How To Read Produce Stickers

Price Look-up (PLU) Code

Did you know that the numbers on produce stickers can help you identify whether or not you are buying organic, conventionally-grown, or genetically modified produce? Now you can learn how to decipher the code!

As you can see, it’s pretty easy to determine what type of produce you are getting now that you know the code! I suggest you take a look at those little numbers next time you go grocery shopping so you can make sure you are buying the premium quality produce you are looking for!

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Tags: food label, grocery shopping, Nutrition, Organic

When Organic Isn’t Healthy

Having a product labeled as “USDA Organic” doesn’t mean that you should automatically consider the product to be “healthy”. You  need to take a deeper look…

Definition of Organic

That Organic label just means that the food is grown, processed, and packaged without the use of agricultural chemicals, artificial colors or flavors, genetic modification, irradiation, or other synthetic ingredients.

Simply put, the term “organic” doesn’t mean that a product is automatically “healthy” or good for your body.

Unhealthy Organic Products

There are a lot of unhealthy products out on the market today that are considered by many to be nutritious and healthy, partly due to marketing campaigns and an “All Natural” or “Organic” label on the front.

I have hand picked a couple of Organic products out on the market today that are about as guilty as the non-organic comparisons. I can’t say these are the “unhealthiest” organic products out on the market today, but they are just a few examples of products to avoid. These products just can’t be considered healthy, no matter how big that USDA Organic label is on the front of the package!

Organic Toaster Pastries

These can easily be compared to the popular Pop•Tart, nothing more than a sugary pastry. Yes, it’s made with “real fruit”, but it doesn’t quite make up for all of the other ingredients. The second ingredient is  evaporated cane juice invert (which is sugar) and the third ingredient is evaporated cane juice (sugar, again!), and dextrose (simple sugar).

Organic Cream Filled Cookies

Just like an Oreo cookie, these Newman-O’s are high in calories, fat, and sugar. The organic ingredients just don’t quite remove the side effects of eating junk food.

Organic Gummy Worms

These little gummy worms are organic and contain 100% daily vitamin C, so these must be really healthy for you, right? Wrong. There’s not enough vitamin C or natural fruit juice in this little bag of candy to compensate for the amount of sugar they put in these little gummy worms.

Organic Cereal

This organic cereal is marketed as a healthy cereal for kids, yet the second ingredient is sugar. Not only that, this cereal contains dextrose (fancy word for a simple sugar) and maltodextrin (which is a food additive, mostly found in soda and candy).

Organic Ice Cream

It’s “All Natural” and “Organic”, how could you go wrong? Even though this ice cream has been touted as different from other ice creams, it still contains key ingredients that keeps it on the naughty list: saturated fat and sugar.

Organic Tomato and Cheese Sauce

This organic canned meal is marketed towards kids, so it must be healthy, right? This product clearly misses the grade, primarily made with noodles made with semolina (processed wheat flour that removes the bran – and fiber), and evaporated cane juice (sugar).

Organic Cake Mix

You can make a healthy cake (organic or not), but this cake isn’t it. It’s loaded with 18 grams of sugar per serving (12 servings per box), and that’s not including the sugar and fat that will be in the frosting!

Organic Sugar is still…Sugar

If a product is full of unhealthy ingredients, whether it’s labeled as organic or not, it’s still going to be bad for your overall health. You can still gain weight or get sick by eating organic only ingredients. As I like to say, organic sugar is still…sugar. Organic doesn’t automatically make sugar and unhealthy fat (or any other unhealthy ingredient) magically become good for you.

If you would like do eat organic foods and are truly looking for healthy products for you and your family,  suggest buying fresh organic produce and organic products that don’t contain unnecessary ingredients. Check the list of ingredients thoroughly. Companies may try to deceive you by using fancy words, but ingredients will never lie. If you need to, look up the ingredient in the dictionary to decide whether an ingredient is healthy or not.

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Tags: Nutrition, Organic, Organic Products, USDA Organic

Is Organic always more expensive?

I was just as my local grocery store and found something worth mentioning (oh, and making a short video clip of it, of course!)… Organic avocados were cheaper than conventionally grown avocados.

Here’s my proof:

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Tags: Organic

Top Foods to Buy Organic

I understand that you can’t always buy every single thing Organic, whether it’s because of a budget or just availability. Find out which foods you should always buy USDA Organic, and which ones you can buy Conventional without worrying about harmful pesticides.

The Environmental Working Group compiles data from the FDA and USDA tests which measure how much pesticide is left behind in Conventionally grown produce. Based on data collected from these tests from 2000 to 2008, the Environmental Working Group put together a list of foods that contain the most and the least amount of pesticides.

The Dirty Dozen

This is a list of foods that are at the bottom of the barrel, which means they contain the most amount of harmful pesticides. It’s best to buy the following produce Organic, even if you are on a budget.

1. Celery

2. Peaches

3. Strawberries

4. Apples

5. Blueberries

6. Nectarines

7. Bell Peppers

8. Spinach

9. Kale and Collards

10. Cherries

11. Potatoes

12. Grapes (imported)

The Clean Fifteen

This is a list of produce that are considered to be the top of the list, which means they are the least contaminated with pesticides, even when Conventionally grown.

1. Onions

2. Avocados

3. Sweet Corn

4. Pineapples

5. Mangoes

6. Sweet Peas

7. Asparagus

8. Kiwi Fruit

9. Cabbage

10. Eggplant

11. Cantaloupe (domestic)

12. Watermelon

13. Grapefruit

14. Sweet Potatoes

15. Honeydew Melon

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Tags: fruits, Nutrition, Organic, produce, vegetables

Pedicure, anyone?

With Spring in full bloom and Summer on it’s way, I think it is about time women take out the nail polish and rock a beautiful pedicure. You deserve it.

Nail Polish 

Women seem to spend more time picking out the color they want rather than a brand of nail polish that will be safest for them to use. I know I have been guilty of this!

Ideally, you should choose an all natural nail polish  is water or mineral based rather than chemical based. This means  you would be buying nail polishes that don’t contain ingredients like dibutyl phthalates (DBP), which is an unhealthy chemical you will want to avoid.

Check out the nail polish from Go Natural®, a company that sells chemical free nail polish that is durable and chip-free. If you are looking for a nail polish that is geared towards girls, check out Piggy Paint®. They sell high quality nail polish that is non-toxic and provides plenty of colors to choose from.

Nail Polish Remover

Now that you use a non-toxic nail polish, it’s time to remove it once you are ready for a new color.

Try avoiding nail polish removes that that contain ingredients such as acetone, since it is a harsh chemical that dries out your nails and any skin that’s exposed to it.

You can try a natural nail polish remover such as the one from Honeybee Garden, which is enriched with horsetail extract to strengthen nails and fortified with vitamin E and aloe to soothe and protect cuticles. Another nail polish remover you can try is “Almost Natural” Nail Polish Remover by Miss, since it doesn’t have any acetone, ethyl acetate, or harsh odors. Also, it’s made with all organic ingredients.

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Tags: all natural, Beauty, chemical, Health, nail, nail polish, nail polish remover, non-toxic, Organic, Vitamin E