General Mills taking out artificial colors and flavors

One more manufacturer is getting on the bandwagon of taking out artificial flavors and colors from its products.  General Mills has announced it will be removing artificial colors and flavors from its cereals.  General Mills is already way ahead of its competitors when it comes to nutrition.  General Mills has taken out all high fructose corn syrup.  All General Mills cereals are whole grain.  In contrast, the first ingredient in Froot Loops made by Kellogg�s is sugar.  This means Froot Loops are mostly sugar. 

Trix � a popular cereal among kids and even adults.  Trix will still have those vibrant colors but not from artificial ingredients.  General Mills will be using fruits and vegetable juice and spices to provide the colors so many kids like.  But probably good bye to blue and green as they haven�t yet figured out how to make those colors with natural ingredients.

Reese�s Puffswill also be undergoing a color changes. 

Lucky Charms is on the list for reformulation but it will take longer to figure out how to color the marshmallows. 

General Mills goal is to have all artificial colors and flavors removed by the end of 2016. 

Don�t want to wait until 2016?

General Mills already makes many cereals without artificial colors and flavors:

• Cheerios � no artificial colors and flavors, just a very nutritious, whole grain cereal.  Choose Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch, Multi-Grain Cheerios, Cheerios + Ancient Grains, Cheerios Protein Cinnamon Almond, Cheerios Protein Oats and Honey, Banana Nut Cheerios.
• Total � Total Whole Grain, Total Raisin Bran
• All Chex Cereals
• All Kix Cereals
• Wheaties

General Mills has made other healthier changes in their cereals.  (See General Mills cereals)

1997 Heart Healthy	2005 Whole Grain	2011 Sugar Reduction	2015-2016 Removing artificial colors and flavors
Soluble fiber such as that in Cheerios, helps reduce risk of heart disease.	All General Mills cereals became Whole Grain cereals.  Whole grain is the first ingredient in all General Mills cereals.	All cereals have 10 grams or less per serving.	General Mills removing artificial colors and flavors from cereals over the next 2-3 years.

General Mills is already a leader in making cereals healthier.  Good for General Mills to take the lead in removing artificial ingredients from its cereals.  Let�s see if Kellogg�s, Post, and other cereal manufacturers follow General Mills lead.   

Sources:  General Mills to remove articial flavors and colors, General Mills to drop artificial ingredients, Image source: General Mills

Nutrition in the News

Good news for consumers.  Many manufacturers and fast food restaurants are making healthful changes in their food offerings.   In the last few weeks, Kraft, Chipotle, and Pepsi have made announcements about upcoming changes.  What drove these changes?  You the consumer, did by requesting healthier options.   It is usually the government forcing manufacturers to make changes and now with social media, the consumer is in the driver�s seat.  So what is changing?

Kraft

Macaroni and Cheese:   has announced it is going to make macaroni and cheese without the synthetic colors or artificial preservatives. 

This change won�t take place until early 2016, but is good news for consumers.  Last March, a Change.org petition requested Kraft remove dyes from its mac and cheese.   This petition garnered over 365,000 signatures so carried a lot of weight with the company.  Before complying, Kraft went to the streets and met with families in their homes, talked to people in grocery stores. 

Dyes � yellow numbers 5 and 6 will be removed.   These will be replaced with paprika, annatto and turmeric to help keep the yellow color.

Capri Sun � Kraft has already replaced high fructose corn syrup with sugar in their Capri Sun products.  Healthier?  Maybe but Capri Sun isn�t a healthy choice.  Better to have 100% juice than Capri Sun.

Chipotle has removed genetically altered ingredients.  Since 2013, Chipotle noted which items contained GMO�s.  Is Chipotle GMO free?  Not exactly as some soft drinks contain sweeteners with GMO corn, and some of its meat and dairy still come from GMO grains fed animals. 

Pepsi � for those who enjoy Pepsi, this summer look for changes.  Pepsi announced it will replace the high fructose corn syrup with sugar.  Probably a move because soft drink consumption is on the decline.  But also because of growing consumer concerns about high fructose corn syrup. 

Panera Bread � I like Panera bread.  One can get a reasonably priced and healthy meal at Panera.  So what changes are they planning?  By 2016, they are dropping 150 artificial ingredients  like  saccharin, aspartame, maltodextrin, Azodicarbonamide,  Ethoxyquin. 

High Fructose Corn Syrup � probably good that manufacturers are replacing this in foods.  I have always tried to avoid it as much as possible.  A recent study has shown that drinking beverages sweetened with high fructose corn syrup can increase cholesterol and triglycerides in only two week.  The lead author noted, � It was a surprise that adding as little as the equivalent of a half-can of soda at breakfast, lunch and dinner was enough to produce significant increases in risk factors for cardiovascular disease,� said the lead author, Kimber L. Stanhope, a research scientist at the University of California, Davis. (High Fructose Corn Syrup)

Sources:  Kraft, Chipotle, Pepsi, Panera, High Fructose Corn Syrup Image source:  Kraft

Take the Sugar Challenge

A lot of experts are talking about the health hazards of eating too much added sugar.  And Americans love their sugar.  Who doesn�t love sweets and desserts?  However, added sugar is now in more and more processed foods and it is getting harder and harder to avoid added sugar.  A recent newsletter from Kaiser Permanente challenges their customers to take the 2 week Sugar Challenge.  Why?

1. Most Americans eat a lot of added sugar every day, about 26.5 teaspoons for ladies and 33.75 teaspoons for guys.  That is a lot of sugar.
2. How much added sugar is recommended?   The American Heart Association recommends we limit our added sugars to: 

• Women   6 teaspoons a day
• Men   9 teaspoons a day

The TWO WEEK SUGAR CHALLENGE

Cut out added sugar and artificial sweeteners from your diet for two weeks.   Why?  Believe it or not, this will actually help you reset your desire for sugary sweets.  Foods will taste sweeter and you will have less of a craving for sweets.  The Kaiser2 week sugar challenge: 

1. Don�t add sugar or artificial sweeteners to your food or drink.
2. Avoid teas, sodas, fruit drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks with added sugar or those that are artificially sweetened.  (Replace with mineral water, unsweetened teas, or add lemon, mint to ice water.) 
3.  Cut out added sugar foods such as cookies, cake, candy, yogurt, soy or almond milk, breakfast cereals (with added sugar), specialty coffees (avoid those syrups). 
4. Read food labels � aim for those foods with 5 grams or less of added sugar.

It is OK to continue to eat yogurt without added sugar, cereals such as oatmeal without added sugar, fresh fruit, milk.

Sugar= sucrose (white table sugar), honey, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, maple syrup, molasses, agave, evaporated can juice, coconut palm sugar, dextrose, barley malt, cane sugar, grape sugar, turbinado sugar, raw sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, brown rice syrup, date sugar.  

Even if you can�t give up all added sugars, can you cut back?  Can breakfast or lunch be added sugar free?  Take the sugar challenge and note how much sugar is being added to the foods you eat each day.

Sources:  Hooked on Sweets:  Take the sugar and artificial sweetener challenge,   Image source: 
Sugar