Huh. Real food at Starbucks eh?

While picking up a treat to keep me awake during a long drive, I saw this sign at Starbucks:

Well, if our definitions of “Real Food” are similar, this would be a great new development. I came home, looked up the provided nutritional information on the website and found that although the ingredients are coming much closer to real food than they have in the past, they still have a way to go. Here is the ingredient listing for Banana Walnut Bread, the pictured food:

BANANAS, WHEAT FLOUR, ENRICHED (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN OIL), WALNUTS, EGG, CULTURED BUTTERMILK, BAKING SODA, NATURAL FLAVORS, SALT.

Bananas: Hard to misinterpret “bananas.” They probably aren’t local, organic or fresh, and could be irradiated, but they are bananas and not banana flavoring.

Wheat flour: This does not mean whole wheat flour. It means flour made from wheat. In the grocery store you would find it in a bag called Unbleached Flour. The FDA says, “We note that wheat flour should not be labeled as a whole grain flour because wheat flour is a synonym of flour (§ 137.105), and thus, the bran and germ have been removed.” In other words this enriched flour has to be enriched because so much has been taken from it.

Sugar: Beet sugar? Could be. Cane sugar? Maybe. Genetically modified sugar? Almost certainly. If it doesn’t specific “organic,” odds are the sugar listed on any processed food label you hold is genetically modified. It is at the very least, superprocessed and bleached, robbed of all that could redeem it from being just a sweetener.

Vegetable oil (soybean oil): “In 1997, about 8% of all soybeans cultivated for the commercial market in the United States were genetically modified. In 2006, the figure was 89%.” With this rate of increase, it seems likely the soybean oil in most processed food has been genetically modified. Between the uncertain effects of GMO food, the phytic acid, trypsin inhibitors, phytoestrogens, vitamin B12 analogs, free glutamic acid (MSG) and aluminum that soy contains, there is much cause for concern regarding consumption of soy products.

Walnuts: A good, healthy ingredient containing a lovely polyunsaturated oil that is beneficial to health. Sadly, because of their oil, walnuts begin to go rancid very quickly after removing them from their protective shells. The antioxidants that are naturally present in the nut are destroyed by cooking. The handling of the nuts prior to their use in the final product is not discussed by the ingredient information provided.

Egg: Ah, if only “egg” meant “egg.” Surely by now you know better. “Dried whole eggs, frozen whole eggs, and liquid whole eggs may be declared as eggs,” says the FDA’s Code of Federal Regulations. If the egg has been dried, it contains oxidized cholesterol which contributes to heart disease. Dried eggs are the method most preferred by manufactures as frozen and liquid eggs require refrigeration and are thus more costly to transport and store. But, the label isn’t specific so we don’t know for sure.

Cultured Buttermilk: No longer a by-product of buttermaking, cultured buttermilk is regular milk to which a bacterial culture has been added. We do not know from the ingredient listing the quality, safety or even contents of the starting milk product, (many reduced fat milks contain dry milk powder which also contains the oxidized cholesterol we were warned about in the “egg” listing above) but I feel relatively comfortable assuming that raw milk from grassfed Jersey cows was probably not the source of the starting milk.

Baking Soda: I am not aware of any issues with baking soda.

Natural Flavors: Ah, a fun ingredient indeed! The FDA defines “natural flavor” as:

The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in 182.10, 182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter, and the substances listed in 172.510 of this chapter.

Interesting, but not terribly helpful. Because the labeling law is broad, it is impossible for the consumer to know if the “natural flavors” are derived from eggs, dairy or other allergens. This may not be a big deal in your family, but it is in mine.

Salt: Salt is an important part of a healthy, traditional diet. Refined, dead, chemically produced, iodized salt is an invitation to high blood pressure. Again, because the ingredient label is not specific, we can’t be 100% sure, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say the salt used is probably not unrefined salt.

So all these “real foods” are baked up in the oven right there at my local Starbucks, right? In non-teflon pans that won’t flake off fluoride particles or steam toxic gas into my food? Handled by safety- and health-conscious workers who didn’t come to work sick today because they desperately needed the money? Held at a safe temperature while awaiting sale? Hard to say.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of a nice slice of banana nut bread with my coffee. I’d probably even buy a slice at Starbucks if I were really in the mood for it. But calling this recipe “real food” just pushes the envelope of honesty and is the nutritional equivalent of greenwashing. And if I get a serious craving, I’ll whip some up at home where I can control exactly what I use:

Real-er Food Banana Walnut Bread
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 9x5x3 glass loaf pan and dust with flour. Blend together 2C freshly ground whole wheat flour, 1t baking soda and 1/4t sea salt and set aside. Mix together 1 pastured egg, 1/2C maple syrup and 1/2C melted coconut oil until combined. Add the flour mixture and blend briefly. Add 2T buttermilk, 1/2t organic vanilla extract and 3 overly-ripe organic bananas that have been mashed, mixing until combined. Fold in 1/2C chopped crispy* walnuts. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes then remove from the pan.

Crispy nuts are freshly removed from their shells, soaked overnight in 1/2t sea salt then left to dry in a low oven or food dehydrator at less than 150°F. This process spares the enzymes in the nuts, and deactivates anti-nutrients they contain.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.