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Who’s Serving Wood In Your Food?
How much wood could a wood chuck, chuck? How much have we been chucking down all these years?
You’ve, no doubt, come across the ingredient cellulose on many packaged foods like ice cream, pizza, meat, macaroni, chips and more. Cellulose is also heavily found in fast food.
Cellulose sounds like a friendly word, but it’s actually processed virgin wood pulp, not actually digestible as we lack the appropriate enzymes. Like meat glue, it is another type of food filler to reduce costs, but also reduces nutrition and quality. The cellulose in these foods is the same product used in plastics, cleaners, kitty litter (for its absorbency), electrodes, break pads, glue, asphalt and much more.
The lengthy list below doesn’t begin to disclose all the adulterated foods, so it’s best to avoid all packaged and processed foods, especially those that list cellulose.
The USDA says the wood pulp is safe in meat in amounts under 3.5%, but the FDA does not regulate it in anything. Who’s to say just how many Wheat Thins one will consume before reaching an unsafe amount?
Cellulose is pawned off as “fiber” and you will see it on a lot of packages that claim “reduced fat!” or “high fiber.”
And who says eating a whole foods diet is like eating ply wood? Can’t be any worse than the wood pulp we’ve already unknowingly consumed.
~Health Freedoms
15 Food Companies that Serve You ‘Wood’
The recent class-action lawsuit brought against Taco Bell raised questions about the quality of food many Americans eat each day.
Chief among those concerns is the use of cellulose (wood pulp), an extender whose use in a roster of food products, from crackers and ice creams to puddings and baked goods, is now being exposed. What you’re actually paying for – and consuming – may be surprising.
Cellulose is virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured to different lengths for functionality, though use of it and its variant forms (cellulose gum, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, etc.) is deemed safe for human consumption, according to the FDA, which regulates most food industry products. The government agency sets no limit on the amount of cellulose that can be used in food products meant for human consumption.
[Note: Humans are unable to digest cellulose since we lack the appropriate enzymes to break it down. This is a food adulterant and another example of the wholly corrupt nature of the federal agency responsible for food safety but continues to prove itself more concerned with corporate profit. ~Ed]
The USDA, which regulates meats, has set a limit of 3.5% on the use of cellulose, since fiber in meat products cannot be recognized nutritionally.
“As commodity prices continue to rally and the cost of imported materials impacts earnings, we expect to see increasing use of surrogate products within food items. Cellulose is certainly in higher demand and we expect this to continue,” Michael A. Yoshikami, chief investment strategist at YCMNet Advisors, told TheStreet.
Manufacturers use cellulose in food as an extender, providing structure and reducing breakage, said Dan Inman, director of research and development at J. Rettenmaier USA, a company that supplies “organic” cellulose fibers for use in a variety of processed foods and meats meant for human and pet consumption, as well as for plastics, cleaning detergents, welding electrodes, pet litter, automotive brake pads, glue and reinforcing compounds, construction materials, roof coating, asphalt and even emulsion paints, among many other products.
Cellulose adds fiber to the food, which is good for people who do not get the recommended daily intake of fiber in their diets, Inman said [lied]. It also extends the shelf life of processed foods. Plus, cellulose’s water-absorbing properties can mimic fat, he said, allowing consumers to reduce their fat intake.
Perhaps most important to food processors is that cellulose is cheaper, he added, because “the fiber and water combination is less expensive than most other ingredients in the [food] product.”
Indeed, food producers save as much as 30% in ingredient costs by opting for cellulose as a filler or binder in processed foods, according to a source close to the processed food industry who spoke with TheStreet on the condition of anonymity.
Inman said that in his 30 years in the food science business, he’s seen “an amazing leap in terms of the applications of cellulose fiber and what you can do with it.” He said powdered cellulose has a bad reputation but that more of his customers are converting from things like oat or sugar cane fibers to cellulose because it is “snow white in color, bland and easy to work with.”
Most surprising, said Inman, is that he’s been able to remove as much as 50% of the fat from some cookies, biscuits, cakes and brownies by replacing it with powdered cellulose – but still end up with a very similar product in terms of taste and appearance.
“We’re only limited by our own imagination,” Inman told TheStreet. “I would never have dreamed I could successfully put 18% fiber in a loaf of bread two years ago.”
He said cellulose is common in processed foods, often labeled as reduced-fat or high-fiber – products like breads, pancakes, crackers, pizza crusts, muffins, scrambled eggs, mashed potato mixes, and even cheesecake. Inman himself keeps a box of Wheat Thins Fiber Selects crackers, manufactured by Kraft Foods Nabisco brand, at his desk, and snacks on them daily, clearly unmoved by the use of wood pulp in its ingredients.
“Most consumers would be shocked to find these types of filler products are used as substitutes for items that they believe are more pure,” Yoshikami said. “We would expect increased disclosure to follow increased use of cellulose and other filler products as the practice increases in frequency.”
To that end, TheStreet rounded up a list of popular foods that use cellulose. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, and we suggest consumers read food labels carefully.
DOLE FOOD
Peaches & Crème Parfait
Apples & Crème Parfait
GENERAL MILLS
Fiber One Ready-To-Eat Muffins – Used in:
Grilled Chicken Salad, Chicken Club Salad with Crispy Chicken, Meaty Breakfast Burrito, Hearty Breakfast Bowl
Cheese, Pepper Jack, Shredded – Used in:
Chicken Fajita Pita, Southwest Chicken Salad with Grilled Chicken, Meaty Breakfast Burrito
Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
Ice Cream Shake Mix
Log Cabin Syrup
Mini Funnel Cake
Mozzarella Cheese Sticks (also in Sampler Trio)
Smoothie Base: (Mango, Strawberry, Strawberry Banana)
Tortilla, Flour – Used in:
Chorizo Sausage Burrito, Steak & Egg Burrito, Meaty Breakfast Burrito
White Cheese Sauce – Used in Breakfast Bowl
KELLOGG
MorningStar Farms Chik’n Nuggets
MorningStar Farms Chik Patties Original
MorningStar Farms Buffalo Wings Veggie Wings
Eggo Nutri-Grain Blueberry waffles
Eggo Strawberry Waffles
Eggo Blueberry Waffles
Cinnabon Pancakes Original
Cinnabon Pancakes Caramel
Cinnabon Snack Bars Original
Cinnabon Snack Bars Baked Cinnamon Apple
KFC (YUM! BRANDS)
KFC Cornbread Muffin
Apple Turnover
Honey Mustard BBQ Sauce
Lil’ Bucket Strawberry Short Cake Parfait
Lil’ Bucket Lemon Crème Parfait
Lil’ Bucket Chocolate Crème Parfait
Oreo Cookies and Crème Pie Slice
Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie Slice
Popcorn Chicken
Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie Slice
KRAFT FOODS
Wheat Thins Fiber Selects
Frozen Bagel-Fuls
Macaroni & Cheese Thick ‘n Creamy
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Three Cheese W/mini-shell Pasta
MCDONALD’S
Fish Filet Patty
McRib
Premium Caesar Salad
Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap
Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken
Southern Style Chicken Biscuit
Strawberry Sundae
Natural Swiss Cheese – Used in:
McRib, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Angus Mushroom & Swiss, Premium Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich, Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich, Angus Mushroom & Swiss Snack Wrap
Shredded Cheddar/Jack Cheese – Used in:
Ranch Snack Wrap (Crispy and Grilled), Honey Mustard Snack Wrap (Crispy and Grilled), Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap (Crispy and Grilled), Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken, Premium Southwest Salad with/without Crispy/Grilled Chicken, Premium Bacon Ranch Salad with/without Crispy/Grilled Chicken, McSkillet Burrito with Sausage
Barbeque Sauce
Sweet ‘N Sour Sauce
Shredded Parmesan Cheese – Used in:
Premium Caesar Salad with/without Crispy/Grilled Chicken
Biscuit – Used to make:
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit, Sausage Biscuit with Egg, Sausage Biscuit, Southern Style Chicken Biscuit, Big Breakfast with/without Hotcakes
Vanilla Reduced Fat Ice Cream – Used in:
Strawberry Sundae, Hot Caramel Sundae, Hot Fudge Sundae, McFlurry with M&M’S Candies, McFlurry with OREO Cookies, Chocolate Triple Thick Shake, Strawberry Triple Thick Shake, Vanilla Triple Thick Shake
Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup, used in: Premium Roast Coffee, Espresso
NESTLE
Hot Cocoa Mixes: Mini Marshmallows, Rich Milk Chocolate, Chocolate Mint, Chocolate Caramel
PEPSI
Aunt Jemima Frozen Blueberry Pancakes
Aunt Jemima Original Syrup
Aunt Jemima Lite Syrup
PIZZA HUT (YUM! BRANDS)
Parmesan Romano Cheese
Taco Bean Sauce
Shredded Cheddar (for Taco Pizza)
Breadstick Seasoning – Used to make Cheese Breadsticks)
WingStreet Bone-In (in the batter)
Meatballs (for pasta products, sandwiches)
White Pasta Sauce – Used for:
PastaBakes Marinara, PastaBakes Meatball Marinara, PastaBakes Primavera, PastaBakes Chicken Primavera
Alfredo Sauce – Used for:
PastaBakes Marinara, PastaBakes Meatball Marinara, PastaBakes Primavera, PastaBakes Chicken Primavera
Fat Free Ranch Dressing
SARA LEE
Jimmy Dean Frozen Breakfast Bowl (Sausage & Gravy)
Jimmy Dean D-lights Turkey Sausage Breakfast Bowl
Jimmy Dean D-lights Turkey Sausage Croissant
Jimmy Dean Breakfast Entrée – Used in:
(Scrambled Eggs with Bacon/Sausage and Cheese Diced Apples & Seasoned Hash)
SONIC
Ice Cream
Sonic Blast
Banana Split
Ice Cream Cone
TACO BELL (YUM! BRANDS)
Southwest Chicken
Caramel Apple Empanada
Corn Tortilla
Enchilada Rice
Nacho Chips
Red Strips
Strawberry Topping
Zesty Dressing
WEIGHT WATCHERS INTERNATIONAL
Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich
English Toffee Crunch Ice Cream Bar
Giant Cookies & Cream Ice Cream Bar
WENDY’S ARBY’S
Asiago Cheese – Used in:
Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad, Asiago Ranch Chicken Club, Caesar Side Salad
Fat Free French Dressing – Used for:
Apple Pecan Chicken Salad, Baja Salad, Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad, BLT Cobb Salad
Blue Cheese Crumbles – Used in: Apple Pecan Chicken Salad, BLT Cobb Salad
Cheddar Pepper Jack Cheese Blend, Shredded
Chocolate Sauce
Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty (Chocolate, Vanilla)
Frosty (Chocolate and Vanilla)
Frosty Shake (Frosty-cino, Chocolate Fudge, Strawberry, Vanilla Bean)
Milk, 1% Low Fat Chocolate Milk
By Miriam Reimer
TheStreet.com
Source:
http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/15-food-companies-that-serve-you-wood/
DAMNIT!!!
Often time the ingredients are very hard to read because the writing is so tiny! Can you inform us on what “does not” contain cellulose and is there an enzyme to offset the effect cellulose has on the body?
Marguerite, thanks for your question – I looked into and found out even more! I plan to address this soon.
It is difficult to say what does not contain it since even the list above is only a sampling.
Whole foods and things that don’t come in packages. Things that don’t claim “Low or Reduced fat” or “High Fiber.” And of course, things that don’t have cellulose listed – we hope.
I don’t think there’s an enzyme to offset it because it really is like a fiber. It requires high heat and acid to break down but for us it probably passes through. i would like to think that’s good but since it is also a saccharide, I’m guessing we are supposed to be able to digest it more but cannot. Termites require special micro-organisms to digest it. Maybe we shouldn’t eat like termites.
I’m choosing to avoid until I find out more – I just don’t like fillers and I never would have guessed what cellulose was before. Plus, there are manufactured and microbial ones (found in diet foods) but how are we supposed to know which ones we are eating?
Maybe this cellulose is a good thing. It fills us up without putting fat on our bodies.
If it has nothing that our guts can absorb and is in practical terms chemically and biologically inert, it might not be something to worry about.
If wood cellulose can absorb the cholesterol that our digestive system produces (the majority of cholesterol that gets into our blood stream) as does oat bran (fiber, cellulose), then that might be a good way to lower blood serum cholesterol.
Other than being different than traditional food (which most manufactured snack food and all fast food is), is wood fiber really a problem for our health?
With this information I hope many many of the people will stop eating fast-food, processed foods. Oh, and stop drinking all the pop that is slowing killing them organ by organ
I am also amazed at how many vitamins contain cellulous. I always assumed it was due to the capsules and was part of the gelatin casing, but now it appears to be a filler that as a fiber might just block the absorption of the very nutrients in the pill you are taking. What a mess!
So feeding a non-toxic, indigestibe filler to a nation hovering around a 30% obesity rate is a bad thing? I understand cellulose has no nutritional value, but the laundry list of products the article provided was mostly junk food, snacks, and fast foods. Common sense serves most people well enough to know to not be looking for much nutritional value in those types of food items.
I’m not trying to incite an argument. I just fail to see how this article is supposed to move me to become concerned over the use of cellulose in already unhealthy food products.
Sorry to double comment, but I’d like to know how much cellulose is in a carrot.
Cellulose is very similar structurally to starch. The chemical bonds between the units in the chain are structured differently so that the human digestive enzymes cannot break down this particular polysaccharide. We obtain nothing nutritionally from it . . . it is the chemical material which makes a fibre. In this manner it is required within our digestive systems . . as material which passes through and carries other waste with it. All vegetable matter contains cellulose as it forms the basic structure of all plant cells.
Lettuce has cellulose in it, too… are we supposed to stop eating salad? Sheesh, some people like to take it too far with scare tactics.
We need fiber as part of our diet. Just because we can’t break it down into anything absorb-able doesn’t mean we don’t need it. I think we all know what a miserable experience it is to be, well, attached to the toilet for the day, to put it nicely.
It amazes me how little knowledge the general public has about nutrition. As an animal science major, I already knew humans were incapable of breaking down cellulose. We are omnivores, and get our nutrition from consuming a variety of foods. Hence why we raise ruminants like cattle for consumption- they aren’t competing with us for nutrition. A ruminant has a four-chambered stomach with the rumen (largest part) containing specialized bacteria to break cellulose down into VFAs that the ruminant can then absorb for nutrition. Hay contains mostly cellulose, among other nutrients, of course. We also feed other by-products that are otherwise unusable to us such as beet pulp (gee, more cellulose), almond hulls, cotton seeds, etc.
Most of the foods listed are junk foods. Our country has a very high obesity rate. Probably most obese people eat a good bit from this food list. So, is filling the food with wood fiber likely to be a good thing that will keep obesity down? I don’t think so. I think this report is a wake-up call to junk food eaters. We all need to eat more whole foods, real foods, and less junk foods and fast foods. It doesn’t take a college degree to figure out that people are not supposed to eat wood. The manufacturers won’t put it in if we stop buying it.
Since junk food is already nutrient deficient, adding cellulose for fiber/filler/extender/whatever just adds insult to injury in my opinion. For the junk food company it is PROFIT…the less nutrients the more people buy it as well since the body is craving nutrients and the general public doesn’t know why they crave anything…they’re just sleep walking through life…
It’s not the cellulose that is bad, it is the general mentality about food and the habits being instilled in the next generation’s unhealthy lifestyle. Such a sad, sad state of affairs ;-(
What is upsetting is that the food industry is intentionally deceptive about the additives in food. Cellulose is found in many edible plants, to include an inedible plant’s cellulose in food without identifying its source is wrong. In addition fiber which is indigestible should not be added to food. But then, when I look back at the last presidential election or at the present budget debates, the twist or slant the GOP gave to everything is, I guess, business as usual.
There is a difference between cellulose and fibre. Fibe is natural in food, such as the fibre in vegetables and fruit, and as such is helpful for our colons. Cellulose, according to this article is not a food so should not be consumed. You may as well eat the pencils people chew (on occasion) but no one in their right mind would suggest they eat a whole pencil if they are hungry. The trouble with the foods mentioned is that they all sound delicious and are a great attraction for children. They may fill them up but will not feed their bodies and make them strong and healthy.
Thank you for your article.
Okay, I’m giving up eating everything except chocolate covered ants.
If it has a label, it’s subject to marketing gurus
Get together with friends and start a garden. there are farms that you can visit and meet the farmer to find out how the animal fed and treated.
It’s your life,it’s up to you how much time and effort you put into it
Bottom line: We can easily get more than enough fiber from a proper diet. Why be trusting big coporations with something that is heavily procesed and good for there pocketbook.
It’s your body there expermenting on!
I think you will find the more you look into good health, the more you will find the need to get back to the garden.
I think you will also find the more you look into good personal financial security, the more you will find the need to get back to the garden. Sad but true.
A carrot is mostly cellulose– far, far more than a body can digest– and sugar.
This nation is horrifically fat, and we have no way to convince folk to eat less. Wood fiber is a benign way to drop some of the fat content from popular foods.
Barb, you are right and did you know that most all vitamins are made from
ground up rock and dirt and coal tar or petroleum based products and stated that they are NATURAL…. Yes they are natural to nature, but the
body can not process it!!!!! The molecules are to big for the body to digest…. and most pass right through you….down the drain untouched or changed…. most septic and sewage plants see them with the name still on them…. Why petroleum or oil when mixed in water and then let sit does what …the oil moves to the top…why….isn’t it heavier than water???
If we all practiced preventive health….by taking care of our $500 Million dollar bodies… we would not have diseases and need for disease care…. To build a plant with all the chemistry labs, and nerves, and senses, the foundation, and circulatory system and digestive, pulmonary, cells, and skin and glads, enzymes, and hormones and reproduction, and etc that are found in the bodies, that we take for granted…
that it would cost millions of dollars to build…
Yet we do not slip out the birth canal with owners manual in our fists… the parts of the body do not have to be replaced every 3,000 miles or 10 years… They last for 60 to 100 years… if they are taken care of…
patients that were 107 only came in because the trip over something and broke a bone… we asked what they contributed to their health…
they grew on farms and ate right out of the garden and meat from the grass fed animals and caught the fish in the creeks that irrigated the fields with fresh water and they drank fresh water…. They did not drink soda’s or alcohol or smoke.. and the rested and played and worked and were active in their communities.
Another culture… live to 130 years and still have their own teeth with no cavities and no disease…or arthritis.. they are healthy and hunt and gather their food every day…
We are just brained washed into believing that we have to age and get all these things…. just to make certain industries rich…
So how will you take care of your Million dollar body.. in today’s economy it is more like a Billion dollar body!
Blessings to your body and those of your off spring… you lead the way to their health too~!
[...] on six food industry horrors – there are many, many more of course. Some of them include the wood pulp, orange juice flavor packets, and fake blueberries. It also describes the myth of “free range” [...]
Every once in a while I like to pull this up and forward it to as many people as I can. This information is important in that the FDA has so strongly initiated and enforced “nutrition down our collective throats” that I strongly object to being forced to eat these types of foods classified as “healthy” It just doesn’t seem that the FDA has our best interests at heart, but does have their own agendas for receiving untold millions of dollars to justify and expand their existance. So! Anyone for an extra helping of Wood? Pass your plate!