I used to love Nutella when I was kid–that is
before studying nutrition and discovering its harmful ingredients. The scariest
thing that people don’t know about Nutella is that it contains monosodium glutamate
(MSG), also known as E621. It’s cleverly hidden inside an artificial flavor
called vanillin which is labeled on every Nutella jar. It also contains the
toxic GMO emulsifier soy lecithin and palm oil whose extraction is ravaging
forests and wildlife throughout the world.
Nutella was introduced in 1964 by the Italian
company Ferrero who still manufactures the product, however they do have local
manufacturers in many countries.
As kids we went crazy over nutella in the 70s
and 80s, but parents back then weren’t taking as many precautions as they are
today, especially when it comes to reading ingredient labels.
According to the official US Nutella Website,
the ingredients are as follows:
“sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim
milk, reduced minerals whey (milk), soy lecithin as emulsifier, vanillin: an
artificial flavor”
Nutella claims their product contains “No
Artificial Colors and No Artificial Preservatives”.
The definition of artificial is “made or
produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally.” Every single one of
their ingredients goes through very heavy processing which would imply that the
natural state of these ingredients which contribute to color and preservation
is completely absent from their formula. Their soy lecithin alone is about as
artificial as an emulsifier/preservative gets
Nutella contains 67% saturated fat and
processed sugar by weight. A two-tablespoon (37 gram) serving of Nutella contains
200 calories, 11 grams of fat, 3.5 of which are saturated and 21 grams of
sugar. To put that into perspective, a typical chocolate and nut candy bar has
250 to 300 calories and 12 to 16 grams of fat.
VANILLIN: AN ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR (MSG)
When most people see vanillin, they think…oh
it has vanilla. However, this is likely one of the most harmful ingredients in
Nutella. Scent and flavor of vanillin are nothing but chemicals. When we talk
about actual real-life non-imitation vanilla flavor, what we’re really talking
about is a bunch of molecules that are extracted from a vanilla bean.
The grandest chemical of all of these is
vanillin. Sure, vanilla has plenty of other odor molecules, but vanillin is
about 95% of the scent. And, thanks to technology, you can make it cheaply from
petroleum and in a lab. The largest vanillin manufacturers in the world are in
China and more than 90% of food products manufactured contain vanillin from
China including Nutella.
The worst part of vanillin is that it
contains unlabeled MSG. It is not a nutrient, vitamin, or mineral and has no
health benefits. The part of MSG that negatively affects the human body is the
“glutamate”, not the sodium. The breakdown of MSG typically consists of 78%
glutamate, 12% sodium, and about 10% water. Any glutamate added to a processed
food is not and can not be considered naturally occurring. Natural glutamate in
plants and animals is known as L-glutamic acid. MSG Lurks As A Slow Poison In
Common Food Items Without Your Knowledge and vanillin is one of them.
MSG has been proven to act as an excitotoxin
which stimulates the reward system of the brain, so we think it tastes better
(than it actually does) and consequently consume more.
There are a growing number of Clinicians and
Scientists who are convinced that excitotoxins play a critical role in the
development of several neurological disorders, including migraines, seizures,
infections, abnormal neural development, certain endocrine disorders, specific
types of obesity, and especially the neurodegenerative diseases; a group of
diseases which includes: ALS, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease,
Huntington’s disease, and olivopontocerebellar degeneration.
PALM OIL
Palm oil is taken from the fruit of the oil
palm tree.
The use of palm oil in processed foods, its
most widespread application in the United States, jumped sharply after
government authorities took aggressive steps to reduce the trans fat content in
processed foods. The Center for Science in the Public Interest reports that
palm oil is second only to soybean oil in terms of worldwide popularity as a
food oil.
In support of its warnings about the dangers
of palm oil, the center cites two meta-analyses that show that palm oil raises
blood cholesterol levels. A 1997 British analysis evaluated 147 human trials
and concluded that palmitic acid, an active ingredient in palm oil, raised
total blood cholesterol levels. A Dutch analysis, released in 2003, weighed
data from 35 clinical studies and found that palmitic acid significantly
increased the ratio of total cholesterol to so-called “good cholesterol,” a
widely recognized risk factor for heart disease.
In a study published in a 1999 issue of
“Plant Foods for Human Nutrition,” three Nigerian biochemistry researchers
extol some of the nutrients found in fresh palm oil, but point out that the oil
in an oxidized state can threaten physiological and biochemical functions of
the body. They acknowledge that manufacturers of processed foods oxidize palm
oil in their products for a variety of culinary purposes, meaning that much of
the palm oil consumers eat is in an oxidized state. The dangers of oxidized
palm oil include organotoxicity of the heart, kidney, liver and lungs, as well as
reproductive toxicity, the researchers claim. Additionally, they note, oxidized
palm oil can cause an increase in free fatty acids, phospholipids and
cerebrosides.
Indonesia has achieved its goal of becoming
one of the two largest palm-oil producers and exporters in the world. But at
what cost?
At least half of the world’s wild orangutans
have disappeared in the last 20 years; biologically viable populations of
orangutans have been radically reduced in size and number; and 80 percent of
the orangutan habitat has either been depopulated or totally destroyed. The
trend shows no sign of abating: government maps of future planned land use show
more of the same, on an increasing scale.
In Malaysia, peat swamp forests are being
obliterated, and the disappearing forests endangering the habitat of the “pygmy
elephant — the smallest elephant on Earth — the clouded leopard, the long-nosed
tapir and many rare birds.”
As word spreads about the devastation that
palm oil cultivation can cause, people are beginning to take notice and
companies are beginning to make changes. Sustainable palm oil is in its
infancy, and according to Worldwatch Institute, palm oil sustainability
criteria remain controversial.
Check out saynotopalmoil.com to get a full
perspective on what’s happening throughout the world because of palm oil.
Palm Oil is simply another ingredient that needs to be banned from our
food supply. We don’t need it if it’s not sustainable in the health of our
ecosystems or wildlife.
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