Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Bad Food: Dean's Guacamole Dip

 Guacamole dip is ( generally ) a Clean Food. When made with organic sour cream, mashed avocado, and some spices...it's good stuff. Besides eating straight from the bowl perhaps with pita chips - it's also good smeared on bread as a side flavor for a sandwich.



 When does avocado dip go bad? As soon as it is mass produced. Have you seen this brand in the stores?

1. Warning sign #1? Yep, you guessed it. The label says "Guacamole flavored Dip. The "flavored" wording isn't bold, so your eye doesn't pic up on it. They can't legally call it guacamole dip - because...

2. Ingredients:
SKIM MILK, SOYBEAN OIL, TOMATOES, WATER, COCONUT OIL, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF AVOCADO, WHOLE EGG, ONION*, SALT, DISTILLED VINEGAR, EGG YOLKS, SUGAR, NONFAT DRY MILK, WHEY (MILK), LACTIC ACID, SODIUM CASEINATE (MILK), ISOLATED SOY PROTEIN, TOMATO JUICE, VEGETABLE MONO & DIGLYCERIDES, SPICES, SODIUM BENZOATE AND POTASSIUM SORBATE (TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS), GELATIN, CORN STARCH, GUAR GUM, CELLULOSE GEL & CELLULOSE GUM, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, LOCUST BEAN GUM, DISODIUM, PHOSPHATE, GUM ARABIC, XANTHAN GUM, CILANTRO*, NATURAL FLAVORS, EXTRACTIVE OF PAPRIKA, CITRIC ACID, ASCORBIC ACID, BLUE 1, RED 40, YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6. *DEHYDRATED.

Yep, you got it again - Avocado is not the main ingredient - not even close. It is part of the "less than 2%" part.  


3. On the label they proudly proclaim "0g Trans Fat per Serving" - but each serving ( 2 tbs ) contains 90 calories - 80 of which are from fat!




Once again - when you see a product in the store - investigate. Read the label, read the ingredients. Think about how the product is being presented. Question the veracity of the flashy advertising graphics they use to hype the potential health benefits. Look past what they are trying to tell you, and see what they are NOT telling you. That is the key to wisely choosing Clean prepared products.