ‘product’ might be a way for the manufacturer to use up odds and sods of leftover ingredients from other products!
But I have a solution to the quandary. To heck with store-bought Bread Crumbs. Make your own. Just dry out the end crusts from your go-to daily bread on a baking tray in the oven. Then just whizz them in the blender or food processor until they’re fine enough to suit you. Store in an air-tight container such as a Mason jar, in a cool, dark place.
It’s a win-win: You’re also using up those oft-tossed crusts, fighting food waste in the bargain!
~ Maggie J.