I have to admit, before reading ingredient labels my husband and I thought we were choosing a good bread for our family. Of course, we were choosing a whole wheat product. We also knew enough to get one with no high fructose corn syrup. We thought we were getting the most natural bread we could because it was called “Nature’s Own”. However, something in the back of my mind told me that having 26 ingredients in my bread didn’t make sense. I knew this could NOT be a healthy option and when I started recognizing what some of these ingredients were I realized the bread was far from healthy and even contained hidden trans fats! Here are the ingredients in the Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat bread:
Ingredients
Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Brown Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Contains 2% or Less of Each of the Following: Salt, Dough Conditioners (Contains One or More of the Following: Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Calcium Stearoyl Lactylate, Monoglycerides, Mono- and Diglycerides, Distilled Monoglycerides, Calcium Peroxide, Calcium Iodate, DATEM, Ethoxylated Mono- and Diglycerides, Enzymes, Ascorbic Acid), Soybean Oil, Vinegar, Cultured Wheat Flour, Monocalcium Phosphate, Ammonium Sulfate, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Soy Lecithin, Natamycin (to Retard Spoilage).
A lot of consumers would skim over these ingredients and become so confused they don’t even know where to begin. Here are the red flags I see when looking over these ingredients:
- Added sugars are the 4th ingredient
- The bread contains soybean oil
- DATEM and Mono- and- Diglycerides… Hidden forms of partially hydrogenated oils (aka trans fats) that do not require labeling!
So what does Mono- and Diglycerides mean? Well this is an emulsifier which means it will bond two ingredients together that wouldn’t normally mix well. Think oil combining with water. The big issue here is the mono- and diglycerides are NOT required to be labeled in the nutritional information of the product. This is perfect for companies who know people are now aware that trans fats kill people but still want to put them in their products. The commercial source of this emulsifier is synthetically produced partially hydrogenated soybean or canola oil. Hydrogenated oils ARE trans fats! We avoid ANY product or company who uses partially hydrogenated oils because they are aware of the dangers of these synthetically produced fats but continue to use them. That means I would not trust them to be concerned with the health of my family. We also avoid any companies who choose to use loopholes to still include trans fats in their products without having to label them… just like Nature’s Own does. If you would like to know more about trans fats click here. This is a great article that talks about how our bodies are not able to break these fats down and what makes them so dangerous.
I searched and searched for a bread that didn’t contain mono- and diglycerides or some form of them. What I found was that there were NO big name brands that weren’t using these hidden trans fats. Apparently they can’t make their “bread like products” without the use of these emulsifiers simply because its not natural.
If you have read any of my other posts you know that I am a huge fan of Food for Life products. They are making bread the right way… truly all natural with no loopholes or hidden ingredients. I can identify every single ingredient in their products and there is no questioning this is the way grains were meant to be consumed. Here are the ingredients in their 7-Grain bread (my personal favorite), and here is a link to their website. Just to clarify, I’m not affiliated with them in any way, shape, or form. I just love that they are making products with concern for consumers health, not just financial benefit.
Ingredients: Organic Sprouted Wheat, Filtered Water, Organic Malted Barley, Organic Sprouted Rye, Organic Sprouted Barley, Organic Sprouted Oats, Organic Sprouted Millet, Organic Sprouted Corn, Organic Sprouted Brown Rice, Fresh Yeast, Organic Wheat Gluten, Sea Salt.
