The Unhealthy Vegetarian

Vegetarianism can definitely be a healthy lifestyle approach. Unfortunately, most vegetarians I know want to eat exactly like an omnivore so they blow the big bucks on things like veggie burgers and fake meats. Yet, vegetarianism by itself is not a healthier lifestyle choice than any other, and in fact, it can be much worst than even the omnivore who chooses to eat less processed and more natural foods. Much of the information below has been pulled from Wiki and other sources, mostly chemistry Web sites. Of course, I get all my favorite recipes from chemistry Web sites.

So, for example, the ingredients list of Morningstar Farms Veggie Buffalo Wings.

TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, WHEAT GLUTEN, WATER FOR HYDRATION), WATER, ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), CORN OIL, CORNSTARCH, WHEAT STARCH, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF SALT, METHYLCELLULOSE, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SUGAR, DEXTROSE, ARTIFICIAL VINEGAR FLAVOR (MALIC ACID, SODIUM ACETATE, LACTOSE, FUMARIC ACID), POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, GARLIC, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS FROM NON-MEAT SOURCES, SPICES, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, TAPIOCA DEXTRIN, DISODIUM INOSINATE, DRIED YEAST, CARAMEL COLOR, MALTODEXTRIN, HYDROLYZED SOY PROTEIN, PAPRIKA EXTRACT FOR COLOR, XANTHAN GUM, SODIUM ALGINATE, CELLULOSE GUM, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, INULIN FROM CHICORY ROOT, ONION, ANNATTO EXTRACT FOR COLOR, NONFAT DRY MILK, DEHYDRATED BUTTER* (CREAM*, NONFAT MILK, SALT, ANNATTO COLOR), SODIUM ACETATE, PAPRIKA FOR COLOR, MALIC ACID, BAKING SODA, CELERY EXTRACT, WHEAT FIBER, LACTIC ACID, BARLEY EXTRACT, NIACINAMIDE, EGG WHITES, CITRIC ACID, SUCCINIC ACID, IRON (FERROUS SULFATE), THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), VITAMIN B12, TURMERIC FOR COLOR.

Let's begin with THIAMIN MONONITRATE. It is innocuous enough--it is just vitamin B_1. Well, great--they are just adding vitamins! The question to ask, though, is why. It comes down to the fact that they are using ultra-processed white flour. Bleaching agents such as benzoyl peroxide (yes, the same active ingredient in OXY 10, the acne medication!) are added to make the flour more white. Oxidizing agents (also known as "improvers") such as potassium bromate, chlorine dioxide, and azodicarbonamide are added to enhance the baking quality of the flour. These agents are added in a few parts per million. Self-rising flour contains salt and a leavening agent such as calcium phosphate. It is used to make baked goods without the need to add yeast or baking powder. Most states require flour to contain added vitamins and minerals to replace those lost during milling. The most important of these are iron and the B vitamins, especially thiamin, riboflavin, and niacin. In the US, processed flour must be enriched with thiamine mononitrate (along with niacin, ferrous iron, riboflavin and folic acid) to replace that lost in processing. Sounds like something you could do in your own kitchen, doesn't it?


Let's skip forward to SODIUM ACETATE. Industrially, it is used in the textile industry to neutralize sulfuric acid waste streams, and as a photoresist while using aniline dyes (I'm not even sure what that means). It is also a pickling agent in chrome tanning, and it helps to retard vulcanization of chloroprene in synthetic rubber production. It already sounds delicious, doesn't it--yum, retarding vulcanization! That is what I like to eat. It's used as a seasoning in this product.

How about a quick glance at another Morningstar Farms product, their "Sausage Style Recipe Crumblers."

TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (WHEAT GLUTEN, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WATER FOR HYDRATION), WATER, CORN OIL, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CHICORY ROOT FIBER (INULIN), SPICES, SALT, DEXTROSE, MALTODEXTRIN, NATURAL FLAVORS FROM NON-MEAT SOURCES, HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (SOY PROTEIN, CORN GLUTEN, WHEAT GLUTEN), AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, CARAMEL COLOR, SUGAR, PAPRIKA, GARLIC POWDER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, MALIC ACID, VITAMINS AND MINERALS (NIACINAMIDE, IRON [FERROUS SULFATE], THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE [VITAMIN B6], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], VITAMIN B12), ONION POWDER, HYDROLYZED TORULA AND BREWER'S YEAST PROTEIN, SOY LECITHIN, SPICE EXTRACTIVES.

To begin with, what is DEXTROSE? The simple answer is a simple sugar like white sugar. The longer answer is dextrose monohydrate, a simple sugar produced commercially via the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch. In the United States, cornstarch (from corn) is used almost exclusively. Ready for a chemistry lesson?

Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which one or more water molecules are split into hydrogen and hydroxide ions, which may go on to participate in further reactions. It is the type of reaction that is used to break down certain polymers, especially those made by step-growth polymerization (think of a crystal chain). Such polymer degradation is usually catalysed by either acid e.g. concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) or alkali e.g. sodium hydroxide (NaOH) attack, often increasing with their strength or pH. In polysaccharides (complex sugars), monosaccharide molecules are linked together by a glycosidic bond. This bond can be cleaved by hydrolysis to yield monosaccharides (simple sugars). The best known disaccharide is sucrose (table sugar). Hydrolysis of sucrose also yields dextrose monohydrate and fructose. There are many enzymes which speed up the hydrolysis of polysaccharides. Invertase is used industrially to hydrolyze sucrose to so-called invert sugar. For industrial use, invertase is usually derived from yeast. MALTODEXTRIN is made by a very similar process--the hydrolysis of complex sugars. Basically, the process takes natural food starch and, though a chemical process, turns it into simple sugar.

And what is AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT? It sounds at least semi-natural. "Yeast extract" is the common name for various forms of processed yeast products that are used as food additives or flavourings. They are often used in the same way that monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used, and, like MSG, often contain free glutamic acid. It's a way to get MSG into your food without having it labeled as such in most cases since that is one thing most people are aware to look out for these days. And how about SPICE EXTRACTIVES? That just means we started with real spices and then let the boys down at the lab get freaky with them, and then we dumped them into the huge industrial vat where we create the "fake meat" you will dish up later.

So, the next time you are serving up a simple and healthy meal and hear your vegan friend howling about the use of a ham bone in your bean soup or the audacity of your eating an egg, perhaps it is time to explain to them that some people might call their "vegetarian alternatives" industrial waste.