Granola Bar © Jana @ delectablymine.blogspot.ca

The Truth about ‘Natural’

Do you make food product choices based on label claims such as, ‘All Natural Ingredients!’, ‘Not from Concentrate!’, or ‘Natural [product] Flavour!’ ? Well, you may be disappointed to discover that these ‘Natural’ claims don’t necessarily guarantee that the product hasn’t been fiddled with!

Granola Bar © Jana @ delectablymine.blogspot.caClassic, wholesome, home-made granola bars. These beauties were created by
Jana @ delectablymine.blogspot.ca
after she took time to read the
ingredients list of her
previously-fave commercial granola bar.
We’re going to read some labels, too.

Nor does the ‘Natural’ label guarantee that a product is ‘healthy’. I offer, as a prime example, the ubiquitous Granola/Nutrition/Health Bar. We’re going to dissect a very popular brand, heavily advertised all over the continent (maybe the world), and flying the ‘Healthy’ flag for all it’s worth. We just won’t mention any names, because we don’t want to get sued.

Anyway…

These little gems are about 1 in. by 4 in. by about 1.2 in. thick. Their packages proclaim them, ‘All-Natural’, and the manufacturer’s website adds the boast that they’re: “• LOW FAT • LOW SATURATED FAT • TRANS FAT FREE • SOURCE OF FIBER • SOURCE OF IRON •”

That’s all true. But what are they not telling you?

Okay, let’s read the fine print

What’s your definition of ‘natural’, when it comes to food ingredients or food products? What do you expect from a product when it says ‘Natural!’ on the label? We all have different expectations, I’ll bet. So…

First, can we define ‘natural’, for the purposes of this post, as ‘as found in nature’? Thanks.

The ingredient list includes lots and lots of real, natural, unprocessed ingredients. But there’s more!

What is ‘Soy protein isolate’? This one is very high up on the granola bar’s ingredient list. That means there’s a lot of the stuff in the bar! Wikipedia gives this concise definition:

Soy protein isolate is a highly refined * or purified form of soy protein with a minimum protein content of 90% on a moisture-free basis. It is made from defatted soy flour which has had most of the nonprotein components, fats and carbohydrates removed. Because of this, it has a neutral flavor and will cause less flatulence due to bacterial fermentation.

Soy isolates are mainly used to improve the texture of meat products, but are also used to increase protein content, to enhance moisture retention, and are used as an emulsifier. Flavor is affected, but whether it is an enhancement is subjective.

( * Emphasis is added by me, as in quotations later in this post.)

Sounds manufactured – i.e.- non-natural – to me. And health watchdogs seem to agree, there’s something fishy about it, as this post graphically indicates. And this same site offers a Doctor’s take on possible health dangers, including fertility problems and premature aging.

And remember, there’s a lot of this stuff in those granola bars!

What is ‘Soy lecithin’?  In short, lecithin is an oily emulsifier that occurs naturally in soy beans (here they are again!) and egg yolks. Eggs are way to expensive to use for industrial production of  a bulk manufacturing ingredient, so they refine it from the ubiquitous soy bean. (Last time I looked, refining was a manufacturing process.) This blog offers a great rundown on the whys and wherefores of Soy Lecithin.

What is ‘Vegetable Glycerin’? It’s yet another sweetener. Wisegeek.com offers this concise, easy-to-understand explanation:

It is produced industrially, usually as a by-product of soap manufacture, from oils and fats…
***
Vegetable glycerin can also be made directly from vegetable oil — often coconut or palm oil — by heating it to a high temperature under pressure with water. The glycerin backbone splits off from the fatty acids, and is absorbed by the water, from which it is then isolated and distilled to obtain the pure product. Food-grade vegetable glycerin is 99.7% pure, with the remaining 0.3% being water.

Sounds very manufactured and un-natural to me.

And that’s not the worst of it

The real health problem I see with products like granola bars is, they’re full of calories! The granola bar’s own Nutrition Facts label says each bar weighs 35 g and comprises 140 calories. That’s more than half the calories in a Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar, gram for gram! Unless you’re a professional athlete or lead a very active lifestyle, granola bars might not be so healthy for you!

The tip of the iceberg

Sometime, perhaps, I’ll take you on a tour of the circuitous route that ‘Never Frozen’, ‘All-Natural!’, “Fresh-Squeezed Taste’, ‘Not from Concentrate’ Orange Juice takes from the tree to your table…

For now, just remember that, if you want real fresh flavour, colour and texture, buy your ingredients fresh from the store and prepare them yourself!

~ Maggie J.