Last week I posted a funny story about how I discovered a selection of Bob’s Red Mill products at the local Big Lots store.
I received a couple of emails and comments from folks about this post mentioning that they were happy to hear that Bob’s Red Mill is a brand I trust.
After chewing on this for a few days, I’ve realized that clarification of my unintentional plug for Bob’s Red Mill products was necessary!
The fact is, Bob’s Red Mill is most decidedly not a brand I trust. While I do indeed use a few of their products and find them to be high quality, there are a number of products in the Bob’s Red Mill line that are extremely unhealthy and ones that I would never consider buying.
Note the picture to the right. Bob’s Red Mill carries a product called “TVP”. TVP stands for Textured Vegetable Protein, better known to those of us in the Traditional Food World as MSG loaded, thyroid weakening, backside expanding, hair falling out of your head producing, can’t get off the couch fatigue-inducing soy protein.
In short, TVP should be avoided like the plague.
The product next to the TVP is Hemp Protein Powder. Hemp protein powder is also another product I would take great pains to avoid eating at all costs. All protein powders contain MSG and are nothing but highly processed denatured ingestibles (I can’t even bring myself to call it food) no matter who markets them. I wrote a post about this a while back called Ditch That Protein Powder if you want to know more.
Whey protein, in particular, is extremely fragile and cannot ever be powdered or dried.
“Trust in a brand” implies that the use of any of the products in the brand’s product line would bring no harm to the consumer and contain acceptable ingredients. Bob’s Red Mill does not come close to qualifying based on that definition.
People Gain Our Trust, Not Brands
I put my trust in people, never brands. The people I trust who produce my food may have a brand of products that I use, but I don’t trust their products, I trust them. Because I trust them and understand and agree with their food philosophy, I buy their products.
It’s a bit of a chicken and egg thing.
The reason I don’t trust the brand is because the folks I trust might choose to sell that brand one day (which is fine and totally their prerogative – this is a capitalist country after all) to a Big Food company.
Then, all of a sudden, the brand is cheapened and its ingredients or method of production no longer acceptable.
Has this ever happened to you? A brand you thought you “trusted” that had excellent ingredients and that you used for years suddenly was sold unbeknownst to you to a large food corporation that did a bait and switch with the ingredients?
The reason this happens is because the person you trusted who originated the brand is now out of the picture due to the buyout. The brand then goes to the dogs even though the name and the marketing remain the same.
This is why you must always put your trust in people through buying locally or from small scale producers in other locations that you ideally know personally or at the very least, can talk to on the phone directly.
It’s another reason why you need to frequently check the ingredients label of the brands you do buy unless you personally know the owner and are in contact with them on occasion. Otherwise, you are at risk for The Big Fast One.
Big Food loves to pull The Big Fast One on the consumer. It is a favored marketing technique that explains why so many little organic food companies have been gobbled up over the past 10 years and continue to be acquired at a rapid rate.
Check out this chart by clicking here. Can you believe all the little organic food company acquisitions by Big Food over the past few years?
Big Food is attempting to buy consumer trust with this acquisition strategy.
I don’t know about you, but you can’t buy my trust. You have to earn it.
I’ll bet some of your favorite healthy “brands” are in fact owned by Big Food and you didn’t even realize it! Doesn’t this shocking visual help to cement the notion that people, preferably local people, and not brands, should really be the focus of our trust?
And here’s something I would NEVER buy under any circumstances … soy milk.
But to tell you the truth, the milk would be a lot better for people than the soy, even people who have a milk “allergy”! I mean, I think they’re better off with a “reaction” than they are eating soy crap. Ewwww. Maybe this will get people to stop using protein powders – but since they are so heavily promoted, I doubt that will happen.
Sarah, thanks for saying this. I occasionally buy this brand and the items I bought have worked for me–arrowroot powder, etc. But even places you THINK sell healthy, natural items–ie., local health food store–still have to cater to the tastes of all their patrons, across a broad spectrum. It sickens me to see power bars, and the hydrolized protein, and even SODA sold at the health food store. But they are a business, who needs to make income to stay in business. so there are some people who think because it says organic that it’s real, and they’ll go the healthfood store to get it. It may be a BETTER option than the original junk food (eg., poptarts as you mentioned). Unfortunately, because these not so great things are sold together with good things, people think that they are equally healthy, nutritious, or whatever. Someone asked me recently if I’d heard of a certain organic ice cream bar at our local grocery store. Of course, knowing what I know about so-called organic milk, it’s not something I would choose for my family, and I wasn’t aware of it because of this. But certainly it’s a start for a family who would normally by the bargain bucket o’ icecream on sale at the grocery store (like we often did because we have so many children–think the Old Woman who lived in a shoe. . .. ). Well, now we don’t buy it, but we hardly eat ice cream anymore. My DH buys Turkey Hill all natural, but I won’t eat it.
It takes thought to READ A LABEL and decipher what’s on there. You’ve really helped us break this code, along with Kelly the Kitchen Kop and others of you bloggers out there.
So I recommend that we keep reading labels, and then ask ourselves what it is and what it means.
Hi Sarah, I totally agree with your comment “Big Food is attempting to buy consumer trust with this acquisition strategy”. This inevitably led me to think about the Real Food Media /Seeds of Change controversy. As you know, Seeds of Change has been acquired by the Mars Company (Milky Way, M&M…). In my opinion those guys represent the opposite of what real food stands for and I have to say that I feel uncomfortable finding them on your resource list. I have seen Ann Marie’s answer to this issue and I don’t agree with her. I do agree that Seeds of Change is a good line of products and they do donate 1% of their revenue to good causes, but the fact that they are owned by Mars matters to me. I’m a huge fan of your blog, and — please — I’m not questioning your integrity or Ann Marie’s. On the contrary, I love the honesty with which you write about things. But this is a controversial topic and I wanted to know your opinion about it. Thanks, Paula
Hi Paula, this is a very good point and I am happy to address it. I am fine with Seeds of Change being a sponsor of this blog even if they are owned by Mars … don’t trust Seeds of Change though .. just use whatever of their products that are quality and in line with your ideals but don’t trust THEM like you would a person you can develop a relationship with like your local dairy or vegetable farmer. Hope that makes sense.
I live a couple of miles from Bob’s Red Mill. The original mill was down the street from my high school. I am grateful they are so close to us. That being said, I too do not purchase many of their products. We are on a gluten free diet, so that eliminates many of their items.
I also follow their blog and they go with the FDA low-fat reccomendations that we avoid. We love our good fats. They are a nice company that does a lot for the community and I would rather purchase from them than an unknown multi-national company, but I would not get nutrional advice from them.
This is great information. Thank you for sharing Michelle.
I have had discussions with my son the body builder on creatine which he swears by. Any warnings from your knowledge
I don’t know for a fact, but it seems like (at least here in my area – Ontario, Canada) the mexican style corn tostada’s are becoming more popular. We’ve been buying them for a few years and at first they said ‘Corn treated with Lime’ specifically, on the label. And had minimal other ingredients. Now they don’t say that anymore!! And there seems to be more questionable ingredients too!! Very frustrating. There is a new Mexican grocery store in town (we get a lot of immigrant workers in our area) so I need to check it out and see if they have a more authentic type of tostada. Irritating, because they are so handy and the kids love them too. I know I can make my own, but if I can buy some that are acceptable it’s one thing I don’t have to make myself! It just makes you wonder if they are owned by other companies now too, now that they’re more popular.
Sarah, kick me off here if you chose, but I can’t resist a small plug here. I read on occassion people here looking for all natural body care products. I make beautiful goat milk soaps using only good quality oils such as coconut, olive, palm, almond, cocoa, etc and herbs and essential oils only. I refuse to use fragrance oils or cheap oils such as canola or vegetable oil. I also make natural lip balms. Check out my web site, click on the store tab to see the soaps and lip balms. I have some new varieties that I haven’t added yet. http://www.blossomsbarn.com.
I’m all about quality ingredients and I want to pass that along. Sarah, I love your blog and information you provide. Keep up the great work!
you have never specifically dealt with rice protein. Is it as bad as other protein powders?
Hi Mike, yes they are all the same. Manufacturing of rice protein denatures it. It doesn’t matter the food source, protein powder should be avoided. It is not Real Food. Check out the msgmyth link in the comment just above … rice protein is listed as a source of msg along with whey protein, soy protein, pea protein etc.
@Diana, there’s the rub .. Bob’s Red Mill says “hey we’re innocent, we don’t add any MSG”. But they don’t mention the amount that MSG is formed by the violent denaturing process that TVP undergoes to be manufactured. Even if there wasn’t any MSG in there (which there is .. just another reason not to trust a big company brand as they give you evasive, half truth answers) TVP is still a very unhealthy food and should not be consumed.
@Diana, there’s the rub .. Bob’s Red Mill says “hey we’re innocent, we don’t add any MSG”. But they don’t mention the amount that MSG is formed by the violent denaturing process that TVP undergoes to be manufactured. Even if there wasn’t any MSG in there (which there is .. just another reason not to trust a big company brand as they give you evasive, half truth answers) TVP is still a very unhealthy food and should not be consumed.