{"id":32415,"date":"2013-04-12T07:10:54","date_gmt":"2013-04-12T11:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32415"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:45:33","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:45:33","slug":"5-healthiest-and-5-unhealthiest-packaged-foods-according-to-foodfacts-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32415","title":{"rendered":"5 Healthiest and 5 Unhealthiest Packaged Foods (According to FoodFacts.com)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cream powder, partially hydrogenated soybean oil (trans fat), “flavors,” saturated fats, sodium, controversial ingredients and added sugar. That was dinner for thousands, maybe\u00a0millions<\/a>, of babies and toddlers last night who ate Gerber Graduates Lil’ Meals Pasta Shells and Cheese.<\/p>\n

Most of us know the healthiest foods are natural and unprocessed like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Yet we spend a great deal of our nutrition equity chowing down on chemicals disguised as food. And unaware, feeding them to our children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So I was excited to find this user-friendly food rating website\u00a0FoodFacts.com<\/a>. FoodFacts can help you and your family eat more healthfully by knowing if a food has excessive sugar, fat, salt or harmful chemicals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2013-03-30-A.png\"
\"2013-03-30-F.png\"<\/p>\n

FoodFacts.com reviews more than 100,000 popular packaged, non-packaged and fast foods and 20,000 ingredients. Each product or food is graded from a head-of-the-class “A” to a failing “F” based on the quality of ingredients\u00a0and<\/em>whether a food offers any nutritional value.<\/p>\n

There’s also a full list of ingredients, nutrition facts panel and bulleted good news\/bad news report card for each product. Taste is not considered.<\/p>\n

Stanley Rak, FoodFacts’ founder and sole funder, started the site after he was feeding his 3-year-old grandson and noticed the food was sticking to his fingers. “I thought what’s in this?” Rak told me. “So I looked at the label on the jar and couldn’t pronounce most of the ingredients!” Rak then went home and looked at the ingredients in everything in his cupboard. That was the beginning of FoodFacts.com.<\/p>\n

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I marvel at and support the initiative of one individual doing what he can to protect all of our health. Rak’s aim is to help people eat more nutritiously, eat safely if they have food allergies or dietary restrictions, and create a community where members (it’s free) can share their food findings and experiences.<\/p>\n

Rak also hopes FoodFacts.com will influence manufacturers to produce healthier products. For instance, manufacturers can still hide ingredients. “They don’t have to list trans fat on the package if it’s under half a percent,” Rak told me, “but you’ll see it on FoodFacts.” Paid for only by Rak, FoodFacts is entirely transparent and not supported by any advertising.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes my neighbors are afraid to invite me to dinner,” said Rak chuckling, but he’s always adding to the site. A\u00a0recent addition\u00a0goes back to its roots — a “Baby Nutrition, Allergen and Score Guide” to help new mothers provide their babies nutritious products. “Because,” Rak says, “the abundance of sugar, including hidden sugars, in baby foods is where our lifelong struggle with obesity and nutrition begins.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5 Healthier Foods and Their Scores, as Rated by FoodFacts.com<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Dreamfields Pasta Linguine Low Carb<\/strong>\u00a0– (A)Low in calories, fat and sodium,\u00a0Dreamfields Pasta<\/a>\u00a0packs a nutritional punch, providing 40 percent of our folic acid and thiamin requirements, as well as riboflavin, niacin and iron.<\/li>\n
  2. Little Duck Organics Blueberry Apple Tiny Fruits<\/strong>\u00a0(A) –\u00a0Organic freeze-dried apples and blueberries,\u00a0this product<\/a>\u00a0is low in calories, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, contains no controversial ingredients and is an excellent source of vitamins A and C.<\/li>\n
  3. Beech Nut Good Morning Oatmeal & Mixed Fruit Cereal<\/strong>\u00a0(A) –\u00a0A\u00a0baby food product<\/a>\u00a0with only good news! Low in calories, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and contains no controversial ingredients. It is also an excellent source of twelve vitamins and minerals.<\/li>\n
  4. Bumble Bee Chunk White in Water Tuna Albacore\u00a0<\/strong>(A-) –\u00a0Low in calories, saturated fat, cholesterol, contains\u00a0no controversial ingredients<\/a>\u00a0and contains naturally-occurring vitamins and minerals, and is an excellent source of niacin.<\/li>\n
  5. Triscuit Original Low Sodium Whole Wheat Crackers\u00a0<\/strong>(B+) –\u00a0Low sodium, low in calories and no controversial ingredients, makes\u00a0Triscuit<\/a>\u00a0a great snack. It doesn’t score an “A” because it’s also low in vitamins and minerals.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/h3>\n

    5 Unhealthy Foods and Their Scores, as rated by FoodFacts.com<\/strong><\/h2>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Hot Pockets Beef and Cheddar Sandwiches<\/strong>\u00a0(F) –\u00a0The entire line of\u00a0Hot Pockets<\/a>\u00a0products gets an “F.” This product has multiple controversial ingredients, there is little “good” in this product and it displays a hidden form of MSG. Hot Pockets products have one of the longest lists of ingredients, up to 160!<\/li>\n
    2. MorningStar Farms Veggie Chik’n Nuggets<\/strong>\u00a0(F) –\u00a0These vegetarian\u00a0imitation chicken nuggets<\/a>\u00a0are high in sodium and contain the controversial ingredients hydrolyzed corn gluten and yeast extract (both are nicknames for MSG). The product also provides little vitamin content.\u00a0<\/li>\n
    3. Arby’s All American Classic Roastburger<\/strong>\u00a0(F) –\u00a0Equal parts good and bad — low in calories, cholesterol and contains Fiber, Vitamin C and Iron. Yet\u00a0high<\/a>in saturated fat, sodium, contains a moderate amount of added sugar and several controversial ingredients.<\/li>\n
    4. Propel Zero Berry Flavored Fitness Water<\/strong>\u00a0(D+) –\u00a0This product<\/a>\u00a0has no calories, fat or sugars, but gets a poor grade due to its very controversial ingredients, like acesulfame potassium, potassium sorbate and other preservatives. A great example of a product that looks healthy based on the nutrition label, until you read the ingredients. Plus, researchers are linking\u00a01 in 10 deaths<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. to overconsumption of salt, and this flavored water has over 160 mg of sodium!<\/li>\n
    5. Apple and Eve Grover’s No Sugar Added White Grape Juice<\/strong>\u00a0(D) –\u00a0While most believe 100 percent fruit juice is healthy, it’s mostly sugar. A single eight-ounce serving of\u00a0this grape juice<\/a>\u00a0contains 38 grams of sugar and 130 calories. Comparatively, Coca-Cola contains 27 grams of sugar. This product also contains “natural flavors,” a label food manufacturers are permitted to use for any number of chemicals that they don’t have to disclose. This usually indicates that the real thing (often fruit) has been left out.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Originally published in\u00a0The Huffington Post<\/a><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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