Does "Good stuff" mean "Good for you"?

Coca-Cola brand insulated neoprene can sleeve

According to the Coca-Cola website, Coca-Cola is made with "CARBONATED WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CARAMEL COLOR, PHOSPHORIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS, CAFFEINE". (Source: https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en/brands/coca-cola/products/original#accordion-c55f229edc-item-93131ee8b3) 

I'm not 100% sure that everyone would agree that the ingredients listed above are all "good stuff".

While everything listed on the label has been approved for human consumption, many people feel that an ingredient like high fructose corn syrup is an inferior sweetener to cane sugar. 

Most consumers would be surprised that 90% of the phosphoric acid production ends up in fertilizers, and yet it is still an ingredient in products deemed safe for human consumption. 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) categorizes caffeine as "generally recognized as safe".  Hardly an overwhelming endorsement.

As American poet John Godfrey Saxe said in 1869, "Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made".   (The quote is most often attributed to Otto von Bismark and reported as, "Laws are like sausages. It is best not to see them being made". But there is no evidence that Bismark ever said it.) 

I'm sure if we looked hard enough at many things we consume, we'd change our eating habits.

What the heck? I didn't expect to see these ingredients

Reddi Shack "sour gummi worms" ingredients

Reddi Shack "sour gummi worms" ingredients (Detail)

I know that gummy candies are not good for you but I didn't expect that they included "beef and/or pork". I think that I kind of assumed that they were vegetarian, but evidently not.

But with "beef and/or pork" these candies are off limits for the world's for over 3 billion people.

When does it make sense for a brand to ignore almost 1/2 of the world's population?

Straight outta Leamington

French's ketchup dispenser, A&W, Vancouver

The ketchup business has taken some weird turns in recent years. In 2013, after about 40 years as a loyal customer, McDonald's stopped buying Heinz's ketchup after Heinz hired the former CEO of Burger King. The same year Heinz announced that it was closing its ketchup plant in Leamington, Ontario.

A year later French's started selling ketchup in Canadian grocery stores, using tomatoes from Leamington. Now you can find French's ketchup at fast food restaurants such as A&W.

By most estimates, Heinz has over 80% of the ketchup market in grocery stores in Canada, but in the Canadian food service sector French's is making a dent. Will this result in a reduction in the amount of Heinz ketchup sold in the stores? Time will tell.

A good thing (And about time) but is Loblaw being economical with the truth?

Sign about artificial ingredients in President's Choice foods, Shoppers Drug Mart, Vancouver

I saw this at a Vancouver Shoppers Drug Mart store, and also saw the same sign at a Real Canadian Superstore.

Consumers are getting more concerned about the volume of added chemicals in their foods, the sales of organic foods is up, and generally people are being more careful about what they consume.

Not using artificial colours of artificial colours is a certainly desirable. This change by Loblaw, the company behind President's Choice (PC), may start a trend in the grocery business in Canada. It will be interesting to see if the other grocery store chains can make the same change with their house brands.

But is that the whole story? Well, consider this product.

President's Choice Diet Cola
(Source: http://www.loblaws.ca/en_CA/products/productlisting/pc_diet_cola3929.html)

Is Aspartame a natural ingredient? Absolutely not. Is is a flavour? Well, that is debatable. It is certainly a sweetener, and sweetness is a major part of flavour. But technically speaking, I think that Loblaw has found the loophole that will enable the continued use of artificial sweeteners. The company is foregoing artificial flavours and artificial colours, but has not said that it will forego artificial ingredients. And therein lies the loophole.

I called Loblaw to get the firm's take on this issue. The person I spoke to had no idea that President's Choice products were now free of artificial colours and artificial colours. If this change is such a big deal it might not be a bad idea to let the people in customer service know about it.

What they don't tell you

Sign for Nestle ice cream in the shop window, Union Steam Ship Company, Bowen Island

This ice cream must be good. There are "No Artificial Colours!". It's "Real Ice Cream".

That is wonderful. All pure and natural. It must taste great. But wait a minute. The information is not complete. Perhaps we need to read between the lines.

Colour is certainly one important aspect of food, but we do have a few other senses.

• Sound? (Well not really part of my decision to buy ice cream.)
• Touch? (How about texture of the ice cream? Feel nice on the tongue.)  
• Sight? (It looks pretty tasty.)

It looks like we are missing the two most important factors. Smell and taste. But, surely if this is real ice cream there won't be anything artificial going on, after all there are no artificial colours!

And I'm sure if Nestle had eliminated artificial flavours from the ice cream then that would be proudly announced on the sign. But, since there is no such statement I can only assume that this ice cream is chock-a-block with artificial flavours.

Oh well, it was too good to be true.