Apples, Velveeta, and Orange Juice
I have found myself in several conversations lately about food prices, processed foods, nutrition, health, etc. I think I have mentioned before that my educational background is in Home Economics, known now by other names, much to my chagrin. Nutrition and Food Science are a couple of the major parts of Home Economics, and have always been of special interest to me. The level of misunderstandings and misinformation about foods just keep rising and rising right along with food prices and concern about the effects on our health, so I thought I would do a series on some helpful information on foods and nutrition.
When I was in college taking Food Science, we had to choose a single food (mine was apples) and research everything about it—how it is produced, the various market forms it takes (apples, for example, are fresh, dried, canned, and frozen), and the laws and regulations covering that food. This was, of course, long before the internet or even widely available computers, so I had to do my research at the library. The regulations and laws were contained in a huge wall of books that held USDA and FDA laws and regulations. Here is an example of such laws regarding applesauce from the FDA regulations: “§ 145.110 Canned applesauce.
Identity—( 1) Definition. Canned applesauce is the food prepared from comminuted or chopped apples (Malus domestica Borkhausen), which may or may not be peeled and cored, and which may have added thereto one or more of the optional ingredients specified in paragraph (a) (2) of this section.” Note that the regulation specifies the botanical name of apples, presumably to keep them from being confused with, say, pears or horse apples (hah!) This regulation goes on beyond what I have copied here to get very specific as to the processing and allowable additives, such as sugar, spices, and preservatives. At the time I was really intrigued by these regulations and looked up lots more foods. I learned, for example, that in order for a product to be labeled “Mayonnaise,” it has to consist of oil, egg yolks, and either vinegar or lemon or lime juice, and can have a few other specified seasonings and additives. This is why, despite the fact that it looks very similar, Miracle Whip is totally unrelated to mayonnaise—it contains mostly water, oil, and high fructose corn syrup. The other day some friends had a conversation about Velveeta—whether or not it is actually cheese. It is indeed cheese which has been melted then blended with other milk ingredients and food starch. The process of melting the cheese then blending in a few other ingredients is what makes Velveeta melt smoothly when you make queso or mac and cheese with it. It keeps Velveeta from “breaking” into protein clumps and milk fat the way natural, unprocessed cheese can when it is heated. Because Velveeta has been processed this way and has a small amount of other ingredients added, it cannot be legally be labeled as “cheese.” Instead, it is labeled as “Pasteurized Processed Recipe Cheese Product.” If you look closely, you will see that what my family calls sandwich cheese, like Kraft Singles, are labeled in a very similar way. Go to your pantry or refrigerator and look at how foods are labeled, then turn the package around and read the ingredients in those foods. You may find that very few of the ingredients are recognizable as food, or you may find that some things are much simpler and more straightforward than you would have thought. The next time you are scrolling through things on your phone, look up something like “U.S. Legal requirements for Orange Juice.” Then look closely at the label of drinks that seem to be orange juice, like Sunny D, for example. Spoiler Alert! Sunny D is less than 2% juice of any kind.
I feel certain I could stay on this topic for months or maybe even years. My aim is to arm you with some information to help you make the most of your food dollars and do the best for both enjoyment and health. Let me know if you have a question or topic you would like to have addressed.