I was craving the Good Egg's tasty tempeh hash the other morning, and I knew I'd want to enjoy it with a dollop of ketchup. But I also knew Heniz - standard issue ketchup for most restaurants in Portland - contains high fructose corn syrup.
More chemical than edible, high fructose corn syrup has been linked to diabetes and obesity and shown to contain mercury. I try my best to avoid it. Still I'm realistic about my love of restaurants, and how it means I don't always know if (or when) I'm eating fake foods.
But it's hard to ignore the high fructose corn syrup when it's staring at your from a label. So I now bring my own. I use this Stonewall Kitchen jam jar, fill it with organic ketchup and tuck it inside my purse. Once the food arrives, I savor the ketchup's tangy sweet touch and relish my avoidance of at least one fake food pitfall.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Fake ketchup and how to avoid it
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5 comments:
Hahaha! We are the same neurotic vegan in different cities--I bring a container of Earth Balance to my bagel place because their margarine is hydrogenated.
Tempeh scramble sounds great. What's in it?
Because of the mercury content, I became extra cautious about avoiding high fructose corn syrup when I became pregnant. Interestingly, doctors and pregnancy books don't alert you to avoid the stuff - like they do fish containing mercury. I'm with you on the ketchup and only eat Heinz's Organic.
For more interesting reading on the topic, check out Rabelais' blog post in January about High Fructose Corn Syrup and Mercury http://rabelaisbooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/high-fructose-corn-syrup-and-mercury-in.html
Great idea! I avoid HFCS too, but when I'm at restaurants, I don't really worry about it (since I rarely eat out). But a travel container is a great idea!
What a great idea. I usually bring my own bancha tea there. Have you noticed their "hot" water is always lukewarm? I do love their tofu veggie scramble!
My nephew uses the ketchup when we go, so I'm surprising him next time & bringing the Annie's brand we have in the fridge!
I'm sure that organic ketchup is delicious. I just saw that 'king corn' documentary/movie last week about how high fructose corn syrup is in everything and lately I've been trying to avoid that sweetner as well. It's in almost everything! (except for fresh foods of course)
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