did you know
what is
that
WHY IS IT IN
MY FOOD?
&
by Lisa Maguire
Being health conscious is a constant journey, and
while I’m no conspiracy theorist, some arguments
against “Big Food” make a lot of sense to me. I don’t
believe everything I hear or read, but I do try to read
both sides of each controversial equation and make
my own decisions about what to feed myself and my
family. One of the most eye-opening things I started
doing a few years ago was checking ingredient labels
on processed foods and trying to make educated
decisions on what was okay as a time saver, and
what really needed to be made from scratch. Let’s be
real, though – I’ve got a full time job and two young
kids – not much hits that second list! Cooking spray
is a definite time saver in the morning for eggs, and I
typically use a brand that has an air pump or my own
pump, but I grabbed an off-brand from a discount
store in a shopping crunch. I warmed up the pan like
usual and gave the nozzle a press – when it hit the
pan, it literally sounded like propane igniting on a
grill. I flipped the can over and found out why – yep!
Propane was on the ingredient list. Why is that in
my food?!
COOKING
SPRAYS
PROPANE & OTHER PROPELLANTS
18
HACHEALTHCLUB.COM
DIMETHYL SILICONE
Excuse me, what? Silicone? Why? Well, it’s an anti-foaming agent and it also
assists as a propellant. It can be found in a number of non-food items, but the
World Health Organization – which, in my opinion, holds stricter standards when it
comes to food additives than does the FDA – found no adverse side effects from
consumption after reviewing animal studies.
In order to
get a product
out of an
aerosol can,
there must be
a propellant.
In order to get a product out of an aerosol can,
there must be a propellant. Hydrocarbon
propellants, such as propane, have been
marked as safe for consumption in small
amounts by the FDA. I’m guessing that since
my off-brand cooking spray gave a pretty
marked ignition noise, there may have
been a little extra propane in that formula,
but for me, any amount of propellant is not
appetizing at all. I’ll take the extra 38 seconds
to grab the butter next time I’m out of spray.