Food additives

I don't normally worry or care much about food additives. But lately, there's one that has got me flummoxed. Silicon dioxide. Which happens to be the same stuff that is in the packets in jacket pockets, purses, shoes that say "Do Not Eat" and "Throw Away." So I'm told.

So, I pull out the chili powder and see silicon dioxide after which in parentheses it says "anti-caking agent." So, I'm thinking, hunh?

Maybe the manufacturers think the amount they put in the spices or powdered mixes is not much. But why do the little packets from your purses and shoes say, Do Not Eat? Those are never very big packets. How much of the chili powder will I eat to be equivalent to the packets in my jacket? We eat quite a bit of it, usually using 3 T in our chili batches. Which we make quite often in the winter. Me, Mr. Wild and WC 1&2 all eat it. So, I'm thinking that can't be good. Why in the world, if the packets in goods, like purses and shoes, say do not eat, and then it is added to our food? Yeah, seemed weird to me, too, maybe stupid.

So it gets me thinking, maybe I don't want to buy stuff with that in it? And I'm thinking, do we, as consumers, really care that our sprinkling of spices doesn't cake? So, I check other packages for anti-caking agents. Grated parmesan like Kraft, that sits on the shelf instead of the refrigerated section. They use cellulose. Um, is that paper then? Or tree bits? The taco seasoning mix uses tricalcium phospate. Which apparently, according to wikipedia, can be used occasionally as an antacid. With tacos that might not be so bad.

But still, I ask again, do we as consumers really need our powdered stuff not to cake? Because I would be perfectly happy to pound the container or package on the counter until it separates itself and then sprinkle it in whatever, or on whatever.

I guess I'm getting to be more of a label reader. I am finding that you can find stuff without the MSG and other things if you just read a label and pick a different brand. I also avoid high fructose corn syrup if I can. Mostly, it takes making things from scratch to avoid most additives. So pull out your cookbooks and give those recipes a try again. I'm not overly cautious, but I am more cautious than I used to be.

Happy hunting.