food and drink, rants

A few weeks ago I got into the habit of picking up a Del Monte ice smoothie on the way to work every morning. The perfect refreshment after a stifling tube journey.

'Only 96 calories', it says on the packaging, as well as 'No artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or sweeteners'. Well, they had me at '96 calories'.

Then last week I looked at the ingredients.

Water, Raspberry Puree (25%), Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Blackcurrant Puree (3.7%), Lemon and Lime Juice from Concentrate (3.2%), Colour (Anthocyanins, Beetroot Red, Curcumin), Stabilisers (Methyl Cellulose, Guar Gum, Locust Bean Gum, Carboxy Methyl Cellulose, Pectin, Sodium Alginate), Citric Acid, Natural Raspberry Flavouring.

I consulted Dr B. (who is a Doctor in Chemistry) and he confirmed that none of the colours, flavours, preservatives or sweeteners above are artificial.

However, one may notice that the packaging does not claim 'no artificial stabilisers', and I am not totally sure that Methyl Cellulose and Carboxy Methyl Cellulose are the most natural ingredients you can find.

And even if Mr Del Monte himself came to see me and convinced me that not a single ingredient is artificial, I would still not trust a product that lists 17 individual ingredients.

So now I have a banana instead.