Apples good. Preservatives baaad.

Well, it's been eight days and my fruit tray has finally decided it's time to give up the ship and start decomposing. The green granny-smith apples went first, followed by the red apples and finally 50% of the grapes have decided its time to wilt a little. What gets me is that the red apples are still wet to the touch and are considerably still the same size. Notice how much the green apple slices have shrunk as they dried up and the moisture was removed.




Monday night, I stopped again at the same McDonalds on my route home. I purchased another Fruit & Walnut snack tray and asked the manager on duty if the trays are packed there at the store or if they are delivered from a distribution center. In his limited english, I deciphered that they come to the store that way -- meaning that the tray is probably several days older than the date I purchased it. No problem, it's what I expect when you buy frankenfood.


I also stopped at the store and picked up a regular everyday red apple (bottom right) and an organic apple (top) of the same type. I chopped up a few pieces and set them on an old plate next to the McDonald's tray to watch them decompose. Whee. It's almost like watching paint dry...except that probably won't give you cancer. .. anywhoo...

I walked away and made myself my cup of morning tea (yes, I've sworn off coffee for a while), wandered the house aimlessly and probably wasted about 20 minutes before I checked the plate again. The organic apples at the top of the plate (the ones treated with no preservatives, hormones, herbicides, fungicides or pesticides) are already turning brown.


The normal apples that you buy from the store are treated with pesticides at the very least, so I am not at the least bit suprized the organics went first, but the regular store apples (bottom right) look a little brownish, but still edible.

Shopping was easy when most food came from farms. Now, factory-made foods have made chemical additives a significant part of our diet. Most people may not be able to pronounce the names of many of these chemicals, but they still want to know what the chemicals do and which ones are safe and which are poorly tested or possibly dangerous. This listing provides that information for most common additives. A simple general rule about additives is to avoid sodium nitrite, saccharin, caffeine, olestra, acesulfame K, and artificial coloring. Not only are they among the most questionable additives, but they are used primarily in foods of low nutritional value... but why?

This picture was taken 24 hours from when I opened the package. I'll let the picture do the talking. My next step will be a call to the PR department of McDonalds. :)

~ J

I'm not loving it.

It's day four (Friday) and the Fruit & Walnut snack tray I bought at McDonalds on Monday is still relatively intact on my kitchen counter. Some of the pieces are starting to brown on the edges, but the majority of them are still edible-looking. You would at least expect some noticeable decomposing odor after four whole days, but this is frankenfood, remember? The green apples are starting to brown more than the red ones -- I suspect it has something to do with the acidic content of the apples. I am positive now that there is definitely some sort of preserving agent being used here, and is most likely the cause of our mouth irritation.

I went to the McDonalds website and viewed the Nutritional Facts.

Ingredients (Allergen statement in ALL CAPS.)

Apple Slices and Red Grapes: Apples, red grapes, calcium ascorbate (a blend of calcium and vitamin C added to maintain natural freshness and color.

Low Fat Yogurt: Cultured pasteurized Grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, food starch-modified, fructose, whey protein concentrate, corn starch, kosher gelatin, natural (plant source) and artificial flavor, potassium sorbate (added to maintain freshness), artificial color. CONTAINS: MILK.

Candied Walnuts: Walnuts (TBHQ added as a preservative), sugar, peanut oil, dry honey, salt, wheat starch, maltodextrin, xanthan gum, soy lecithin, natural (plant source) and artificial flavor.

CONTAINS: WHEAT, SOY LECITHIN, TREE NUTS (WALNUTS). MAY CONTAIN SHELL PARTS, OTHER TREE NUTS AND PEANUTS.

But this is way different than what's on the wrapper. The wrapper seems majorly down-played and there's something not listed above. This is what the wrapper says:

Apple slices and red grapes: Apples, red grapes calcium ascorbate (a blend of calcium and vitamin C added to maintain natural color), or Apples, red grapes, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C added to maintain natural color), calcium chloride.

So basically, we get apples and grapes with calcium ascorbate or calcium chloride.

WTF? Calcium Chloride?! Are you kidding me? Time to bring out my Wiki. Here's what I found on Calcium Chloride:

* It is used in concrete mixes to help speed up the initial setting.

* It is used for dust control on some highways.

* It's also used as an ingredient in canned vegetables to maintain firmness.

* Used as an additive in plastics.

* Used as an ingredient in the Cadbury Caramilk chocolate bar (reason unknown)

* Used as a drainage aid for wastewater treatment.

* Aqueous Calcium Chloride is used in genetic transformation of cells by increasing the cell membrane permeability. This allows DNA fragments to enter the cell more readily. (Freaky!)

* Tire ballast

* Additive in fire extinguishers

* Additive to control scaffolding in blast furnaces

* It can be used to make ersatz caviar from vegetable or fruit juices

* It is used in Smartwater and some sports drinks as an Electrolyte

* It is used to make fabric softener thinner.

..and we're eating this? Freaky.

Time to do some homework. You can learn more about the E-Series of chemicals, additives & preservatives here at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_number
or
http://www.foodlaw.rdg.ac.uk/additive.htm#3

Look at the ingredient list on the packaging of foods you eat regularly. Look up a chemical or an ingredient you don't recognize and see what it's made of and what else it's used in. In the UK, there are many of these ingredients that are not allowed in foods, unlike here in America. They learned that some of them just aren't safe. I have read extensively on the UK Food laws and I must say that it's impressive. But that's a blog for another time.


..i'm still not done yet. I have plans. :)

~ J

Apples keep McDonalds in the preservatives business

So it's Monday night and 8:30pm. I've just left the gym and I had only a lite dinner. I had it in my head that it's ok to have just a fruit parfait and a bottle of water as a late night snack. Something in my head told me better, but I didn't listen.

I get up to the drive-thru and I notice on the menu brightly that they have a new item. Well, it's new to me because I hit McDonalds about twice a year. Anywhoo.. I do the math in my head and figure out that the Apple, Grape & Yogurt tray for $1.89 would be a lot less grams of sugar and probably a better nutritional choice. I order it and drive away happy I made a positive choice.

After fighting with the outer package covering I finally have it open. I notice that there are red and green apple slices mixed in amongst a few stray grapes. Cool deal. I bite into one of the apples and begin to choke. My tongue starts to burn with a fire only similar to gargling bleach. I can feel the burn on the roof of my mouth, and around my gums. I roll down my window and spit it out onto the street while going about 40mph. Sorry about that, officer.

I close up the package and take it home to my husband to see if it's just "me". He bites into one of the apples and immediately gives me the same reaction I had just experienced. Upon examination of the package ingredients, it shows no deliberate preservatives but mentions (more than twice!) that "Vitamin C added as a preservative". In what form? Did they add Vitamin C to formaldehyde and spray it on? I notice on the web site that there are a lot fewer ingredients listed in the nutritional values than on the packaging... A major red flag.

I kept the container on my kitchen counter for three days. So far, the apples still look perfect, including the one that was bitten into. No browning, bruising or decomposing. The grapes have not wilted either. There's a problem here, folks!

Here's a picture of the tray, day three in my 70F house. Think I might have an experiment on my hands. I'll see how long it lasts before I take my report to the corporation. :)

Keep checking back.

~ J