
You cannot sell Pepsi in the school (which is cool with me) but you CAN sell this crap masquerading as a health food (which is NOT cool with me.)

You cannot sell Pepsi in the school (which is cool with me) but you CAN sell this crap masquerading as a health food (which is NOT cool with me.)
Now, the box of Three Cheese Shellls is old news, but I neglected to get a picture of just the box on the left, Kraft Dinner "Smart" Three Cheese Pasta Dinner, which claims to give you a half serving of vegetables along with your daily dose of fat and sodium. (The vegetables apparently come in the form of pureed cauliflower in the pasta.)
It turns out that spotting this product was a bit like spotting a Yeti; no one seems to have ever heard about it before, and even Kraft's own website seems to imply that it doesn't actually exist. I feel special.
I wanted to get the low-down on this rare creature, so I bought it along with the Three Cheese shells in order to make a comparison. Then, I enlisted three experts (KD Eatin' teenagers) to taste test them for me and give me their unbiased opinion.
First, the basics. On first glance, they cost the same amount, $1.39 per box. But on closer inspection, the Kraft Smart only has three servings inside instead of four, making the Kraft Smart actually eleven cents more per serving. (For eleven cents, why even bother trying to get a mre half-serving of vegetables into you? Eleven cents will buy you a half-serving of, let's say, peas or carrots.)
Considering the dry mix only, Kraft Smart actually is slightly worse for you than the regular. The calories (180) fat (2 grams) cholesterol (5 mg) and even FIBRE (2 grams) are exactly the same in both, but the Kraft Smart has 20 milligrams more sodium and a gram more sugar.
What the heck?
We could smell it when the pasta hit the hot water. A horrible stink, reminiscent of sweaty feet, filled my kitchen. The pasta cooked up OK, and looked pretty much like regular KD, but it was really hard to get past the smell. Harder still was the lingering, cauliflower-esque aftertaste that grew stronger with each bite. (I have to confess I stopped at three bites. That was all of it I could stand.)
Not only that, three hungry teenagers refused to eat more than a few bites of this stuff, and instead hung around starving for fifteen more minutes while I made the box of shells and cheese instead. That by itself has to tell you something.
To me, I have to say that I like my health foods healthy and my junk foods junky. That makes it easy for the average joe to tell the difference. There's nothing wrong with the occasional treat, as long as 90% of your diet is otherwise nutritionally dense. Go ahead and have Kraft Dinner once in a while, but if you do, don't try and think you're doing yourself any favours by buying products like this one that try to deceive you into believing they are "smart choices." I happen to think that companies who try and convince us that crap is actually good for us should get a good spanking.
Phthalates (pronounced ˈtha-ˌlāt) is a term that refers to more than a dozen common chemicals, mainly used in plastics to keep them soft and pliable. Worldwide, we produce more than 8.1 billion kilograms of these chemicals every year. DEP (diethylhexyl phthalate) is most commonly found in personal care products. DEP is found in air fresheners, toilet bowl cleaners, shampoos, cosmetics, etc.
These substances break down quickly in the environment and in the body, so our risk really depends on the amount we come into contact with on a daily basis. Their use is linked to sexual organ malformations in males and increased risk or testicular cancer. (The higher the levels of phthalates in the mother, the higher the incidence of problems with the baby.) In women, studies link phthalates to early menstruation, premature breast development, and ultimately, breast cancer.
We get exposed to phthalates in food, vinyl and plastic products, personal care products, household dust, etc. These chemicals leach out of products and into our bodies and into our environment. Levels can be higher in children due to the fact that they are in closer contact with their environment than adults are, mouthing objects and also putting their fingers in their mouths. Their immature bodies lack adequate detoxification methods, and make them more prone to these chemicals damaging effects.
Food is likely a major source of this contaminant. It comes from the soil, sediments, and sludge sprayed on crops. Phthalates are fat soluble, meaning they get into meat, dairy products and fatty processed foods.
What can we do to avoid phthalates in food? Buy lower on the food chain, eat fewer packaged foods, but organic when you can afford to, and avoid microwaving foods in plastic containers.
Unfortunately, when it comes to personal care products, phthalates are almost never listed as ingredient on the products that contain them. "Fragrance" or "Parfum" are often the words you need to look for that indicate that an item contains phthalates. Studies have shown that the higher the level of personal care products a person uses, the higher their urinary level of these chemicals.
A good website to visit is http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/. This site can tell you about the chemical makeup of your personal care products and help steer you towards healthier and more environmentally aware choices.
From the Book "Slow Death by Rubber Duck", by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie