What is Really in Your Spice Blends?
Before I started using Your Inspiration at Home spice blends I was completely ignorant of any fillers or artificial additives in the 'supermarket blends'.
Originally, I thought "No Fillers" was probably just marketing jargon, why would there be fillers in herbs and spices and how would we not be able to tell?
Of course, I had to investigate further and what I found really surprised me.
This is an ingredient list copied directly from a very popular supermarket spice blend:
Salt 49%, Rice Flour, Sugar, Paprika 6%, Garlic 5%, Onion 4.5%, Pepper 3.5%, Celery Seed, Coriander Seed, Cumin, Cardamom, Clove, Chilli, Nutmeg, Vegetable Oil, Colour (Paprika Oleoresin). May contain Sesame Seeds.
At a glance, it's not too bad. Almost 50% is salt but I have nothing against salt, except that I can buy 500g for less than this tiny bottle.
Remembering that the order of the ingredients on any label reflects the percentage of each, rice flour holds the second largest percentage on the list. Have you tried rice flour on it's own? It's virtually flavourless....it does serve a purpose as an anti-caking agent which keeps the ingredients from settling and compacting in the jar but this is still an unnecessary measure.
Working down the list we see paprika weighs in at a tiny 6% and we are also given the small percentages for onion and pepper. Using the percentage rule, anything after pepper is guaranteed to be less than 3.5%.
The vegetable oil may or may not be palm oil, however in this particular brand it would be 100% certified by the Round Table.
What colour would you expect this mix to be? I would imagine it to be mostly white with a few flecks of colour, that is, until the colour is added:
Paprika Oleoresin, also known as Paprika Extract, is extracted by percolation with a variety of solvents, primarily hexane, which are removed prior to use. *Big surprise to me!
So if we assume the best case scenario, this product has, at the most, 40% flavouring from spice (and that's a generous assumption) 49% salt and at least 11% rice flour and sugar combined.
So if we assume the best case scenario, this product has, at the most, 40% flavouring from spice (and that's a generous assumption) 49% salt and at least 11% rice flour and sugar combined.
Take a closer look at your blends.
Your Inspiration at Home contains No fillers, No artificials and No anti-caking agents. 
I had no idea there was so much salt and fillers in these. I never even thought to look. I'll be reading the labels at the grocery store from now on.
ReplyDeleteIt has been an eye opener for me. I'm checking everything now.
DeleteAfter looking at the ingredients I've decided I can make a lot of them myself anyway.