High Fructose Tomatoes
A few weeks ago I made a stew using DelMonte Diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic. I'd tried it earlier and thought it made life a bit easier. Also, I wanted to try some recipes that used this product.
My husband, Aram, liked what I made (a Greek tomato and white bean stew with spinach. The dish is sprinkled with feta cheese and served over pasta) but mentioned that the dish tasted "sweet."
I'd heard him make that comment in the past, but for some reason I wondered about it this time. Sweet? At one point a few days later I happened to have a can in my hand and read the ingredients:
Tomato juice
Diced tomatoes
High fructose corn syrup
Etc.
High fructose corn syrup???? In canned tomatoes??? WTF????
A few days later I happened to have a can of DelMonte stewed tomatoes in my hand and - curious now - happened to check the ingredients. Guess what?
Tomato juice
Diced tomatoes
High fructose corn syrup
Etc.
I switched to a can of regular canned tomatoes and found no added sugar. Why, then, was it in these tomato products? Why did the addition of herbs and garlic necessitate a dollop of sugar as well? After tomatoes, sugar was the next most plentiful ingredient.
American processed food is full of sugar. It's in the yogurt, in the bread, and I guess it's also in the tomatoes.
When will this stop? Will it stop? I'm appalled. Why add sugar to my tomatoes? If I want to add sugar I'll pick up the sugar bowl. From here on in, I will no longer buy these products. I'll add my own herbs, thank you very much. High fructose corn syrup does not belong in canned tomatoes. It does not belong in bread. It does not belong in the hundreds of thousands of processed food being crammed down the gullet of over-fed Americans. It makes me sick.
And angry.
My husband, Aram, liked what I made (a Greek tomato and white bean stew with spinach. The dish is sprinkled with feta cheese and served over pasta) but mentioned that the dish tasted "sweet."
I'd heard him make that comment in the past, but for some reason I wondered about it this time. Sweet? At one point a few days later I happened to have a can in my hand and read the ingredients:
Tomato juice
Diced tomatoes
High fructose corn syrup
Etc.
High fructose corn syrup???? In canned tomatoes??? WTF????
A few days later I happened to have a can of DelMonte stewed tomatoes in my hand and - curious now - happened to check the ingredients. Guess what?
Tomato juice
Diced tomatoes
High fructose corn syrup
Etc.
I switched to a can of regular canned tomatoes and found no added sugar. Why, then, was it in these tomato products? Why did the addition of herbs and garlic necessitate a dollop of sugar as well? After tomatoes, sugar was the next most plentiful ingredient.
American processed food is full of sugar. It's in the yogurt, in the bread, and I guess it's also in the tomatoes.
When will this stop? Will it stop? I'm appalled. Why add sugar to my tomatoes? If I want to add sugar I'll pick up the sugar bowl. From here on in, I will no longer buy these products. I'll add my own herbs, thank you very much. High fructose corn syrup does not belong in canned tomatoes. It does not belong in bread. It does not belong in the hundreds of thousands of processed food being crammed down the gullet of over-fed Americans. It makes me sick.
And angry.
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