Do you know what's in your food?

This weeks assignment is investigating a food of our choice, it could be something like an orange, or something artificially made like cereal for example. We were asked to find out a lot of information that is not readily available on most food packaging; things like, is it organic, were pesticides used? How did it get to the place where you purchased it? What are the environmental impacts and so on. I will try to address as many of them as I can.

To begin, I chose to investigate Mother's Cookies Chocolate Chip Flavor.

imagesource:http://www.amazon.com/Mothers-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-14-Ounce/dp/B002EDIJL8

First off, my dad had bought them and I hadn't ate them in  years. They have the taste of actual homemade cookies even if the texture has that dry artificial brittle feeling. He bought two bags of them the day before the blog assignment was explained and I thought it would be interesting to find out more about them.

1. It IS a multi-ingredient food. Here are the ingredients. they are available on the bag and product website.

imagesource:http://www.motherscookies.com/cookies.aspx#

As for the ingredients I can tell right off the bat that TBHQ is a preservative, but they try to make it sound fancy by saying "For Freshness", basically to extend the shelf life by preventing it from going bad but doesn't "for freshness" just sound better? When I looked it up, I was not surprised to find that is can be harmful to the body and the amount used in food is regulated. It is Butane based and large amounts of it have been shown to "TBHQ cannot exceed 0.02% of the oil and fat content in a food. "

 high doses (between 1 and 4 grams) of TBHQ can cause nausea, delirium, collapse, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and vomiting. There are also suggestions that it may lead to hyperactivity in children as well as asthma, rhinitis and dermatitis. It may also further aggravate ADHD symptoms and cause restlessness. Long term, high doses of TBHQ in laboratory animals have shown a tendency for them to develop cancerous precursors in their stomachs, as well as cause DNA damage to them. It is also suggested that it may be responsible for affecting estrogen levels in women."

There are three coloring agents in these cookies, caramel, turmeric, and annatto. Is it any surprise that these are harmful as well?"Industrial caramel coloring is made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulfites under high pressure and temperatures. The chemical reactions create 4-methylimidazole, which in government-conducted studies caused lung, liver, or thyroid cancer or leukemia in laboratory mice or rats. This is why California recently required foods containing caramel color to be labeled as potential cancer-causing agents.  But you won't see this warning label any time soon - manufacturers simply reduced the use of caramel color enough that the labeling requirements no longer applied."
So my takeaway is, if you are trying to avoid cancer.. maybe avoid these cookies??!

As for the "natural flavors" there is nothing natural about them, they are produced in a lab  and might as well be called artificial flavors, but that name is already taken by other manmade ingredients. I found some interesting information for people that do not eat meat and have serious allergies"sensitive to MSG, vegans, vegetarians and those with allergies should pay special attention to the phrase "natural flavorings" since glutamates, animal products or allergens may be the source of natural flavors. You can always contact the manufacturer for more information." I learned Soy Lecithin is an oily substance natural occurring in plants like soybeans and animals like in egg yolks. so this would NOT be considered Vegan in case anyone was wondering. Lastly I learned Vanillin is fake vanilla.

Sources:  http://www.naturalnews.com/031318_TBHQ_food_preservatives.html#ixzz31r0eJguM

http://www.fooducate.com/app#page=product&id=5DD20D66-576C-11E2-A40C-1231381A0463

2.As for where does it come from, It was hard to find out, the Oakland factory was shut down in California and had to be relocated to Canada and Ohio due to financial problems.

3.As for how the ingredients were grown and raised, I cannot tell you if ingredients in it are organic or factory farmed, BUT because on the website it says KOSHER DAIRY was used, that means, "All kosher milk products must derive from kosher animals. In addition, the milk of impure cattle and game (e.g. donkey milk) is prohibited. Dairy products, of course, also may not contain non-kosher additives, and they may not include meat products or derivatives (for example, many types of cheese are manufactured with animal fats). Additionally, a number of pre-processed foods contain small portions of milk products, such as whey. According to food product regulations, such tiny additives do not have to be declared on the packaging but may nevertheless render the product non-kosher. This applies especially to bread." SO even thought kosher dairy is used for the cookies, it is not entirely Kosher because of the use of whey in the cookies. That explains why Kosher Dairy usage is not advertised on the packaging because it might give false advertisement perhaps.

source:http://www.koshercertification.org.uk/whatdoe.html

4.as of right now, the Kellogs corporation

is in charge of Mothers cookies, they bought Mothers cookies shortly after they had closed.

Here is a photo of the Oakland factory. It kinda has a willy wonka look.

imagesource:http://www.motherscookies.com/history.aspx

                           

imagesources:http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Mother-s-Cookies-abruptly-shut-down-3266029.php#photo-2415523

5. For it's environmental factors, what I could deduce is that it's packaging CANNOT be recycled and it sys it right on the bag in a small square on the back. It shows the recycle symbol with a diagonal line in front of it, implying it cannot be recycled The packaging material is "composite". But by having the symbol it is participating in a new initiative to inform  consumers about recyclability. You can find out more at http://www.how2recycle.info/it is distributed by Kellog Sales Co. and I would have to bet on it being transported by trucks.

Imagesource:http://www.how2recycle.info/

6.There is no question that the cookies are tasty, why else would Kellog buy the recipes and company. They came back by popular demand! They are at their 100th anniversary this year. I already mentioned some of the health risks that can be caused by some of the ingredients. Here is some of the dietary information that can be found on the mother cookies website and on the bag.

imagesource:http://www.kelloggs.com/content/dam/common/products/nutrition/MothersCookiesChocolateChipcookies_17251.gif