Ingredient Decoder: Thumbs Up

By Hklbrries

Wanna keep food real? We’re making it easy. Here’s a handy Kashi Ingredient Decoder™ to help you figure out what’s real on ingredient labels. We’ve indicated which ingredients we’d use at Kashi and which ones we’d avoid to help you keep your own food real.

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Acacia Gum (also known as Gum Arabicand Guar Gum): This natural ingredient is made from the hardened sap of the acacia tree; it helps stick stuff together and adds important fiber.

Casein(also known as Sodium Caseinate): This dairy protein can help hold different foods together.

Chicory Root Fiber: This is used to hold different ingredients together and also contains the naturally occurring fiber inulin.

Evaporated Cane Juice Syrup: A minimally processed sugar, this amber-colored liquid retains a slight golden color and a subtle taste from the original cane juice.

Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil: This all-natural plant oil is extracted using a non-chemical process and has good monounsaturated fat and omega-3 fatty acids too (See Expeller-Pressed Ingredients).

Expeller-Pressed Ingredients (also known as Cold-Processed Ingredients): In this process natural oils are extracted from seeds by mechanical pressure without the use or addition of chemicals, colorings, or preservatives.

Fractionated Oils:These oils are plant-based oils that are used for coatings on many energy bars or whenever fat is needed to stay solid at room temperature.

Glutamate (also known as Glutamic acid): Free glutamate is naturally occuring in some foods such as cheese, milk, tomatoes, mushrooms, yeast and soy. This is different than monosodium glutamate (MSG), the artificial flavor enhancer, a compound of sodium plus glutamate.

Glycerin: This colorless liquid helps ingredients of different water content get along together (so dry ingredients such as grains stay dry, and moist ingredients like fruit stay moist). Kashi's glycerin is from plant, not animal, sources.

Lactic Acid: Known as milk acid, this natural compound is used to increase the cheese flavor in foods like pizza. Despite the term milk acid, Kashi uses only vegetable sources, so it’s okay for vegan diets.

Maltodextrin: This form of sugar, usually made from rice, corn or potato starch, can give the body energy over a longer period of time because it releases into the bloodstream more slowly than typical sugar.

Non-Irradiated Spices: Unless specifically stated as "non-irradiated," spices undergo a process of ionizing radiation to increase shelf life and kill bacteria. While this may sound good, we believe using gamma radiation from nuclear material goes way beyond the level of processing necessary to make natural foods.

Oligofructose: Oligosaccharide or alternative sweetener derived inulin, which is found naturally in chicory root. Often used to help provide a thicker texture.

Sodium Phosphates: These are normal and essential salts for the body that work as natural leavening agents, helping make baked goods light and fluffy.

Tartaric Acid: This organic acid can be found in plants and is used to provide tartness in food.

Ingredients

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Details

Adapted from kashi.com

Preparation

Step 1

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