Crystal Light Is NOT Right: A chemical blow
What catches your eyes when you take a glance at the box of Crystal Light Natural Pink Lemonade drink mix? Perhaps it’s the word “natural” and so you are about to pay your $2.00 for it. But wait a second! Let’s first take a closer look at the ingredients list and find out what makes the Kraft Foods to name it “natural.”
Crystal Light Isn’t Right!
Crystal Light: Risk, Nutrition and Dye Content
As you can see now, the only nutrient (1 green segment in the DyeDiet risk and nutrition diagram) is soy lecithin, a natural fat extracted from soy beans. The rest are 5 benign chemical food additives (5 yellow segments) and 3 hoodlums of a biochemical strangers gang (3 red segments):
- Aspartame, a controversial artificial sweetener that reduces the caloric content
- Acesulfame potassium is yet another artificial sweetener and
- Red 40, an artificial colorant which may trigger allergies and ADHD (read PDF files Diet, ADHD and Behavior and Behavior, Learning and Health: The Dietary Connection).
So what then is natural in the above chemical composition? Well, it’s merely natural flavor identity of which is kept as a commercial secret. That is what allows the manufacturer to name the whole concoction “natural.” Note that nowadays almost all natural flavors are synthesized in the lab. This is OK as long as they are identical to those found in nature. But overall impact of this drink mix on your body is quite NEGATIVE and this is not OK: you are exposed to an exceptionally high chemical risk of DDFI = 26/3 ~ 8.7 and you receive essentially zero nutritional value of DDNF = 3/43 ~ 0. Do you still want to buy it?
So according to the recommendation on the side of the box, you take a tall glass of pure water, contaminate it with the above mixture of chemical pollutants and enjoy drinking the resulting liquid. Believe me; your body will not thank you for that chemical blow. This is just another product from the series that I call “food terrorism.”
A better choice. As it’s often true, a better alternative is awaiting for you right on the same shelf or on the one next to it. If you are bored drinking our best natural choice – pure water – you may want to consider Great Value Naturally Sweetened low calorie drink mixes:
Great Value Naturally Sweetened drink mixes
Those are made with no artificial sweeteners, no artificial flavors and no artificial preservatives. You pay only $1.98 for the pack of 7 packets of total 2.2 OZ (63 g) that is almost twice as much as what you get with Crystal Light. Hydrate yourself right!
Category: Food Dyes Exposure, Food Terrorism, Soft drinks
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