The Banned Ingredients List: What Europe Rejects but America Eats

Welcome back to Crunchy Stewardship! After a long and wonderful series on fertility, pregnancy, and babies, we are officially transitioning back into the pantry! Today, we are taking a hard look at the American food system and discussing the shocking ingredients that are completely banned in countries across Europe and Asia, yet are still legally pumped into our daily snacks and staples here in the US.

But before we get into the heavy stuff, Katie shares a game-changing Random Revelation about the incredible, nutrient-dense power of milling your own wheat at home. Then, we break down the most common banned offenders you'll find on American grocery shelves—from the "yoga mat chemical" hiding in your hot dog buns to the whitening agents in your frosting.

Most importantly, we are here to remind you that perfection is not the goal. Striving for a perfectly clean pantry overnight will only spike your cortisol! We talk about how to make wise, gradual swaps, give yourself grace, and confidently navigate the grocery store without living in fear.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Random Revelation: The staggering nutritional difference between home-milled hard red wheat flour and store-bought whole wheat (it has double the B-vitamins and three times the iron!).
• Titanium Dioxide: The banned whitening agent linked to genotoxicity that is hiding in white breads, frosting, and popular candies.
• Toxic Pesticides: Why chemicals like Paraquat and Diquat are banned overseas, and how natural pest predators and "polycropping" can save our soil.
• The "Yoga Mat" Chemical: What Azodicarbonamide (ADA) is, why it's banned in Australia and the EU, and how it gives processed breads and croutons their spongy texture.
• Chlorine-Washed Chicken: Why the UK refuses to import conventional American chicken.
• Hydrogenated Oils & Pesticides: The hidden dangers in conventional peanut butter, Ritz crackers, and popular oat cereals.
• Grace Over Guilt: Why stressing over every single ingredient is worse for your health than occasionally eating a processed hamburger bun! Plus, our favorite clean chocolate swaps to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Resources mentioned:

• Book Recommendation: The Essential Home-Ground Flour Book by Sue Becker https://amzn.to/4vMY9B0
• Clean Bread Swaps: Aldi Organic Sourdough, Dave's Killer Bread, Costco's Stone Mill Bread
• Clean Chocolate Swaps: Moser Roth Dark Chocolate Sea Salt (Aldi) & Hu Chocolate 
• Clean Snack: Lesser Evil Popcorn (Himalayan Pink Salt)
• Organization: Moms Across America

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome Back to the Pantry! (Wrapping Up the Baby Series) 
01:45 Random Revelation: The Superfood Power of Fresh-Milled Flour 
06:30 Navigating Pregnancy Cravings & Clean Bread at Aldi 
12:15 Titanium Dioxide: The Toxic Whitener in Candy and Frosting 
16:10 Red Dyes and the Long Wait for the 2027 Phase-Out 
18:30 Banned Pesticides: Paraquat, Diquat, and the Magic of Polycropping 2
4:10 Azodicarbonamide (ADA): The "Yoga Mat" Chemical in Spongy Breads 
29:20 Grace Over Guilt: Why Perfection Spikes Your Cortisol 
32:45 The Great Chocolate Swap (Aldi vs. Hu Chocolate) 
35:10 Chlorine-Washed Chicken and the European Import Bans 
40:30 Chlormequat in Oats and Hydrogenated Oils in Peanut Butter 
43:15 A Hilarious Heaven Joke & Wrapping Up

Remember, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Connect With Us: 

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FREE How to Afford Non-Toxic Living Workbook: https://crunchystewardship.com/how-to-afford-non-toxic-living

Transcript

Speaker 4 0:03

Welcome to Crunchy Stewardship. I'm Chrissy Rombach.

Speaker 5 0:06

And I'm Katie Fiola Jones. We're cousins on a mission to honor God by stewarding our health spiritually, mentally, and physically.

Speaker 4 0:14

From ancestral nutrition and natural remedies to biblical finance and holistic health, we are digging deep into how God intended us to live.

Speaker 6 0:22

So grab yourself a raw milk latte and join us as we unpack the ins and outs of crunchy stewardship

Chrissy 0:34

Hey, and welcome back to Crunchy Stewardship. You are here with Chrissy and Katie once again talking about all things crunchy, all things stewarding our lives well with the resources that God has given us and maximizing our health to its fullest potential, um, without breaking the bank, which is always the most important thing. Um, today we are going to be transitioning away from our baby episode. So we just finished a series on fertility and then raising children and childhood ailments and things like that. We are officially moving back to our usual form of episode, which is really just talking about overall health and wellness and how to maximize it. So today we are going to specifically be talking about ingredients that are banned in other countries, including those in Europe and Asia, um, that America still currently allows in their food and maybe why it would be banned in these other countries and why America still allows it in their food. Um, but before we get started on that, I'm actually really looking forward to today's episode because I'm anticipating learning a lot. I know Katie knows a lot about this topic, but I'm hoping to learn a lot from this one. Before we get started, though, Katie, would you share your random revelation for this week?

Katie 1:59

Yes, I will. I don't know if I would say I know a lot. I just collect a lot of facts when I hear them, and over the time... So basically, today's episode is basically my collection of facts that I've learned of things that have been banned, and I've just been keeping them in this Google Doc. And so yeah, we'll be going through all those. But anyway, today's random revelation brought to you from a book that Chrissy actually got me on making homemade bread, and now I'm forgetting the title of it. Do you... It's by Sue Becker, right, is her I think

Chrissy 2:42

Yes, it's like Bread Essentials by Sue Becker. Sue Becker is, if you go back to our bread episode, which I think was like episode number four or something like that, that we ever recorded. Bear with us, we did not have the cool intro yet, so it's a really boring intro. But if you go back and listen to that episode, I think I do talk about Sue Becker. She's, um, been featured in the Cultural Apothecary Podcast, and I think also the Josh Axe podcast. So she's very well known in the fresh baked bread world

Katie 3:18

She knows a lot about bread and kind of the history of how we got to making flour or making bread with pre-milled flour because Sue Becker is all about bread from fresh milled flour. So basically making your own flour at home from wheat berries, and Chrissy ventured into that of crunchiness way before I did. I think it was your first area of crunchiness, right? You kind of jumped into making bread from scratch completely

Chrissy 3:53

Mm-hmm

Katie 3:54

Yeah. And so that was where she did, and so when we moved here to Michigan, she gifted me a book, this book by Sue Becker, and, um, a little flour mill. So I've got the cute little mini flour mill, and I finally... Once we moved into our actual house here in Michigan, not, like, just moving to Michigan, 'cause we lived somewhere temporarily, once we finally landed in our home that we bought, I picked the book up, it like I love studying things, and then dove into making bread with home-milled flour. And so I've been doing that a little bit here and there, and learned a lot of facts from her book. So this fact that I'm sharing today is from her book, and it's basically w- that home ground flour is nutritionally superior to f- like, homemade bread that was made with pre-milled flour because... So this is the fact. It says, "According to the USDA's nutrient database, compared to the heavily processed whole wheat version, ground hard red wheat flour has twice the calcium and phosphorus, twice the amount of crucial B vitamins," um, like B3 and B... What is that? 2 or B1 maybe. I can't read it, um, in my picture. B1 I think it says. "And nearly twice the riboflavin," which is vitamin B2, so yeah, I guess that's, um, the other vitamin. And it also has three times the iron and four times the potassium. So basically, home ground flour is much more superior. It's much more nutrient dense, and has a lot more going for it than homemade f- bread with pre-milled flour, so, like, y- the flour that you're just getting at the grocery store. Even if it's organic, and even if it's, like, a unbleached flour or whatever, uh, if you're making it not with home-milled flour, it does not have as many nutrients. It doesn't mean that it's necessarily completely bad for you, but in, like, a good, better, best situation kind of thing, the best is, like, home milled with organic- uh, wheat berries, and then the next best is, like, organic flour, and then maybe the not organic versions of these things. And then basically the not as great options are getting that are pre-made. But there, there are actually a lot more options these days for better organic breads. My friend just told me about one at Costco that she's been getting when she doesn't have time to make her own bread, 'cause she's also making her own bread from, uh, home-milled flour as well. But she just told me about this one, and I need to look it up, but it's from Costco. There's a brand now that they have that's super clean, and she's like, "It's the only bread I trust that, like, is pre-made," basically

Chrissy 7:09

would love to hear that 'cause we, when we don't have time to make bread... Well, actually, one of my weird pregnancy food aversions has been fresh-baked bread, which is really annoying. I know. Really annoying. Like, I can't look at a loaf of sourdough or a loaf of fresh bread. It like, bleh

Katie 7:31

about like, like bread from the store then?

Chrissy 7:33

Yeah, so prepackaged disgusting bread, totally fine, unfortunately.

Katie 7:39

thing

Chrissy 7:40

So we've been getting Dave's bread, which from the ingredients, I think there's, like, maybe one ingredient in the Dave's bread that is semi-questionable, I guess. Um, but the, the loaf of bread itself still looks too much like a fresh-baked loaf of bread, so it still kinda gives me the ick looking at it. So I've been eating the hamburger buns, um, from Dave's

Katie 8:11

Oh, okay. From Dave's at least. Okay.

Chrissy 8:13

Yeah, no, Dave's Hamburger Buns.

Katie 8:16

I went to Aldi the other day and I was looking for, I was specifically looking for buns for, like, brats, because we're going camping this weekend, and I actually usually eat

Chrissy 8:27

Wait, did I,

Katie 8:28

and I-

Chrissy 8:29

did I tell you that bratwurst was also one of my weird pregnancy cravings?

Katie 8:34

Cravings or aversions?

Chrissy 8:35

Cravings

Katie 8:37

Oh, okay. Well, that's better.

Chrissy 8:39

Yeah. I, I really, really wanted bratwurst for like two weeks. It was great. I had like eight bratwurst in two weeks.

Katie 8:46

Do you eat them with buns or just

Chrissy 8:48

No, it was just... Well, I had it, I dipped it in ketchup. I did get organic ketchup, but it wasn't great. I know.

Katie 8:56

Um,

Chrissy 8:56

You just gave me a look

Katie 8:58

well, I've You're just being silly. I went to Aldi, and I was supposed to get buns for brats, which I usually don't eat a bun with my brat except when I go camping, 'cause I kind of like just the extra something. I don't know. When, for some reason when I'm camping, I'm like, "That's the only time I really want a bun on my brat." And I could not get myself to buy any of the buns that were at Aldi because all of them were so bad. Like, all the ingredients were just, it was, it w- they were all seed oils. Like, every one had seed oils, and then all of them had preservatives. And, and here's why I was thinking Aldi maybe would have an okay one. is actually where I do go if I quick need a nice loaf of bread for a dinner that is somewhat healthier. Because Aldi has some sourdough breads that have, basically the, the ingredients are just flour, water, salt, and a starter. It's like that's all that's listed on it. And I'm like, "Wow, this is actually relatively clean." And they just recently started carrying, at least at my Aldi, an organic sourdough, and it's all, like no seed oils, no, um, preservatives, no nothing. And so I actually got that for our hot, or for our bra- for our brats for camping. And I'm like, "We're just using plain old sourdough," because I couldn't get myself to buy any of the other ones, 'cause I'm like, "I'm not gonna eat it anyway because I know that it's made with all these terrible ingredients that I'm gonna be so disappointed that I'm eating while I'm camping." So anyway, that was random tangent about it. But anyway, all that to say there are some options out there. I did, I just texted my girlfriend to see if by the end of the episode we could, uh, get the name of it so we can share the name of the one that's at Costco right now,

Chrissy 10:54

I would love to know

Katie 10:55

it actually was pretty good. But milling your own flour is actually not too bad.

Chrissy 11:01

It's very delicious. It just requires a little bit of learning curve because it, the flour's more dense

Katie 11:07

Okay, have you made sourdough your home-milled flour?

Chrissy 11:12

I never actually got on the sourdough train, but my friend makes sourdough, and I want to give her some wheat to make the sourdough with

Katie 11:20

To, okay. I have been, so I made... I've only, I'm brand new still to milling my own flour, so yes, there is that just slight learning curve. I've, I've been finding that with my quick breads, like my quick yeast breads, they've, it's been fine. It actually, I really like the sandwich breads that we've been making, um, with the fresh-milled flour, so that's been really great. But I did venture, I'm venturing back into doing sourdough for the first time since 2022, which is I think w- I calculated the last time I did sourdough, 'cause it was before we became foster parents, which was early 2023. And I don't think I did any in the process of moving to our house right before that, so it would've been sometime in 2022. Anyway, haven't done sourdough in a long time, so I'm getting back into doing sourdough, which is also a learning curve, just doing sourdough in general. But I also did it with my fresh-milled flour, and the bread tasted fine, but it was way more dense than I anticipated it being. You know, you want sourdough to be kind of fluffy and have those airy holes in it and stuff. So I did text my girlfriend and she said that maybe, I was using hard white wheat berries, and she thinks if I do soft white wheat berries, which I just ordered some, maybe it would turn out a little bit less

Chrissy 12:39

Either, either soft or a 50/50

Katie 12:43

Ooh, okay

Chrissy 12:44

Mm-hmm. And you could also look into, like, I haven't tried these other wheats just because I'm more cheapy when it comes to buying wheat and I just buy one kind. But trying, like, buckwheat or einkorn or something like that. Like, they all have slightly different flavor profiles and slightly different densities.

Katie 13:02

Okay.

Chrissy 13:03

Mm-hmm

Katie 13:04

I think I need to watch some YouTube videos and see what other people are doing too. I, I also feel like, you know, I've lived in higher altitude before coming here, and so not that recipes are, like, extremely different, but there's... I just got so used to baking in higher altitudes that I'm like, "Okay, how do I, like, relearn to bake at lower altitude?"

Chrissy 13:27

It definitely affects rise times and rise abilities for sure.

Katie 13:31

yeah. So

Chrissy 13:32

Mm-hmm.

Katie 13:33

a learning curve, and obviously, yeah, there's more moisture in the air here. All, all the random little things that technically do impact it. I am figuring it out. I've only done one loaf of sourdough so far, but I've done a few loaves of regular, like, quick yeast breads with

Chrissy 13:51

I love it

Katie 13:52

flour, and it's actually... Yeah, I really like it, and I feel so much better feeding it to, like, Malachi and to Wes and everyone because I do know that it has a lot more into the loaf of bread than just a traditional

Chrissy 14:06

Mm-hmm.

Katie 14:06

your grocery store or even that I was making before with our other flour. So

Chrissy 14:11

One more shameless plug about fresh ground wheat bread is one loaf of bread has more iron in it than a New York strip

Katie 14:23

That's weird.

Chrissy 14:24

I know. Isn't that great? So like eating the whole loaf of bread, which is nearly impossible because of its density, like it's like nutrient density, you get much fuller faster,

Katie 14:35

Mm-hmm

Chrissy 14:36

um, and more satisfied faster. But if you were to eat the whole loaf of bread, you would get more iron than if you ate the whole New York strip.

Katie 14:46

Very

Chrissy 14:46

Fun fact

Katie 14:47

am, I'm excited to make more things like and muffins with fresh milled flour because will be, it will be a healthier treat, especially if you're making it with no sugars and things like that, which we already do, and we already make these, like, protein pancakes with, like, it's usually, like, two eggs, a banana, a little bit of flour, some cinnamon. You know, it's, it's, it's very light on the grains, but then w- if I switch that now to our fresh milled flour, it's going to be that much more nutrient-packed for Malachi, 'cause we actually, we plan on making some when we go camping, 'cause they're really easy to just make a bunch of mini pancakes, throw them in a bag, and then they're a really good little protein snack for him,

Chrissy 15:32

Hmm, that's great

Katie 15:33

it to him, uh, when we're out traveling and stuff 'cause they're easy to carry around. And, and he doesn't require syrup or anything. He just kinda eats them like a regular piece of bread or whatever

Chrissy 15:43

I'm gonna stick that one in my back pocket. I love it.

Katie 15:46

one

Chrissy 15:47

All right, well let's actually, we could talk about bread all day long. I- if anyone gets me talking about bread, I will have a full, like, three-hour conversation with them about bread. I love it so much. It's just, it's my favorite thing in the world, except right now I can't eat it. But,

Katie 16:03

Yeah

Chrissy 16:04

let's transition to our actual topic for today, which is foods, specifically ingredients, that are banned in oth- other countries and why. Um, we have a lot to go through. We probably won't get through all of it today. I don't think we're gonna do a part two, but we'll see. Um, we're just gonna touch on the top ones and see where it goes from there

Katie 16:30

Yeah So actually the first big one that I do want to mention, because this ingredient is actually just so terrible, is, um, titanium dioxide. And so it, first off, is banned in the EU, and it, this comes from... And maybe I'll add some of these articles to our show notes so you guys can kinda look into some of these if you're curious on it. We'll give you the lowdown of the important information. But if you do wanna see, like, where are we getting this information? 'Cause sometimes, like Chrissy just had an experience where she was googling something earlier, and she's like, "Wait, is this true that, you know, this isn't used in Russia or whatever?" And then Google was like, "Oh, whatever," and it doesn't really, like, give you really good information sometimes if you, like, google these things and they're like, "Oh, it's not a big deal. Whatever." Well, we'll r- link to some articles that will hopefully be helpful if you do want to see some more actual evidence that isn't easy- easily found on Google. So the first one here is titanium dioxide, which is used to make things more white. And so if you think of breads, for example, actually, is where you o- you honestly do find a lot of titanium dioxide. You find it in white breads or white cakes. You actually find it in ice creams as well. So anything that is really, really white will often have titanium dioxide, um, which makes things more bright white. Um, it is linked to, um, what is it? Genotoxicity and intestinal inflammation. Um, but yeah, it's used very widely. In fact, if you look at most of your white foods, um, some other ones that the article lists are even, like, chewing gums and other candies that are very white. Um, are some other things, some other places you'll find it. You'll see that it is more prevalent in different places. And a lot of people skim over it because we have been hearing a lot more about the food dyes in different foods. Like, so Red 40 is one that a lot of people know because it is linked to hyperactivity in children, and so that's becoming a little bit more widely known. And so people are more acutely aware of if you see a, a color with a number after it in your food ingredients, skip that food altogether. Well, titanium dioxide doesn't sound like a food coloring in any sense, but yet it's used in a lot of things that are very bright white, so it's basically like a food coloring. But it is something that is used, uh, widely throughout, um, the US. And it is also, uh- Linked to being, uh, possibly carcinogenic for human, to humans, so basically leading to cancer. I'm trying to think of other things. Oh,

Chrissy 19:44

I think it's also linked to Alzheimer's.

Katie 19:47

Ah,

Chrissy 19:48

Mm-hmm.

Katie 19:49

big one

Chrissy 19:50

Because the genotoxin, so affecting the DNA of the cells,

Katie 19:55

Hmm.

Chrissy 19:56

then in- inevitably affects the cells of the brain.

Katie 20:01

Yep.

Chrissy 20:01

Mm-hmm.

Katie 20:03

Um, so that one, that's one of those ones that I think we need to be more aware of, especially with kids. It, I, it, the article does say, you know, it's in candies such as Skittles, Starburst, um, the brand Jel- Jell-O, uh, and Trident White Peppermint Gums have it, Mentos Freshmint Gums. Um, Duncan Hines Creamy Vanilla Frosting has it, and Nabisco's Chips Ahoy! cookies have it. So it's, like, all these, like, name brands that most of us are familiar with and most of us have probably eaten And so just need to be super aware and cautious of titanium dioxide. It's, it's one of those ones that I've been hearing a lot more lately about how bad it is. Um, so just be on the lookout, especially, yeah, if you're making... It's, he- there's another reason you should make your own bread is because titanium dioxide might be in your bread, especially if you're eating, like, white, white breads. So yep,

Chrissy 21:07

I'm sure.

Katie 21:08

first one

Chrissy 21:09

There we go. I love it. Hitting it off the bat. Okay. Um, let's talk about red dye number three. Um, so technically, well, dyes in general... Katie, has it been all dyes or just specific ones that have been banned here in the United States now?

Katie 21:28

So originally it was just specific ones,

Chrissy 21:32

Mm-hmm.

Katie 21:33

just like certain, I think it was like Red 40

Chrissy 21:35

Mm-hmm.

Katie 21:35

something else that were like, okay, these are banned by this point. But then now it's becoming wider that I think by the end of 2027, all, like everything has to have these food dyes, which actually it did come up in a conversation with Wes and I because we were at of our favorite cherry places here in Michigan. It's like a store that has like everything cherry flavored. And all of their candies, their cherry flavored candies, like all of them had Red 40 in it or Red 3. And I, and he was like, "Wait, I thought you said that they were banned." And I'm like, "They are, but like the way that they make these initiatives

Chrissy 22:14

It's like, but not yet

Katie 22:16

it is, you, you have... It's like a phase out. Like you have until a certain point in order to phase it out of your products." Which makes, l- like I understand because if you were like, "Okay, everything today cannot have it," there would, there would be a lot of like wasted products and

Chrissy 22:35

Wasted products and all these companies would go out of business, which is a lot of jobs that America would lose. So I do think it's wise that they take time to phase it out, gives the companies time to create new, um, recipes for their products and to test them and see how they actually taste, and then not lose their employees and not lose their business. So from an economic standpoint, it makes sense. Yes. But anyways, they're-- so they are still in our food until 2027, unfortunately, but it is what it is

Katie 23:15

It also, like, confuses me because, so lot of these food dyes are already not used in Europe, and it's like they're already making Froot Loops in other countries without the food dyes. So I'm like, "Why don't you just switch it up and start it?" And

Chrissy 23:35

Well, that and like off-brand Froot Loops don't use food dyes. I actually remember growing up, my parents didn't let us get on-brand Froot Loops because they were too expensive. We had to get the off-brand stuff. And shopping at Aldi specifically, their off-brand Froot Loops had like beet coloring, carrot coloring, like beets, carrots, and turmeric to color their Froot Loops instead of blue, yellow, red, green.

Katie 24:06

Hmm Well, we can talk now about, um, some of the pesticides. Um, paraquat and diquat are two of the ones that are banned in other places. So paraquat is linked to things like Parkinson's, and it's used on a lot of crops, um, such as corn, wheat, and soy. So we've-- I've mentioned this before, but, like, corn, wheat, and soy are, like, the three main crops that are also traditionally genetically modified crops here in America. And so of that, they, like, have to use a lot of pesticides on them basically is it seems like to me, I guess. I, I don't know that for a fact. But if they're modified, that also means they have just tons of pesticides used on them. And so yeah, there's a, there's a lot, um, not great things if you're buying corn, wheat, and soy that is not organic. And one of them is that it's likely sprayed with paraquat or diquat, which these are the two that a lot of pesticide companies are kinda switching to after their-- there's been, like, the whole attack on, um- Uh, what am- glyphosate. I'm like, "Why am I forgetting?" So glyphosate is, been hounded on for the last several years, and so again, it's another one of those ones that people have been recognizing the name, and so companies are like, "Oh, we're gonna just switch to this new pesticide that's supposedly supposed to not be super toxic." But basically anything that, um, has a pesticide, any pesticide is just not good. Because you think about, like, if it's supposed to kill pests, what is it doing to humans if it's killing these animals? Like, we're the only... I've, I've seen these, like, memes on Instagram where it's like, "We're the only species that sprays our food with something that's meant to kill other species." And it's like, what? Like, it's supposed to kill life, and yet we're eating it ourselves. But, um, specifically is banned in, um, the UK, in the EU, in China, Brazil, and then there's other countries now that are jumping on board. Um, but yet here in America we are still spraying it. Um, and it's kind of like, well, why is it still sprayed here? Well, because the EPA is, um, this, this article or this Instagram thing that I'm reading, it's like, because it's captured by, like, big agriculture, and a lot of people still make money off of it. Actually, interestingly enough, we do... I think I've mentioned, we have a friend here who works for the pesticide companies out here, and he really does believe that spraying pesticides on our foods is helping to create food scarcity, right? Is that s- did I say that right? Um, and basically, like, it's helping feed the world. When in reality, pesticides harm our soil a- at the end of the day. Like, it's, it's harming the soil, which then eventually will lead to nutrient depletion in our soil, and then crops will have a, a harder and harder time being grown in the soil as the nutrients are depleted. Because plants, just like humans, need nutrients to grow and to survive and to thrive. And so if there's less and less nutrients in the soil, harder for those plants to actually grow and survive. And so as we spray more and more chemicals on our crops, the soil is just becoming dead, and so we can't continue to use those same lands, the farmland, in order to grow crops. So it's very unfortunate

Chrissy 28:10

Mm-hmm.

Katie 28:10

come to this place

Chrissy 28:12

One thing that can actually be done instead of using pesticides, because a lot of people are like, "Yeah, well, I have this Japanese beetle that's attacking my pecan trees, you know? Like, what am I supposed to do about it? Um, the only way to get rid of a Japanese beetle is to use pesticides, right?" No. Um, you find the predator of whatever your pest is. So a lot of times these predators are, like, snails, lizards, geckos, um, I don't know, the little mice even. Um, little things like that

Katie 28:48

I

Chrissy 28:48

are very...

Katie 28:49

them too

Chrissy 28:50

Yes, chickens, um, very helpful for helping to get rid of pests. Additionally, um, planting, I might say this wrong, but, like, polycropping as opposed to monocropping. So monocropping is when you put all the same plant of the same species all right next to each other. Like when you're driving past a corn field, that's a monocrop. You just have all a bunch of corn all right next to each other. A polycrop is, say like a, an orchard that has, like, six different kinds of trees in it that are kind of just scattered all over the place. And so you have multiple different types of plants or even, like, your backyard garden I would consider more of a polycrop, because you have multiple different types of plants that are next to each other, and those different plants will act as, um, pesticides or, like, pest d- deterrents for other plants. Um, and they will help to put nutrients back in the soil that other plants are using. And so it helps to keep the soil better nutrient, better neutral, nutrientized, having more nutrients. More nutrientized, um, helps to keep more nutrients in the soil, and then also helps to deter pests from attacking the plants that they would usually attack. So that's also an option instead of using pesticides. Now, some of that does need to be done, like, proactively instead of retroactively, like the polycropping, you know? Needs to be a proactive thing 'cause you can't just plant an apple tree and expect it to be 10 feet tall in a day. So that's one thing to keep in mind. But in the grand scheme of things, that is, um, how that goes. So let's move on to... Ooh, I'm gonna say this one wrong. Exotic amarba...

Katie 30:48

it's, it's azodicarbonamide,

Chrissy 30:52

Wow, that's so much easier to say it

Katie 30:54

talked about on podcast. It's like azodicarbonamide, gar- carbond-

Chrissy 30:59

Azodicarbonamide. Okay, so the short is ADA.

Katie 31:03

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Also known as ADA. Yeah. Chemical

Chrissy 31:06

Um, not the disability people, the, the, um, chemical. Yes, thank you. So this chemical is banned in both Australia and the EU. It's actually used in a lot of plastics. So it is what gives our plastics, like, their foamy texture. So think of, like, a yoga mat or, uh, styrofoam or something like that, or, like, spongy putty kind of stuff. Like, that is this ADA component giving it that spongy texture. And so if you think about, like, a loaf or a piece of, like, Wonder Bread. You know, if you, like, squish Wonder Bread and then unsquish it, it, like, goes back into its shape and doesn't crumble in your hand, versus if you squish a fresh-baked loaf of bread, it will crumble in your hand because that's what it's supposed to do as bread. So this ADA is very common in a bunch of breads, a bunch of snacks, um, stuffing specifically. So anything that has, like, a kind of spongy-esque texture to it that's a f- a processed food probably has this ADA in it, and that's what's giving it this spongy-esque texture to it. Um, so something to keep in mind. Read those l- food labels. Stay away from that one if you can.

Katie 32:35

Yes. Um, some, some of the other products that have it, so bread is, yes, the probably the biggest one. croutons also typically have it, so you think about how they're kind of like a fluffier looking piece of bread, but then they're dried out. Any... Okay, so it, they, a lot of the, like, any Ball Park brand food, so Ball Park, uh, hotdog buns, which I've seen in the things that I was, like, looking at at the store, those do. Smucker's typically has it in most of their products. Um, Bread, yes, is obviously one of them. Um, Little Debbie's is also known for having it. Unfortunately, the Kroger brand typically uses it in most of their foods. Uh, Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches have it. So I'm just, like, naming some of the ones that I'm like, we've probably used... Oh, Pillsbury is another big one. Pillsbury typically does have it, um, the ADA chemical in theirs. Tyson also, I guess. I'm trying to think. Tyson I just usually know as chicken, but I guess maybe... I wonder

Chrissy 33:42

Hey, that chicken is rather spongy

Katie 33:45

Yeah, they're... Well, most of those chickens also probably are dunked in, uh, chlorine or,

Chrissy 33:50

Sad

Katie 33:50

yeah, all the nasty stuff. But anyway, it is one of those ones that, actually, so California's Proposition 65, um, is one of those ones that lists this chemical, the ADA, as, like, they have warnings against it, as, like, possibly dangerous to human health, like quote, unquote. But people don't usually think of it. they don't... still in so many products, and people are just like, "Oh, whatever, I'm just gonna eat this hot dog bun and not think about it." Which I am definitely myself. Like, I've, I feel like I should say, just because I know about these doesn't mean I always stay away from them. There are definitely times where I'm like, "Okay, whatever, I'm gonna eat the hot dog bun here because I want a hot dog bun." But I'd say

Chrissy 34:41

Mm-hmm.

Katie 34:42

I know, and I know that it's gonna make me feel really upset. Ugh, we were, I, I had this, someone brought some ice cream to our house the other day, and it, I'm not gonna say any specifics about it, because I don't want anyone to feel bad for bringing it to our house. But it made my tummy not feel great. A lot of people have brought ice cream to our house recently, so it could be anyone who brought it. But there was this specific ice cream, and then I ate it, and later my stomach really was upset, and I went and looked back at it, and it had a lot of these things that we're talking about in it. And I usually know, like, a lot of these preservatives, a lot of these chemicals, a lot of these conditioners, these food dyes are in our products, and I know that they make me feel bad. And I didn't look at the label ahead of time, plus I really just wanted ice cream, and I ate it, and then later I went and, like, looked at the ingredient list, and I was like, "Oh, my gosh." And I was like, "No wonder I feel so terrible right now," and my stomach was just like, "Ugh." You know that feeling where it's just like you know it's angry with you, and that was what happened.

Chrissy 35:49

Yeah. I, I also wanna give a little encouragement to our listeners since we are talking about, like, foods to stay away from and things like that. This is kind of a random time in the podcast to say this, but remember, we are here, we're not striving for perfection because striving for pers- perfection increases our stress levels, which increases our cortisol, and then what's the point of doing all this anyways because cortisol really just wreaks havoc on our digestive systems. So really, the whole point of this is every day just trying to do a little bit better than the day before. And as you're using up products in your pantry, next time you buy something, opt for a healthier version or opt for something that has a less amount of bad in- quote unquote, "bad ingredients" in it, you know? Um, it's just practicing reading l- food labels, practicing what it feels like to say, "You know, maybe instead of this Hershey's chocolate bar, I'm gonna get this Hu chocolate bar that only has four ingredients in it rather than Hershey's that has, like, 16." You know, you're still having a chocolate bar, but it's a better option and it's not gonna damage your body as well. You still get that, that nice chocolate feeling, you know? When you eat, um, the healthier version of things. And I would even argue that as you start making these swaps, especially if you're going slowly, if you try to swap all of these all at once, it's gonna be hard because so many of us have food cravings that we... food cravings and food addictions that we don't even know about because we just feed these addictions without realizing it. And so if, if we slowly but surely phase out these foods and replace them with good foods, we will see those food addictions decreasing. They won't affect us as much. And slowly but surely you'll find your desires for healthy foods growing and your desires for unhealthy foods diminishing. That is until you start eating the unhealthy foods again, and immediately those cravings and addictions to the unhealthy foods comes b- come back. So I just wanna encourage our listeners, like, as you hear us talking about this, like, don't let the stress and anxiety of like, "Oh my gosh, all of these foods in my pantry are banned and I can never eat any of it." No, that's not what we're trying to say. We're trying to say just beware and, um, be wise and be cognizant of the things that you're putting in your body. And we're not striving for perfection. We are striving for just doing our absolute darnedest to be as best as we can. So just wanna throw that little tidbit of information in there.

Katie 38:30

Um, speaking of chocolate, there is a chocolate at Aldi I've been going to surprisingly has a lot of decent options that are really good prices. They have like, they've been getting more and more organic, uh, products and foods and things like that. They have some organic like grass-fed meats and everything too. But they, they did actually recently get my favorite popcorn, which is by Lesser Evil. They also sell that at Costco. It's a brand, the brand is called Lesser Evil, but don't get the salt, the Himalayan... The one that you want is just the Himalayan salt, but if you get the butter flavored one, the ingredient is butter flavor on the ingredient. And we've talked about staying away from ingredients that say flavor on it because you don't actually know what that's made of. But they do have a chocolate there that I f- that I feel better getting. It does have soy lectin in it, which I know some people are kind of like it maybe isn't the best, uh, ingredient to be, uh, added into things. But it is just like so- um, sugar, cocoa, cocoa butter, the soy lectin, sea salt, and vanilla extract. This is specifically their dark chocolate sea salt of the, I, I think it's pronounced Moser Roth, M-O-S-E-R Roth, like a Roth IRA. And it's their dark chocolate sea salt. There are other ones that are flavored, so they have like mint and they have like a caramel. Those ones are not... Don't get those ones. They have other ingredients in it that are not good. But specifically, their dark chocolate ones or the dark chocolate sea salt, which is my favorite. So I usually keep that chocolate in my house 'cause I'm like, "This one feels a little bit better 'cause it doesn't have all the other stuff in it." All right.

Chrissy 40:28

No, wait, hang on. Now that you mentioned the ingredients on that one, I kinda sorta just feel the urge to one-up you on my chocolate bar because mine's better. Um, so this Hu chocolate bar, um, is found at grocery stores everywhere, like Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, Thrive, you name it. Um, the ingredients are cacao, coconut sugar, coconut butter, cocoa butter, sorry, cocoa butter, coconut sugar, and cacao, and all of them are organic, and that's it

Katie 41:02

Is it like really expensive?

Chrissy 41:05

Um, it's like $5 a bar. So

Katie 41:08

Okay

Chrissy 41:09

yeah, decently, but worth it in my opinion. Better than buying a $5 gallon of ice cream

Katie 41:16

Is it the one that's H-U?

Chrissy 41:18

Mm-hmm.

Katie 41:19

Oh, okay. I, I t- I typed in W-H-O chocolate bar, and I was like, "There's nothing here that's coming up."

Chrissy 41:25

H-U who? Like human. Because we are human

Katie 41:29

Cool. We'll have to check those ones out

Chrissy 41:32

Yes

Katie 41:33

I can't tell you what the price is of the Aldi one off the top of my head,

Chrissy 41:38

Goldie doesn't post their prices online 'cause they change so-

Katie 41:43

I was like, "I don't know exactly what it is," but I feel like it's Aldi, so they're usually decent

Chrissy 41:48

Mm-hmm.

Katie 41:49

maybe

Chrissy 41:50

Yeah. All right, let's move on to some other ones. Um, chicken. This one's interesting. Um, the UK will not buy chicken from Delaware, and the US will not buy chicken from Mexico. What do they do to the chickens in Delaware?

Katie 42:13

Sorry, that just I know. I literally just have that fact written down and it says nothing else about it.

Chrissy 42:24

And there's not even a link to an article on this one

Katie 42:27

I know, it is so mysterious. Okay. So, uh,

Chrissy 42:31

Let me Google chicken processing in Delaware

Katie 42:37

um, so it's the, the chlorine thing. So I, I kind of mentioned that, I think, that, um, the chickens in Delaware are typically treated with chemical washes, uh, made with chlorine. Um, or there's another something acid, like a... Ah, I forget what it's called. Um, but basically because of, like, British food safety laws, they have made it illegal to import any of those meats because

Chrissy 43:11

think,

Katie 43:11

washing

Chrissy 43:12

I think I mentioned in one of my previous episodes, one of my friends, she has a sibling who lives in Europe, I think the UK specifically, and her sibling was like, "I don't want any of your chlorine chicken."

Katie 43:28

But literally, I mean,

Chrissy 43:30

yeah

Katie 43:30

you wash... Okay, if you have... Who has not opened up, like, a packet of chicken breasts and

Chrissy 43:37

mm-hmm.

Katie 43:37

let it thaw on their counter, and it's, like, leaking this white liquid out of it, and you're like, "Hmm, that's very suspicious"? And then you realize that it's something like 20 or 30% of the weight that you're paying for in the chicken is made up of that liquid, like, chlorine mix, and it's just so nasty when you, when it thaws, and it just all comes out. But it, then you look at the, like, cleaner, organic, pasture-raised

Chrissy 44:08

Air chilled

Katie 44:10

air-chilled, that weren't pumped with a bunch of soy products, the chicken breasts for those look so teeny. And you're like, "Oh, I'm paying so much more for this tiny little chicken breast compared to these big plump ones from Tyson that look really meaty and everything." But really, a lot of it is just that chemical bath soaked into the meat, and then it drains out, and there's not that much left anyway. And will say, like, I have totally noticed a difference switching to cleaner meats that first off, it makes me feel better. It makes me feel fuller. It gives me more energy, and it tastes way better than a lot of the chickens that we've been getting from, Tyson or something like that.

Chrissy 45:00

I can attest to that. At Christmas, I served my anti-organic father, um, grass-fed beef and wild-caught salmon. He took one bite of that steak and he said, "Is this organic?" And I said, "Yeah, how'd you know?" He said, "Just tastes like it."

Katie 45:19

The

Chrissy 45:20

He, he like, wasn't really able to verbalize it, but was like, "I can tell this is organic chicken or organic steak just by the way that it tastes," 'cause it's different. And even though we didn't use a grill, we used a cast iron, and he still was like, "Mm, this is different." Yeah.

Katie 45:40

That's impressive

Chrissy 45:41

Mm. Well, we, we have a lot... So for context, we have a lot of international neighbors in our apartment complex, and for their sake, I do my best not to cook any food that could be potentially offensive to anybody on the public grills,

Katie 46:01

Hence like what? Cow

Chrissy 46:04

Or beef, or hello, cow or pork.

Katie 46:09

Pork.

Chrissy 46:10

Oh, one of my friends made that mistake. She got caught, um, cooking bacon burgers on the grill, and two different families from two different countries walked by, and she was shunned by both of the grandmothers. It was very unfortunate.

Katie 46:27

I feel like that's slightly unfair because if you're here in America,

Chrissy 46:31

That's true

Katie 46:32

you know that we don't hold those same views of

Chrissy 46:37

Yes

Katie 46:39

I mean, that would be very different, like if you were going to those countries and openly cooking the animals. Here it would be so different if someone just like okay, this is so terrible, but here I'm going. It'd be so different if someone like sliced up dog and just started

Chrissy 46:55

It's true.

Katie 46:56

a

Chrissy 46:56

if someone was cooking dog on the grill, I'd be like, How dare you?

Katie 47:00

like

Chrissy 47:01

And

Katie 47:01

other countries they

Chrissy 47:02

totally normal.

Katie 47:02

that.

Chrissy 47:03

Yeah.

Katie 47:04

So don't know. I

Chrissy 47:06

Yeah. Anyways, just a funny tangent.

Katie 47:07

I can understand, like, they'd be l- they, they might internally be offended, but the fact that they, like, continued to

Chrissy 47:14

I think it was grandma who was in town visiting her children and, like, didn't really speak English and

Katie 47:21

like appalled at our

Chrissy 47:23

was like, "What are you doing?" Yeah, yeah.

Katie 47:26

Uh,

Chrissy 47:27

So funny. Anyways, moving on

Katie 47:32

Okay, so another one that I have listed is calcium peroxide. Um, this is the bleaching agent and dough conditioner that is also, um, banned in countries such as China, and it's also banned in certain food stores such as Whole Foods. Now, this is what's interesting. Okay, so this fact actually is really cool. I do know, and I did hear, I should have written this down, maybe I can look it up, or maybe you can. Aldi, okay, here we go back to Aldi, just so funny. They did recently come out that they're banning certain ingredients to be sold in products in their store, which is, again, like they are, they're hearing people, and they're hearing that people want better options. And so places like Whole Foods, yes, they have been doing better with certain products, and same thing with Aldi. And so it's great 'cause you, you can go there being like, "Oh,

Chrissy 48:25

I think

Katie 48:26

not gonna have this calcium peroxide

Chrissy 48:29

I think Whole Foods specifically actually has 300 banned ingredients. And yeah, 'cause they have it written on their grocery bags. That like their grocery bag says, "It's what's not in the bag," and then it has all of the ingredients that they have banned. Um, I think there's like 300 or so on there. Mm-hmm.

Katie 48:46

don't think seed oils is one of them though

Chrissy 48:48

It's not.

Katie 48:49

point

Chrissy 48:50

Unfortunately, it is not.

Katie 48:53

And that's like one of those items right now that you find in so many quote unquote healthy foods.

Chrissy 48:58

it's still in everything. Yeah

Katie 49:00

it's like, actually that is one of those items that I'm like, if you are paying extra right now to buy a healthier item and yet it still has seed oils, just stop. Like it's, it's almost like not as worth it to be spending extra money on something that is supposedly supposed to be healthier and organic and then has the seed oils, which are just so inflammatory it, it's just not helpful. So I would say that is one of those things that I'm like, be on the lookout for that.

Chrissy 49:32

The hard thing is when, like, your options are something with four questionable ingredients, and then the other option is only

Katie 49:41

seed

Chrissy 49:41

one questionable ingredient, which is the seed oil. And it's like, which one do you go with? Like, personally, I would go with the seed oil, and we just pray a little extra over that food.

Katie 49:52

Yes.

Chrissy 49:53

Which, okay,

Katie 49:55

food to nourish my body.

Chrissy 49:56

fun fact, um, they've actually done research studies on prayer, and praying, uh, like food that has been prayed over does not go bad as fast as food that has not been prayed over

Katie 50:09

Like, doesn't go bad, like meaning it

Chrissy 50:12

Like doesn't,

Katie 50:13

or mold?

Chrissy 50:14

Mm-hmm. And they've done research studies, I think I've mentioned this one before. Um, they had a group of monks praying over one group of people with an illness, and then the other group of people did not have any illness, or did not have anyone praying over them, and they had the gr- two groups had the same illnesses. And the group that had the monks praying over them got better, or like didn't have as bad of illness as the group that did not have anyone praying over them. Just

Katie 50:40

Chemical

Chrissy 50:41

saying. So they've done research about prayer, and it's a very powerful thing, so

Katie 50:46

is. I should be praying over my groceries when I take them home more often and be like, "Please this food to not mold in my pantry."

Chrissy 50:56

That is always a challenge

Katie 50:58

silly, but it does. I mean, I totally get it. I mean, prayer is

Chrissy 51:00

And unfortunately, the reality is like as we're transitioning to healthier foods, the risk of them molding faster is higher because we don't have the preservatives in them, which is great. But it just means that we have to be a little bit more intentional with the food that we buy and the frequency with which we buy it

Katie 51:19

Yeah, it's kind of like w- when you wonder, like, "Oh, how did we get here with having all these preservatives and all these terrible things in our food?" There was a point to it. It, people, they were trying to figure out how to make food last longer because you're no longer making your own, first off. You're no longer just making it in your home and then eating it quickly. And

Chrissy 51:43

with the industrialization era

Katie 51:45

yes, and then, you know, slowly things did start moving out of the house, but usually it was like you're, you have, like, a f- like, a miller in your and they were milling flour, and you could go buy the fresh-milled flour from the person in town, and you were making your bread right there in town. And it was like, over time, though, uh, they realized, "Okay, if, if I'm selling this flour, it's going to go bad really quickly if people don't use it." You usually have to use fresh-milled flour within a week. But then they realized if they started taking things out of the flour, then it would be more shelf-stable. Well, then over time they realized, "Well, if we bleach it and if we add in these extra vitamins, like these fortified vitamins, then it'll, it'll last longer. It'll be a little bit more nutrient-dense," because we've basically taken out all the nutrients by removing all these other parts of the flour. And then so it's like, it was, like, well-intended, but then at the consequence of now our health is so poor, and we're wondering why we're all sick and why we're all getting diabetes and why we're all getting cancers and why we're all getting Alzheimer's, and, uh, why are we just degrading so quickly? And it's because we've added all these things. First off, we've taken away a lot of stuff, all the good stuff, and then we've also added in a lot of terrible stuff to the point where so much of our food in, in grocery stores is not actually food. It is just chemicals. And I had this conversation with some that I work with now that we were talking about Pop-Tarts. This is actually a funny debate. We were talking about Pop-Tarts and whether a Pop-Tart is considered ravioli or not because

Chrissy 53:26

That's like asking if cereal is a soup

Katie 53:29

Exactly. And it was this funny, funny debate, but in my mind I was just thinking Pop-Tarts aren't even food. Like, it's literally just chemicals, so I would not even eat it anyway. And depending on where the ravioli comes from, it probably also is not food either because it's probably just all chemicals. So here I am in my just very cynical mindset about foods, especially things like Pop-Tarts or just a lot of chips and junk foods and things like that that we feed our kids. I mean, they're things that I ate as a kid, and yes, occasionally I indulge myself and I'll have, like, an Oreo or something, and I'm like, "This is literally not even food, but I'm eating it and putting it in my

Chrissy 54:10

You know what's one thing that I have seen recipes for but haven't tried yet, but I really want to try because of just the nostalgia of childhood? Is you know those soft sugar cookies with, like, the colorful icing on them that are, like, always front and center at Walmart, you know? Oh, they're so bad for you, and they all have titanium dioxide in them because they're the cookie itself. But there is a crunchier recipe that you can make it homemade, and I haven't tried it yet. I want to so bad. I've only ever seen this recipe on Instagram, and it's one that I've, like, scrolled past. But I wanna try it because it's one of those that, like, every time I see them, it takes so much effort inside of me to not eat the darn cookie. And then if I do eat the cookie, it hurts my stomach so bad, and I just need to

Katie 55:07

they also have the azodicarbonamide in it too, because

Chrissy 55:10

Oh, probably.

Katie 55:12

fluffy, know, dough-conditioned

Chrissy 55:15

I can't even read that nutrient label

Katie 55:18

Oh yeah, it's basically all chemical names in it,

Chrissy 55:22

Mm-hmm.

Katie 55:22

not real foods. I mean, that's when you know. Like, if your foods are, like, if it's made up of things that just sound not like foods, then it's not food itself. And so that's

Chrissy 55:34

You

Katie 55:34

get very frustrated when people are like, "Let's have this food," and you're like, "That's not even actually food. You're eating it, but it's not food."

Chrissy 55:41

I had an appointment with the nutritionist at my birthing center today, and she said, "If my brain cannot understand this and pronounce this food that I'm trying to read, then my body surely won't know what I'm talking about or what I'm giving it. Like, if my brain doesn't know, my body definitely doesn't know, so don't feed it to your body," you know? And I was like, "Wow, that's a really great way of looking at it." Especially as you're getting into the f- food label reading, like we always say, you know, if you don't know what it is, don't use it. But then some things like, um, sodium chloride, you know, table salt,

Katie 56:25

Mm-hmm.

Chrissy 56:26

would be listed like that on a food label, and that's just really annoying. But yeah, that was her whole thing. If my mind doesn't know what it is, then my body won't know what it is. And I was like, "Oh, I love that quote. I'm stealing it." So I'm not fully taking credit for that. That one's all on her.

Katie 56:46

So another pesticide that is banned, um, in Well, actually, here's what's interesting about this. So it's, uh, chlor- chloromaquat, I think is how you say it. So it actually was prohibited in the US for 50 years. But in 2018, apparently the EPA has, like, started quietly allowing that are sprayed with it back into the US, and so it's now being, like, found in a lot of foods. So Moms Across America, if you haven't heard of them, they do a lot of testing of foods to see what, pesticides, like what chemicals are found on certain foods. And, uh, this chloromaquat has been found in things like Honey Nut Cheerios, Quaker Instant Oatmeal, and Kellogg's Froot Loops. And it reminded me actually now of another study I think that they put out, um, on glyphosate specifically, and Quaker's, basically anything Quaker Oats is like the h- has the highest levels of glyphosate. So Honey Nut Cheerios was one of the big ones. The Quaker, uh, square, like those oats, uh, the cereal that's like the little oat squares. Do you know what I'm talking about? They're like fluffy wheat crunchy things.

Chrissy 58:14

Mix or like Chex cereal

Katie 58:17

no, they're like the, they're like wheat thin or the, uh, wheat

Chrissy 58:21

Oh, um,

Katie 58:23

They're like little squares.

Chrissy 58:25

they have frosting on them

Katie 58:26

like called Quaker Squares I think is the cereal. It's basically a cereal. But anyway, my point is that anything Quaker typically showed up in like the top 10 item, like items that have the lar- the highest amount of glyphosate was Quaker, and then Honey Nut Cheerios was one of them, and then I think like a couple Kellogg's items. And so yeah, and so it's found

Chrissy 58:49

Were you talking about Mini Wheats?

Katie 58:53

M- I, I'm, Mini Wheats is my example of what these Quaker squares sort of look like, but they're Quaker, like the cereal is called like Quaker Square something. I don't even know.

Chrissy 59:05

I, oh, Quaker Cereal Puffed Wheat.

Katie 59:09

something.

Chrissy 59:09

You know, you guys used to have this in your house all the time

Katie 59:14

Probably

Chrissy 59:15

up. I do remember getting it and being like, "Why does this always taste kinda weird?"

Katie 59:20

Mm-hmm. Yeah, but the point is, like, so this other one, basically again, glyphosate has been put on the chopping block, but then they're trying to come up with different pesticides, and so they're, they, like, started phasing that one back in some of the crops that they're, they're, like, allowing it on the crops and stuff, which is crazy. So yes, that is one of the other things. Um, some of the other, like, things that have been banned. So okay, this was actually a lot of these came from, was originally from, like, an Instagram post that I saw a long time ago of, like, "Here's foods that are banned in other countries." And so I looked it up and figured out why. But like, uh, Kraft Mac and Cheese has, like, yellow five and six, and in countries such as Norway and Austria, they actually have, like, warning labels against these products, um, because of their, like, petroleum-based, uh, you know, terribleness and how they lead to hyperactivity in children, and that they're potentially carcinogenic and stuff. So specifically things like Kraft Mac and Cheese is, like, has these warning labels on it in other countries. Um, yeah. Do you wanna share any others yourself? Or should we, like, wrap it up? I'm like, we still have so many on this list, and I'm like,

Chrissy 1:00:51

There's a... Well, we kind of went through the rest of the list. It's just a second mention.

Katie 1:00:57

second, yeah, mention of them

Chrissy 1:00:59

but yeah, Ritz crackers is another one. They're banned in Switzerland, Austria, and Denmark because these countries have a strict trans fat limit, and these have hydrogenated oils in them. Another food that has hydrogenated oils in it is, um, peanut butter, like Jif or Skippy peanut butter. Um, it literally says on the ingredient list, "hydrogenated oils," which is, like, worse than seed oils, I would argue. It is bad. It's like taking the seed oil and breaking it down into a lesser compound, I think.

Katie 1:01:37

heated and treated,

Chrissy 1:01:38

Yeah

Katie 1:01:39

and it's They, they treat it with, like, a s- like, uh, what?

Chrissy 1:01:44

Don't they bleach it?

Katie 1:01:45

metal.

Chrissy 1:01:45

Yeah

Katie 1:01:46

at some point because basically the processing of it turns it gray, and then they have to, like, bleach it to clean it. And yeah, the process of actually getting to that oil base is just so bad. And, and, and especially if they then put it into something like a margarine, it is, like, fluffed up with a bunch of terrible stuff also in order to make it look like butter because it basically is grayed out. But that's what they use is, like, the hydrogenated

Chrissy 1:02:15

You said that. You wanna know another thing this nutritionist said this morning? She said, "You wanna know the only thing that shortening does for you?" And we were like, "What?" She goes, "Shorten your life." So she was like, "If you have Crisco anywhere, get rid of it."

Katie 1:02:32

I have, I actually, here, this, we can end the episode with this other funny joke, which will maybe give us a little bit of a lightheartedness to this. So actually it was our pastor who shared this weeks ago, and I've been meaning to tell you this joke, and I keep forgetting to tell you it, but it's so funny. So there's this couple, and they finally get to heaven. They, they die together, and they're walking into the gates of heaven together, and they're like, "Oh my gosh, this is so much better than we ever imagined." And the husband, like, whacks his wife on the shoulder and he goes, "You know, we could've been here 10 years earlier if you hadn't made me stop, or if you hadn't made me eat all that healthy stuff." And, like, they're just... Yeah, I just thought it was so funny. I literally was probably the only one who was laughing as hard as I was in my seat, because it literally sounded like Wes and I of like, "We're, you're making me eat all this healthy stuff." He's definitely on board with it, but it's like, "Oh, we could've been in heaven so much sooner

Chrissy 1:03:32

Can I tell you,

Katie 1:03:33

eating all the healthy stuff."

Chrissy 1:03:34

one of my first trimester cravings was Scooby Snacks? And

Katie 1:03:38

goodness

Chrissy 1:03:39

Max, I said, "I want Scooby Snacks." He said, "Absolutely not." And so he bought me, like, the Simple Mills Organic Graham Cracker crackers that is, like, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, all organic, everything. And he was like, "Here's your replacement for Scooby Snacks. Have fun." They satisfied, I have to say. They satisfied. Yes

Katie 1:04:09

Well, yeah, what Paul, the- I forget what book this is that Paul talks about it, but it's just the idea of the harder thing to do is to go on living. Like, that's the

Chrissy 1:04:19

Mm. It's in Corinthians. First Corinthian- Second Corinthi- One of the Corinthians. We're s- we literally just studied that in church, like, two weeks ago.

Katie 1:04:27

There you go. Well,

Chrissy 1:04:28

Yeah

Katie 1:04:28

about, like, how it's, it's, it's harder, it's more of a sacrifice to be here living on Earth than it is to die and to be in heaven,

Chrissy 1:04:37

Mm-hmm.

Katie 1:04:38

uh, I was... I actually just listened to a sermon by Tim Keller where he brought this up again, and i- it was all... The sermon was actually on death, and how so many of us tend to fear death and just the unknown of, like, exactly what's going to happen after. Even as Christians, like, we know that heaven's there, but it's still, like, uh, it's still- it's such an obscure idea to us that it's kind of freaky. And yet Paul talked about how it's more of a sacrifice to stay alive and to be here and to do the hard work of sharing the gospel and to, you know, continue the, the mission here that we've been given of reconciliation. And to die and to be in heaven is the greater thing. And so just, like, that joke was kinda funny that it's like, "We could've been in heaven so much sooner if you hadn't made me switch all my foods to healthy stuff." And I,

Chrissy 1:05:32

want that

Katie 1:05:33

even forget why we- why that was a joke in our sermon, but it was, and I thought it was so funny

Chrissy 1:05:39

He was talking about stewarding our lives well. That's what it was.

Katie 1:05:43

Yes.

Chrissy 1:05:43

would be great to have in a little comic form to put up on our prayer wall. like...

Katie 1:05:48

idea

Chrissy 1:05:50

Yeah. All righty. Well, with that, we will end our episode right there. So I just want you guys to remember that as you are going through and making all of these healthy swaps, remember that whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. We'll see you guys next time. Thanks for listening to Crunchy Stewardship