Finding Hidden Ingredients on Food Labels

What’s really hiding in the packaged “health foods” you buy might surprise you…

Salt and sugar can be labeled under almost 100 different names. shutterstock

Life has gotten so hectic we barely have time to run to the grocery store when we need to restock the pantry. So it’s a quick dash in, and a cursory look at what’s on the nutrition label to make sure it doesn’t contain too much sugar or preservatives and fits in with our new year’s resolution to eat healthier, and we’re on our way to a healthier lifestyle and smaller waistline. Sounds simple, right? Wrong.It seems like the more laws that are created to regulate food labels, the more complicated they are to read. This isn’t just because there’s more information on them, it’s also because manufacturers looking to cut costs and cut corners are finding more creative names and ways to sneak in food additives that have become unpopular with consumers because studies have shown they lead to disease. The problem is these food additives taste good, so innocent consumers are being duped into buying products they think are healthy, but in reality contain the same ingredients they’re trying to avoid, just listed under an unfamiliar name.

Sugar

According to the USDA, the average American consumes between 150 and 170 pounds of refined sugars per year. That’s more than some adults weigh, and breaks down to a full cup of sugar per day! You might see that number and think there’s no way you eat that much because you make a concerted effort to eat healthy and avoid added sugars. You could be right, or sugar could be hiding in plain sight – right on the label – under names and products that might not even have to be listed in the total sugars on the nutrition label.

Here are more than 50 names sugar can be disguised as on a food label:

Agave Nectar Barbados Sugar Barley Malt Beet Sugar Blackstrap Molasses Brown Sugar Buttered Syrup Cane Juice Crystals Cane Sugar Caramel Castor Sugar

Carob Syrup Confectioner’s Sugar Corn Syrup Corn Syrup Solids Crystalline Fructose Date Sugar Demerara Sugar Dextran Dextrose Diastatic Malt Diatase

Ethyl Maltol Evaporated Cane Juice Florida Crystals Fructose Fruit Juice Fruit Juice Concentrate Galactose Glucose Glucose Solids Glucose Syrup Golden Sugar

Golden Syrup Grape Sugar High Fructose Corn Syrup Honey Icing Sugar Invert Sugar Lactose Malt Syrup Maltodextrin Maltose Maple Syrup

Molasses Muscovado Organic Raw Sugar Panocha Raw Sugar Refiner’s Syrup Sugar Rice Syrup Sorghum Syrup Sucrose Treacle Turbinado Sugar Yellow Sugar

Diets high in refined sugars contribute to inflammation, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver, high blood pressure, and most chronic inflammatory diseases. Sugar can suppress immune function, cause blood sugar imbalance, and feed an unhealthy microbiome (think Candida and parasites) and even cancer. Sugar is hiding in everything from ketchup to sausage, low fat milk and fruit juices and so much more. Careful label reading, looking for all of the above names, is important to reduce your sugar intake, especially when you are already fighting a disease or want to lose weight.

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

MSG was discovered in 1908 by a Japanese chemist named Ikeda Kikunae, who isolated the flavor enhancer from sea kelp, which was a common ingredient in broth at that time. He was looking for an inexpensive way to reproduce what was responsible for its distinct umami flavor and was so satisfying to the taste buds. MSG quickly became a status symbol for wealthy Japanese housewives to proudly display on their dining tables and serve generously to their guests. From there, it spread to China, Taiwan, and the US.