Don’t dare eat those, Doritos!

                        

In my continuing attack on foods that expose people to chemicals and compounds impacting good health, today I go after the very popular snack chips, Doritos, from Frito Lay. The Topps Company spoofed the snack chip with the parody (to the left) in one of their Wacky Packages series, but this narcoleptic scene is far from the reality of the long-term exposure this food has on adults and children. 

The ingredients list for Frito Lay’s Nacho Cheese Doritos (shown below) could be an extra credit assignment for Chemistry majors: Maltodextrin; Monosodium Glutamate; Natural and Artificial Flavor; Dextrose; Artificial Colors: Yellow 6, Yellow 5 and Red 40; Disodium Inosinate, and Disodium Guanylate. A few of these are benign, while others are questionable if not problematic. Maltodextrin is a food additive (this is repeated again with others listed below) that is also used in sodas and candy. Monosodium Glutamate, or MSG, is a flavor compound, commonly known for its use at many Chinese restaurants. Before 1998, however, it was clumped with other flavor enhancers as ‘spices and flavorings.’ Despite arguments over the research concerning MSG, it is suspected that long-term consumption of the compound may cause neurodegenerative effects. Natural and Artificial Flavoring opens a host of possibilities from anything like ‘Beaver Anal Glands’ (a perfectly acceptable candidate for natural flavoring) to flavors derived from antifreeze, paint thinner, lice medicine, etc. (which are the bases for many artificial flavors in agribusiness). This is speculation, but what else can one do when Frito Lay and other food corporations choose an ambiguous term instead of transparency about the ingredients used in their foods? 

 

Dextrose, or Glucose, is a monosaccharide extracted from grape vines or other plants. Of all the ingredients indicated in this break down on the Doritos label, Dextrose is the most benign. When arriving to the Artificial Colors, however, the outlook takes a serious nose dive back into serious health warnings. Yellow 6, also referred to by the misleading, tranquil name of Sunset Yellow, is known to cause allergic reactions among people who have aspirin allergies. Yellow 5, called Tartrazine, is also common in processed foods like other snacks, desserts, sweets, beverages and condiments. There is concern that this coloring can cause asthma, migraines and hyperactivity in children. Red 40, also known as Allura Red AC, is suspected of also causing hyper-activity among children. 

The last two mentioned are food additives/flavor enhancers: Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate. Disodium Inosinate is found in instant noodles, potato chips and other snacks. It interacts with MSG to enhance the flavor of the snack chips. Disodium Guanylate is extracted from other dried fish or dried seaweed, the former creating concerns for vegans and vegetarians unaware of this additive. Like Disodium Inosinate, it too is used in instant noodles, other snacks, rice dishes and beef jerkies. It, however, is not safe for babies under 12 weeks to ingest or for asthmatics and those suffering from gout.  

Given the various concerns raised from the investigation of the ingredients in Frito Lay’s Nacho Cheese Doritos, perhaps simplifying people’s diets to foods that are natural is better than supporting the ‘ongoing lab experiments' agribusinesses have made of their customers, essentially the majority of Americans and consumers overseas.

I hate my Campbell’s, this soup makes me droop!

From time to time with a new generation, the Topps Company puts out editions of a children’s collector cards and stickers called ‘Wacky Packages.’ These ran first in the 1960s, later in 1970s and also the 1980s, with reprints and unreleased caricatures in the mid 2000s. Three examples of their high jinx of Campbell’s Soups are pictured above.

As a adolescent in the 1980s, I very much liked these spoofs on popular foods and consumer products. It goes without saying that I collected them. But as an adult and food justice advocate, I never thought I would be revisiting these mockeries of popular foods, toiletries, soaps and beauty products. In recent years, however, the multiplication of chemicals, inorganic compounds and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in common foods and care products to increase the shelf life, appearance, taste and performance will, in all likelihood, create unintended illnesses and health problems among the newer generations using them in the long-term. 

Case in point: view the ingredients list for Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup (shown above). Four of the ingredients listed: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Potassium Chloride, Flavoring, and Monopotassium Phosphate are disturbing for various reasons. First, a product derived from hybrids or GMOs, High Fructose Corn Syrup has been linked to various health problems including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular and liver diseases. On average, North Americans consume 51 pounds of High Fructose Corn Syrup every year in their diets. It is used in the soup as both a filler and sweetener but this is unnecessary considering that wheat flour is also used here as a filler and tomatoes are naturally sweet. But because it is inexpensive and promoted aggressively by corn growers it becomes a product in many processed foods.

Next, although there is less than 2% of the following, Potassium Sulfate, also known as Potash of Sulfur, is fertilizer. Flavoring, likely used for taste and possibly scent, is an ambiguous term that does not verify whether it is natural or artificial. Such ambiguity can only mean there is something malign about its use. Finally, Monopotassium Phosphate is both a fertilizer and a fungicide. In this case it is used as a food preservative, but the long-term consumption of these and other foods that use chemicals and other compounds are alarming in the long run. 

Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup is used for more than just soup. It is also used in other prepared dishes like meatloaf, stuffed bell peppers, chili and macaroni dishes. It is a brand name that started 145 years ago and is likely found on the shelves of low income and middle class homes. But rest assured the ingredients on today’s label do not reflect the ingredients used in the ascension of Campbell’s as a trusted name for canned soups. What is our society coming to when the apocalyptic visions a jester-card company begins, like Topps, coming true?