All snacks are not created equal, Pirates Booty giveaway

“Can’t you just let it go?” My husband and probably legions of husbands have foolishly asked this of their wives. If your husband hasn’t ever said this to you it’s probably because you let things go or go with the flow, perhaps you’re easy going. Those of us who are asked to “let it go” aren’t any of the above. We can’t let “it” go ever. Asking someone incapable of letting anything go to do so is almost as futile as asking someone to calm down. Once I think I did say “sure” but only because I was too tired to keep going. Relentless rehashing isn’t isolated to my personal life, I can get fired up when it comes to nutrition too. In fact,  let’s go back to the Cheetos conversation.

In case you missed that post, I reacted to a nutritionist’s story about buying her kids Cheetos for road trips. I explained that my kids have snacks but, knowing what I do about ingredients, I feel there are plenty of preferable substitutes at least when I’m the one buying. The nutritionist politely commented that she buys her kids Cheetos “so they know what they like” and added

I have a hard time seeing how the organic or natural version of chips or fruit roll-ups is a much better alternative, since I view them as classes of foods that I treat similarly--we treat fruit snacks as a candy-type treat, whether they're made with artificial or natural dyes. Ditto for potato chips.

While I don’t encourage my kids to mainline organic snacks,  I find it unfathomable that someone in my profession doesn’t see certain ingredients as worrisome and others as safe. Drugs are not something I encourage in my children but if I find out, in 20 years, that my kids had a beer at a keg party I’m going to be a lot less concerned as if they were shooting up…but they’re both drugs. Maybe you see snacks as snacks, so let’s take a look

First at the heroin (sorry, couldn’t let it go)

Cheetos

Ingredients: Enriched Corn Meal (Corn Meal, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, and Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, Soybean, and/or Sunflower Oil), Cheese Seasoning (Whey, and less than 2% of the Following: Cheddar Cheese [Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzyme], Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Canola Oil, Maltodextrin [Made from Corn], Sour Cream [Cultured Cream, Skim Milk], Salt, Whey Protein Concentrate, Monosodium Glutamate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Lactic Acid, Citric Acid, Artificial Color [Including Yellow 6]), and Salt. 

Let’s start with “enriched”, it makes me chuckle that a company that’s giving you trans fats, MSG and food dyes serves you up a multivitamin with it. This feels like food adultery. If someone cheats on you but then tells you they love you, they are still a creep. Let’s not distract with “enriching”. Next on the list I’m intrigued by “cheese seasoning”. I looked in my spice cabinet and didn’t see anything by that name. Oh but there’s cheese in there- phew just less than 2%, I’m sure the other 98% is perfectly healthy. Why assume an adulterer will cheat again, so cynical. Then we move on to trans fats, one of the few ingredients the government has actually admitted is harmful. So we may die but rest assured your Cheetos will last forever. Maltodextrin is a cheap, processed filler but a saint compared to its company here. And for the finale Yellow 6, one of the food dyes CSPI wants to see banned. As a parent, aside from my long-term concerns about food dyes and health, I don’t need to feed them something that can adversely affect their behavior.

Now, one of the brands I suggested Pirate Booty

Pirate’s Booty Aged White Cheddar
Ingredients: Corn meal, rice, contains one or more of the following: sunflower, expeller pressed canola or corn oil, aged cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), whey and buttermilk. 

Corn, rice, oil, cheese and buttermilk.

I realize this is a snack and not a vegetable but this is very different from the list above. Pirates Booty is gluten free, trans fat free, baked and as a parent a great option (for the kids and adults alike). Snacks, drugs and men are not created equal. There’s a funny thing about not letting something go, after my song and dance and pose on the soapbox I feel so calm.

Pirates Booty is giving a case (24 little bags) of their Aged White Cheddar Booty to 3 of our readers. To be eligible:

Leave a comment explaining how you pick a snack food and what’s important to you, mention the giveaway if you’d like to be eligible.

Tweet “All snacks are not created equal, Foodtrainers' giveaway”
Winners announced Friday.

Do you see all snacks in the same “class”? Or if not how do you make a selection? Are you able to let things go?