Update: October 11, 2016

Kraft just came out with a new line of Jell-O gelatins and puddings without any artificial food dyes or the preservative BHA…

OLD VERSION Jell-O Orange: Sugar, Gelatin, Adipic Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Fumaric Acid, Yellow 6, Red 40, BHA.

NEW VERSION Jell-O Simply Good Orange Tangerine: Cane Sugar, Gelatin, Dried Orange Juice, Adipic Acid, Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Fumaric Acid, Natural Flavor, Oleoresin Turmeric and Beet Juice. People stopped buying Jell-O and look what they had to do!

While this new version is still not healthy or something you should eat every day, this change is good. The take away is that we demanded better and the food companies listened! Keep making your voice heard, it’s working. Ask grocery stores for what you want and they will carry it.

Don’t stop reading labels just yet though- the old toxic version of Jell-O with artificial colors and BHA is still in stores. This is just a new line they’ve created.

 

END OF UPDATE. ORIGINAL STORY BELOW.

I have never been a huge fan of Jello, but I’m not sure anyone who grew up in the US could say they haven’t at least tried it. If you go to any summer potluck or picnic, inevitably someone has made Jello “salad” with marshmallows and some canned fruit. Even hospitals give it to patients during their hospital stays (I’m assuming they think it’s food).

However, not only is Jello NOT food, but it’s not healthy either. How on earth it stays stocked on grocery store shelves, especially given its ingredient list, is shocking to me. But there’s a reason. According to Food Babe:

“Jello was losing market share about 10 years ago, so Kraft targeted their marketing of Jello to people following the Atkins diet by pushing their sugar-free puddings and Jello as acceptable snacks – and it worked.  Lots of people were buying up sugar-free Jello to satisfy their sweet tooth while on the Atkins diet and saying ridiculous things like “it’s a sweet cheat and it’s only 1 carb!”. Years later, it has somehow kept its reputation as a diet food.”

But, as all “good” things eventually come to an end, Atkins has gone the way of the dinosaur- at least the diet isn’t still in the “craze” category- and that means that Kraft has had to change their target market again. They are now focused on you and your family. Their new advertising campaign is “Fun Things Up”. But as you will see, there is nothing fun about the ingredients in Jello:

Ingredient #1: Artificial Colors

Go shopping in Europe and the Jello on the shelves there has a large warning label stating:

“May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”

That info alone should be enough to get you to put the package down. Why is it that in the US, Kraft can put whatever junk ingredients into their products but in Europe that doesn’t fly? Removing artificial dyes from our food is incredibly important, as we know that dyes can cross the blood brain barrier and exacerbate behavior problems in children.

Ingredient #2: Artificial Sweeteners

Next we have artificial sweeteners. One such sweetener, Acesulfame Potassium, sometimes referred to as “Ace-K”, is terrifyingly bad for you. While it remains technically safe to consume, the former associate Director of Field Studies and Statistics at the National Cancer Institute, Marvin Schneiderman, Ph.D, has said even if you take the seriously flawed data analysis done on Ace-K into account, he still finds evidence of carcinogenicity. That means it’s poison.

The other artificial sweetener in sugar-free Jello is aspartame. The Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the European Ramazzini Foundation conducted a long-term study on this little gem linking it to an increased risk of lymphomas, leukemias, and transitional cell carcinomas of the pelvis, ureter, and bladder. While the evidence continues to mount against aspartame, food manufacturers continue to use it; it’s cheap and they don’t care about you. Stop caring about them by purchasing their products.

Also, watch this 60 Minutes episode from 1996 which exposed why aspartame was approved by the FDA, even though it had been linked to brain tumors.

Ingredient #3: Sugar

Just one serving of regular Jello has 19 grams of sugar in it, which is the equivalent of almost 5 teaspoons. That adds up and we already know just how dangerous sugar is and how out of control its consumption has become in the US. In fact, diabetes rates have skyrocketed in the last couple of years. But, nearly all of the calories in Jello come from sugar alone, so it’s really just humming bird food. NOT human food. Oh and the sugar comes from our next ingredient.

Ingredient #4: GMOs

The sugar used in regular Jello and almost all “sugar” found in processed food in the U.S. comes from GMO sugar beets. It’s safe to assume then, that the sugar in Jello is from GMO sugar beets. Also, the first two ingredients in sugar-free Jello pudding, modified cornstarch and maltodextrin, are also likely from GMO corn. And, if you remember all the fighting over GMO labeling in California, you’ll recall that Kraft spent over $2 million dollars to fight GMO labeling in California and even plans to sue Vermont in coming weeks because they don’t want to have to tell us whether or not their products contain GMOs.

And GMOs are not safe. They have proven to cause tumors in rats and a host of other issues. 

Ingredient #5: BHA

BHA has been banned in countries all over the globe (of course it hasn’t been banned here) and Jello uses BHA (short for Butylated Hydroxyanisole) as a preservative. According to the Food Babe, “The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies BHA as a possible human carcinogen and it’s been deemed a “reasonably anticipated human carcinogen” by the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, National Toxicology Program “based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity from studies in experimental animals”. There is no reason this ingredient belongs in our food, especially since Kraft has voluntarily removed it other countries.”

Jell-O is not food. While there are some “treats” that our bodies can handle processing every once in awhile, this isn’t one of them. Stay away from it and instead use an organic and non-GMO product, like this one here. Or, make this great avocado chocolate pudding or this banana, fig and chia one!

If you’ve been eating processed foods like this for awhile, understand that as your body reacts to the lack of these chemical ingredients and as your taste buds adapt, that you may go through a type of withdrawal. You may experience headaches, stomach upset, etc. But, be patient because it will pass. The best thing you can do for your body is feed it good, healthy, whole foods. It’s the best preventative medicine in the world!

XO- Erin

Source: Food Babe