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The Different Categories Of Processed Food

September 2, 2023 at 5:06 pm · Filed under Books, NutriNibbles-Organic-Health, The Nibble

Ultra-Processed People Book Cover
[1] We have become a culture of ultra-processed people (photo © W. W. Norton & Company).

How much do you think about processed food? We want to share some information from Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food, by Chris van Tulleken.

The review, written by Jacob E. Gersen, the Sidney Austin professor of law at Harvard Law School and director of the Food Law Lab.

What is ultra-processed food?

According to a relatively recent classification scheme called NOVA, created by researchers in Brazil (see image below):

Food Group 1 is defined as “unprocessed or minimally processed foods,” things like meat, fruit, flour, and pasta.

Food Group 2 is “processed culinary ingredients”—oils, butter, sugar, honey, and starches.

Food Group 3 is “processed food”: ready-to-eat mixtures of the first two, processed for preservation, meaning beans, bread, salted nuts, and smoked meat.

Food Group 4 is “ultra-processed foods,” defined as formulations of ingredients, “mostly of exclusive industrial use, made by a series of industrial processes, many requiring sophisticated equipment and technology.” This includes “junk food”: candy bars, energy drinks, packaged snacks, soda, sugary cereals, and surprisingly, infant formula.

While they are now linked to the leading cause of early death globally (including obesity) and the number one cause of environmental destruction, almost all our staple foods are ultra-processed.

Ultra-processed food (UPF) products are specifically engineered to behave as addictive substances, driving excess consumption.

UPF is our food culture and for many people, it is the only available and affordable food [source].

Because ultra-processed food’s defining characteristic is a rapacious profit motive, relays Gersen, the book’s warnings about the bodily harm it causes, including obesity, often veer into attacks on corporate greed and late industrial capitalism.

> Read the full book review here.

> Buy the book here.

[2] NOVA Food Classification (image © Frontiers In Nutrition).

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Delicious Sugar-Free Brownies & Bars From Silverland Bakery

September 1, 2023 at 1:47 pm · Filed under Cookies-Cake-Pastry, Giftable, Party Favors-Stocking Stuffers, Top Pick Of The Week

You probably don’t have to go too far to find a good brownie. But if you need a sugar-free brownie, you may be stymied. That’s why our Top Pick Of The Week is the selection of sugar-free brownies and bars from Silverland Bakery.

Silverland Bakery was established 40 years ago in Chicago. Founder Athena Uslander was a structural engineer who needed a change.

She had been baking brownies for years and decided to open a bakery, creating a menu of old-fashioned bars, raw bars, cookies, crispy rice treats, and customized products.

She sold her delicious wares to wholesale customers as well as to consumers.

All these years later, her small-batch recipes continue to be hand-made with locally sourced, high-quality, all-natural ingredients and are preservative-free. “Crafted by heart and hand,” she says.

Silverland also makes conventual brownies and cookies, plus a Keto bars, gluten-free bars and vegan bars and cookies.

We encourage you to check out the full offering on the website as we focus her on the sugar-free line.

For friends and family who don’t eat sugar, you can keep them in the freezer to pop out for their visits. And we promise you that a gift of these sugar-free delights will be most appreciated.

SUGAR-FREE BROWNIES & BARS

This line is great for those with dietary restrictions who cannot consume sugar. Gifts, party favors. All are sweetened with maltitol except for the Keto brownie, which is made with erythritol*. All are made with butter.

No Sugar Added Cocoa Cow Brownie, a marbled cheesecake brownie.

No Sugar Added Raspberry Crumble Bar isn’t yet on the website, but it was our favorite! Call or write to order.

Sugar-Free Chocolate Brownie With Nuts, topped with walnuts.

Sugar-Free Blondie, a chewy oatmeal batter with brown sugar, complemented with walnuts and chocolate morsels.

Sugar-Free Double Chocolate Brownie, chocolatey and moist, with mini chocolate morsels on top.

Sugar-Free Lemon Bar, tart and tangy lemon curd on a shortbread crust.

There are also no-sugar-added and sugar-free cookies that we hope to try next:

Sugar-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Sugar-Free Double Chocolate Cookie.

No Sugar Added Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.

Sugar-Free Versus No Sugar Added

According to the FDA:

Sugar-Free means that one serving† contains less than 0.5 grams of sugars, both natural (e.g., the natural sugar in raisins) and added. You may also see it labeled as free of sugar, sugarless, no sugar, zero sugar, or a trivial source of sugar.

No Added Sugar means that no sugar or any ingredient containing sugar was added during processing or packaging. You may also see it labeled as without added sugar or no sugar added.

Here’s another term for your reference:

Reduced Sugar has at least 25% less sugar than the regular version of the product. You may also see it labeled as less sugar, low in sugar, or lower sugar.

GET YOUR BROWNIES & BARS

The bars arrive frozen. You can keep them in the freezer; alternately, they have a one-month refrigerated shelf life.

Head to SilverlandBakery.com to make your selection.

(Note that as a small family business, Silverland Bakery doesn’t always have time to update its website. Call or write if you don’t see what you want: info@silverlandbakery.com, 1.708.488.0800.)

[1] A trio of delightful bars (all photos © Silverland Bakery).

[2] Premium, sugar-free dark chocolate gives the brownies great flavor.

[3] We’re in love with these no-sugar-added raspberry crumble bars.

[4] If you prefer your brownies with walnuts.

[5] Treat someone to a gift box.

________________

*Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, a group of noncaloric sweeteners that includes isomalt, maltitol, sorbitol, and xylitol. It has a glycemic index of zero and doesn’t raise blood sugar or insulin significantly. It works well in both cooking and baking. Here’s more about sugar alcohols and Keto diets.

†“One serving” refers to the labeled serving size and/or the reference amount customarily consumed.

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For National Trail Mix Day, Make Your Own Trail Mix With These Ingredients

August 31, 2023 at 6:35 pm · Filed under Food Fun, Food Holidays, Recipes, Snacks, The Nibble

August 31st is National Trail Mix Day, a snack we love to throw together with healthy ingredients like nuts, raisins, and other dried fruits—plus chocolate chips or toffee chips, of course!

Originally called GORP (Good Old Raisins and Peanuts) and created as an energy snack for hikers, trail mix can suit the palates of everyone, combining salty, sweet, nutty, and fruity.

> The history of trail mix.

> 12 more uses for trail mix.

WHAT AMERICA WANTS IN THEIR TRAIL MIX

MyProtein, a leading sports nutrition brand, offers a range of products from healthy snack alternatives to protein powder, vitamins, and minerals.

The team at MyProtein did some research in advance of National Trail Mix Day using a year of Google Trends search volume.

They found every state’s ideal trail mix combination of favorite salty, sweet, nutty, and fruity ingredients in every state. Here are the results.

The surprise is how often popcorn appears. Maybe, if you’re eating the trail mix that day, we think.

Keep it in a mix with raisins and other dried fruits, and some moisture will leach into the popcorn and make it soggy the next day.

Instead, go for caramel corn. The sugar coating will help keep it crispy.

Regional Results

The most searched ingredient in:

The Midwest is popcorn.

The Northeast is Cheerios.

The South is peanuts.

The West had no regional winner—it seems like they have the widest variety of tastes!

The Most Popular Ingredients Overall

#1 Popcorn

#2 Peanuts

#3 Reese’s Pieces

#4 Marshmallows

#5 Wasabi peas

What about trail mix does your state really find tasty? Find out here. Hint: Nobody thought it was the raisins!

THE NIBBLE’S TRAIL MIX LIST

We’re making a list and checking it twice because it’s hard to winnow down all of these great nibbles.

While you can select as few as four ingredients, five or six give you a more rounded recipe.

If you find that you want 10 or more ingredients, make two different batches and see which you prefer.

Another way—and way fun—is to have a trail mix party, and let everyone make their own batch. There’s more about it below.

Savory Ingredients

Cheerios

Cheese Puffs

Chex

Chickpeas (roasted)

Dried Herbs

Edamame (roasted)

Jerky

Nuts (Almond, Brazil, Cashew, Hazelnut, Macadamia, Peanut, Pecan, Pistachio, Walnut)

Popcorn

Pretzels

Pumpkin seeds

Sesame sticks

Wasabi peas

Sweet Ingredients

Banana Chips

Berries: Blueberry, Cranberry, Strawberry (Dried)

Cacao/Cocoa Nibs

Caramel Corn

Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans

Chocolate Chips/Chunks

Coconut Chips

Granola

M&Ms

Mini Marshmallows

Other Dried Fruit: Apple, Apricot, Cherry, Mango, Pineapple, Raisin, Sultana

Peanut Butter Candies/Cups

Peanut Butter Chips

Raisins

Reese’s Pieces

Toffee Bits

Yogurt Covered Raisins

White Chocolate Chips

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN TRAIL MIX

Mix and match:

Candy: carob chips, chocolate chips/chunks, crystallized ginger, mini marshmallows, M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, toffee, yogurt clusters.

Cereal: Cheerios, Chex, Corn Flakes, graham cracker cereal, Grape Nuts, mini shredded wheat, rolled oats.

Dried fruits: apples, apricots, banana chips, blueberries, candied orange peel (gourmet!), coconut, dates, dried cherries, and cranberries (our favorites!), dried mango, figs, raisins.

Exotica: crystallized ginger, Japanese rice crackers, jerky bits, sesame sticks, wasabi peas.

Nuts almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, or other favorite (chop large nuts into chunks).

Savory: freeze-dried edamame, peas or veggie chips; pretzels, mini crackers, roasted chickpeas, soybeans or soy nuts, wasabi peas.

Seeds: chia, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), sunflower seeds

SET UP A TRAIL MIX PARTY BAR

Let guests make their own party favors—i.e., their DIY signature trail mix. Set up a table with:

Different trail mix ingredients.

Plastic snack bags.

Wide Sharpies so people can keep track of whose is whose.

Scoops for filling the bags (we used our set of measuring cups).

A “dump bucket” for mistakes, e.g., someone added peanuts to his mix and then decided against them. He can just dump his whole mix into the bucket and start over. Afterward, you’ll find takers for the “bucket batch.”

TRAIL MIX RECIPES

Trail Mix Recipe

Spicy Trail Mix Popcorn

Trail Mix Peanut Butter Sandwich