So, what would you think is in a "fruit flavored drink"??

OK – so I’m in the grocery store yesterday, and I see a family letting a small child pick out a “treat” from the drink aisle.  As I work my way down the aisle, I see the shelf where the family had made its selection.  I look at the drink that catches my eye first – and am subsequently horrified.  And this is only one of several similar selections on the shelf.  

My original idea for this post was to rant about the evils of business and marketing crap to our children, however, after sitting with it for a little while,  instead, I offer a question:

As a society, how did we get to the place where we have given control of our food to people who would not only manufacture the product below, but then market it to our children and creatively label it to confuse shoppers??

Please, please read the labels on any processed food to be aware of what you are putting in your body.  I know I’ve been surprised several times when reading labels of products I thought would be OK.

If we truly treated our bodies with the loving care they deserve, we would demand fresh, nutritious food.  We are sacrificing our health and well being in the name of convenience.  Real food can be nutritious, easy, tasty, and fun.  I love Michael Pollan’s advice:  “If it came from a plant, eat it.  If it was made in a plant, don’t.”

Tum-E Yummies Fruit Flavored Drink

Ingredients: 

Along  with the supposed health claims, it also notes in tiny print: “Contains 0% Juice”

Filtered Water
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Natural Flavor  (could be anything that started as a plant or animal source)
Citric Acid (natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks.)
Ascorbic Acid (one form of vitamin C)
Potassium Sorbate (mainly used as a preservative in preprocessed foods to help prevent mold, fungi and yeast growth. It is a white salt that is very soluble in water.)
Potassium Benzoate (the potassium salt of benzoic acid is a food preservative that inhibits the growth of mold, yeast and some bacteria. One interesting use of Potassium Benzoate is that it is used to create the “whistle” sound in fireworks.)
Sucralose (an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body, so it is noncaloric.)
Calcium Disodium EDTA (may sound like a salt, but it is not, the proper name is the EDTA which is short for Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. It is made from a concoction of formaldehyde, sodium cayanide, and Ethylenediamine)
FD&C Red #40 (a synthetic dye produced from petroleum)
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (one of the compounds that can be called vitamin B6)
Gum Acacia (functions as a suspending or emulsifying agent, stabilizer, adhesive, flavor fixative and inhibitor of sugar crystallization)
Cyanocobalamin (the most common and widely produced form of the chemical compounds that have vitamin B12 activity)
Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin (an oil-soluble food additive used in foods, beverages, and cosmetics to keep oils in suspension in water. It is also used as an ingredient in the production of chewing-gum and ice cream)
FD&C Blue #1 (a synthetic dye produced from petroleum)