New Salt, Sugar, and Fat Content Labels

The Ministry of Health has announced plans to start labeling foods that have high sugar, salt, and/or fat content. The new labels will be RED warning labels on foods.

It seems that we are in for a big shock when these new labels hit the market - although it is still not certain that they will - in the first stage of implementation (higher thresholds) a whopping 39% of packaged food products in supermarkets will be sporting a warning label (or more than one)!

If the stricter standards being discussed are adopted, an incredible 51% of the packaged products in the supermarket will carry the warnings.

I don't know if this new plan will actually pan out. Obviously, major food manufacturers are lobbying against it. But just KNOWING about it should be a wake up call. 

Clearly, packaged food that many, many people buy regularly is being scrutinized for nutritional content - and much of it is failing. We all should keep that in mind when shopping. Personally, I advocate buying fresh, whole foods instead of packaged foods, but I know that is not always possible. Many people need to find some shortcuts in order to be able to fit it all in to the day!

So, whether or not the new labeling rules are implemented, I think it's a good thing to become more aware of the nutritional content of the food we're buying. Next time you pick up a package of food, look carefully at the nutritional content and the ingredients before you decide to buy it!

(And cutting back on packaged foods has another added benefit - you'll save money!)

Which packaged foods do you buy? Do you think seeing a red warning label on it will influence your decision to buy them in the future? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Getting back on track after Pesach

I hope you all enjoyed your Pesach! Ours was a whirlwind of guests - friends and family - and activity. It was great!
Now that the Pesach stuff in my house is packed away, I figured it's time to do a Post-Pesach get back on track "exercise".

I'm going to try to figure out if there is anything we learned about our food consumption from Pesach - either about foods we can live easily without, or foods we can easily substitute with homemade versions...

So I've decided to focus on Ketchup this morning.

My kids love ketchup. My husband does too. I eat it with a few random foods.

I almost always buy ketchup on sale, but this Pesach I went back to an old practice of mine, and I made my own ketchup! And you know, everyone loved the homemade version, as they used to. But sometimes they like the squeeze bottle convenience, as do I, but right now, I think I have to toss that "convenience" thing out the window!

And it's easy (if you take the shortcut and use prepared tomato paste), and costs a lot less than buying processed ketchup.

I know, Ketchup is just a drop in the bucket, but I'd love to hear what kinds of things you find you can live without or make yourself!

This is what's left of our Pesach ketchup. The container started out FULL.

Homemade Ketchup:

Tomato paste ( a can of 28 Bx - cost me about 4 shekels for 560?g)
sugar or honey (just a little)
vinegar (maybe 1/4 cup? I use either apple cider or balsamic)
salt, pepper, onion powder (when I'm out of that, I use a pinch of granulated garlic)
water as needed

I just guess and mix it all together till it tastes right and add water till I get the consistency we like best. Next time I make some, I'll measure it out!

Of course, you can make it with fresh tomatoes and onions and cook it for many hours, but I'm being realistic here - I don't usually have time for that. Plus this way, I don't have dirty pots. I just mix it together in a container I can store in the fridge. Only thing to wash is a spoon!