Why You Should Avoid Supermarket Pies
Additives & Fillers in Processed Food
WHAT EFFECT DO FILLERS & CHEMICAL ADDITIVES HAVE ON HUMANS?
There's been a lot of noise recently about the issue of food security being one of Australia’s and the world’s biggest threats.
One of the biggest issues in food security is fillers and additives that are often used in processed and packaged foods that provide no nutritional value and are often dangerous for humans to consume. Yet almost all supermarket pies and sausage rolls, even the vegan and vegetarian versions, contain these products.
In Australia, meat pies only need to contain 25% meat to be called meat pies. The government standard for meat pies is 25 per cent ”fat-free flesh”. Fat-free flesh is described by Food Standards Australia New Zealand guidelines as being the skeletal muscle of a slaughtered animal, and can include animal rind, fat (I thought they said fat-free?) and connective nerves, blood, blood vessels and, in the case of poultry, skin. Hmmm, sounds yummy?
Pies sold by the big supermarket chains barely exceed the minimum government standard of 25 per cent meat, according to results from Australian Laboratory Services in tests commissioned by Fairfax Media.
Woolworths Home Brand pies contained 27.6 per cent meat, Four’n Twenty had 30.4 per cent and Coles Smart Buys 32.7 per cent. The analysis confirmed the presence of meat above the 25 per cent meat listed as an ingredient on the packaging. but of course meat doesn’t necessarily mean meat from cows.
In an interview with Fairfax, University of Sydney dietitian Alice Gibson said meat pies had little nutritional value when compared with lean meat.
”The product contains about 25 per cent meat and all the rest is water, refined carbohydrates, fat and salt,” she said.
”The most common ingredient in meat pies is water. The rest of the ingredients will be pastry, gravy and vegetable protein.”
Consumer group Choice said processed meat such as sausages and pies that list only ”meat” in their ingredients could also contain the whole or parts of buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit or sheep.
The analysis also showed the major supermarkets’ chicken nuggets were only half meat. So, what is the other half?
In the Fairfax interview, ‘Heart Foundation spokesman Maurice Swanson said ‘There is very little chicken in chicken nuggets and there is very little meat in meat pies,’.
”They just meet the regulatory requirements to call it a meat pie. It’s a disastrous choice from a health point of view, and if you’re overweight, it’s the worst thing to choose.”
A professor of agriculture and food chemistry at the University of Sydney, Les Copeland, said chicken nuggets were usually reduced to a pasty consistency that resembled ”mash”.
”It is reduced to a form that can then be reconstituted into a particular shape that can be packaged,” he said.
Choice was particularly disappointed by the results.
”Despite marketing the product as ‘100 per cent chicken breast’, the fine print shows the actual chicken comes from something called chicken mix,” spokesman Tom Godfrey said. A Coles spokeswoman said the supermarket chain’s brand meat pies and chicken nuggets were ”100 per cent Australian-made”.
A Woolworths spokeswoman said its pies contained 25 per cent frozen muscle, while the chicken nuggets contained 48 per cent chicken breast.
A Four’n Twenty spokesman said gravy in its meat pies represented about 24 per cent of the filling.
He said the primary ingredient in the gravy was water.
Inghams did not return Fairfax’s calls.
So what does this all mean. Well, a quick look at the ingredients list on the packaging of popular brand Four’n”Twenty shows some alarming ingredients. It lists meat at 25%, though it could be mutton or a mixture of beef and mutton. Remember the Food Standards Australia New Zealand guidelines for what actually constitutes “meat”.
Other ingredients besides flour & water
Margarine (Animal Fat)
Vegetable Oil
Salt
Emulsifiers (471)
Soy Lecithin
Acidity regulators (331, 330)
Antioxidant (307b)
Soy
Colour (160a)
Flavours
Thickener 1412: Called by it’s real name, Distarch Phosphate is prepared by treating starch with a phosphorylating agent, trimetaphosphate or phosphoroxychloride and phosphoric acid. The resulting starch has increased stability at high and low temperatures and is more resistant against acid.
They are prepared by physically, enzymatically, or chemically treating native starch, thereby changing the properties of the starch.
Modified starches are used in practically all starch applications, such as in food products as a thickening agent, stabilizer or emulsifier; in pharmaceuticals as a disintegrant; as binder in coated paper.
They are also used in many other applications.
Distarch Phosphate is used as a thickener, vegetable gum which may be bleached with phosphoric acid (one of a choice), which is dangerous to asthmatics.
Thickener 412: Another to avoid if possible. Side effects include allergic symptoms such as rhinitis and asthma. It is known to be a cause of flatulence, it might cause problems like esophageal obstruction or small bowel obstruction. In some instances, it might even prove fatal. The reason behind this is the water-holding capacity and the gel-forming tendency. Bet you didn’t think eating a supermarket or local bakery pie could prove fatal!
- Textured Soy Protein: Soy is one of the most common allergens. If you have a soy allergy, consuming soy-based products can cause serious side effects, including anaphylaxis, which can be life threatening. During processing the valuable nutrients in soybeans, such as their isoflavones, are lost or altered. At the same time, pesticide residues and other contaminants can be concentrated during processing, and other chemicals are added to aid extraction.
Seasoning (Contains Wheat)
Carrots,
More Salt,
Cereal Binder (Wheat)
Onion
Colour (150c)
Vegetable Oil
Glaze (Contains Milk)
Colour (160a)
Mineral Salts (500, 341)
Emulsifier (481)
Rice Flour