Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to learn to identify artificial sweeteners – or teach someone else to root them out.
Level of Commitment: Baby Steps
If your child goes to school, chances are they’ve ingested some artificial sweetener in their time there.
Got a Valentine’s Day party coming up? Artificial sweeteners might be invading your school, hidden in juice or candy from well-meaning parents.
What’s Wrong with Juice?
I’ve been saying that I’m going on a juice rampage this week as part of a challenge to school food advocacy. Let me tell you how all this got started:
My son, the saver, brought home an empty bottle from a birthday celebration in his first grade room just before Christmas. (He wanted to make something out of it, in case you were wondering.) I knew there was nothing good inside, but I had artificial food colorings on the brain that week after an article at Sorta Crunchy got me sorta thinking.
I absent mindedly read the ingredients and nearly bruised my jaw on the dresser when I got to the end and saw not only Red 40, which I expected, but sucralose. In case you’re not up on evil things one might find on an ingredients label, sucralose is Splenda, one of the newer no-calorie artificial sweeteners to hit the market.
The Line
Although I’m guessing I don’t come across very lenient online, I really let a lot of things slide in real life. I usually just cringe at high fructose corn syrup rather than banning it (when others are serving, not at home!). I look the other way when it comes to fake food coloring (but more on that at the end of the month – stay tuned!). I hate when kids are given juice, but I know it’s a fun treat for a party.
However.
Everyone has to have some un-crossable, non-negotiable, never-compromise-on-them lines. One of mine is artificial sweeteners. They are absolutely never to cross my children’s lips. Ever.
My son knows this very well and would never drink anything labeled “diet,” and after last soccer season, he even recognizes the artificially sweetened version of Gatorade, “G2.” This one wasn’t his fault at all.
I quickly flipped the bottle around to see what it said on the front. I was looking for the telltale signs of artificial sweeteners: “low sugar” “reduced sugar” or “lo-cal.” Nothing. I can’t even figure out why the punch had sucralose in there since the first ingredient was still high fructose corn syrup.
The Birth of a Juice Activist
The bottle was empty.
The line had been crossed.
I had to do something about it.
I realized that education was the only way out of this chemically sweetened mess, so I decided to talk to Paul’s teacher to see if she would let me share information with the classroom parents about how to find artificial sweeteners on labels and why they’re no good for kids.
All of this, plus another story that I’ll share later this week in which someone will pee their pants, was the genesis of the entire week of school food advocacy here at Kitchen Stewardship. I’ll post a “juice decoder” to help people – not most of you, I know, but rookies – determine what juice is perhaps okay to drink and what is totally unacceptable, especially for kids.
So if you know all this stuff, and you’d never touch artificial sweetener with a 10-foot pole anyway, I offer a challenge to you this week to do some real food evangelizing. Teach someone else how to read a label and avoid fake sweeteners, or better yet, teach someone how to buy food without labels.
Welcome to My House…
As for me, I’m inviting the parents from the entire class over to my virtual home tomorrow, and we’re talking about juice.
I want to teach all parents how to help their kids be healthier, and avoiding artificial sweeteners is such an easy place to start. I was telling some blog colleagues about how I was getting my undies in a bunch about juice at school, rolling my eyes and saying, “Yep, I’ll make a name for myself quickly as the crazy food lady, yikes.” (Remember that we’ve only lived here two months!)
They seemed to want to counsel me to simply teach my own kids how to avoid the junk rather than to try to change school policy so that they’re not presented with the junk. As much as I appreciate and agree with the idea of kids having knowledge and agency to take care of themselves – and I do that sort of education, too – I just can’t get over the fact that I might have the opportunity to help other families improve their health! I can’t help it. I just have to be a teacher wherever I go.
My “voice” tomorrow might be a little odd for those of you who are always around, however, since I’ll be talking to a different audience, some of whom certainly drink diet sodas and think nothing of it. I’ll tread lightly and focus on the kids.
Who are YOU going to teach this week?
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I have been a long time user of splenda due to my incorrect understanding that it was supposed to be from the real thing and not like “all of the others”… Well, I believed a lie…. For the past month or so I have been using just honey, sucanat, and at times turbinado (I know it’s processed, but I just can’t do coffee with honey or sucanat yet…that’s my goal) I think think that it is great that you are willing to share this information with others, they have the choice to listen and follow or ignore it….I say go for it…. good for you… I think people need to know what they are giving their families and the dangers of that type of diet….
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sa'ada Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
maple syrup goes really well with coffee.
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Nella Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
thanks, have to give that a try!!
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Stacy Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
So does liquid stevia
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Your article brings up a concern I had last week at my children’s school. We have cut sugar out of our adult diet and have greatly reduced it in our children’s. They can have honey, some slightly sweetened cakes and cookies, their beloved organic hot chocolate… but I limit as much as possible candy and things like that. Well, the other day, I see them walk out of school with chocolate stuffed in their mouths. All of the kids! It was the ladies that come in to teach traditional dancing that give them candies EVERY time they come. I thought to myself, OK, do I ask the teacher NOT to let them give candies at all or just to MY children? Most parents would say I’m making a fuss about nothing, but then if only my kids don’t get the candy, then they become outsiders. Or, I have to remember to plan a special good treat for them on that particular day. It’s so easy for us to be careful at home, but once kids are out of the house, it’s “danger”. Good for you for being an advocate for healthy living in your area. You’ll always get people talking behind you back. But if you help even one family, one child, it is worth it.
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Heather Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 2:53 pm
You might just ask the teacher (or principal) if she could give the candy to all of the kids but have them wait until they get home to eat it. This means no child is the outsider, and gives every parent the opportunity to make the call as to what is best for their kids. There’s a good chance other parents may not be too thrilled about the candy, and parents that aren’t even aware of the candy (parents of bus riders and walkers)
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Jane Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Good idea. As the teacher is a vegan and doesn’t eat any refined sugar, I figure she could understand my concerns! I’ll give it a try.
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Judy Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Please remind the school of food allergies that children may have, not just nutritional preferences. In Virginia we just lost an innocent elementary school student to peanut exposure while at school. The child died very quickly. I can’t begin to think of the emotional fallout that school community is facing. No one wants a tragedy on their watch. Food and candy labels are tricky at best, and allergy containing ingredients can be hidden in things like “Spices” on the label. I think every parent should be able to preview the ingredient list for all food items distributed through school and given the opportunity to say no. Pie in the sky dream, I know. There are so many other rewards besides food we can give our kids!
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Katie Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Jane,
I love Heather’s idea, too. I was going to suggest that your kids bring home any treats, but doing it school-wide would be even better. Nice one, Heather! That’s just the kind of situation that makes me squirm, too. No easy answers…
Good luck!
Katie
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Discovered your blog last month and have been devouring all the information here. Thank you so much for all your work.
“Juice” is such a pet peeve of mine. I’m like you, let a lot of things slide in school and at friends’ homes. Since she’s 2 and a half I still have some control over what she eats and drinks at parties. But, I’m helpless at school. They do serve only milk and water. Except if a parent brings some for school parties or birthdays. I’m not looking forward to valentine’s day and the onslaught of candy that’s about to happen.
Did you see this article about worms in Caprisun?
http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2012/01/25/worms-found-in-capri-sun-multiple-times/
Seriously, why do we even call this stuff “juice”???
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Emily @ Random Recycling Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
So gross about the worms!
My daughter’s preschool said No Candy this year, due to all the allergies in the class. I’m actually happy about it.
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Love school food advocacy. I think it needs to start early. Even in preschool I’m finding the snack assortment to be based on white flour and processed goods. Goldfish anyone??
I read the same SortaCrunchy article which made me share how we handle the task of limiting kids junk intake. http://randomrecycling.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-i-say-no-to-rainbow-colored.html
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Excellent post. I am doing a lot of educating as I go along meeting people. I know that many think I’m a nut job, but I don’t care. Most never look at the ingredients and sucralose is in so many things. We all just need to read the labels and stay up with the latest additives to our food.
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Do you have an article on the evil of juice? I’ve been having this debate with my husband, and he just doesn’t believe me!
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Katie Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Elizabeth,
Katie
Coming tomorrow!!
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Your article brings up a lot of interesting points. I’ve heard terrible things about artificial sweeteners through a friend of mine, so I’ve cut them out of my diet a while ago.
My problem with juice is that it can be so great for you, if it’s actually juice. Every now and then I’ll buy a juice from PCC from their juice bar with all natural, organic ingredients, and they are amazing but so expensive.
Now I strive to keep most processed food out of my diet, which is pretty difficult sometimes. For things like this, I think its important to change gradually, otherwise it’s easy to get overwhelmed.
Anyway, great article. Thanks for the pointers!
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I don’t have children and I get offered fake fruit punchy drinks all time. I politely refuse all fruity drinks, even 100% real juice and smoothies. My motto is I drink water or tea and eat my fruit whole.
For me and my spouse, we both react to artifical sweeteners, dyes, refined sugars and drinks like smoothies are complete calorie-loaded gut bombs. Once I got J off all the junky stuff (he grew up around his family’s soda factory), gluten and allergens, he’s rarely gets a migraine, has dropped 100+ lbs off his 6’2″ frame and is less stressed all the way round. He finds he concentrates much better too.
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I just ran into the complex juice issue today at the store! I never buy juice, but my son has been asking for jello lately. So my plan was to find some juice and use plain gelatin to Jell0ify it. Still a bit of compromise for a juice-Nazi like me, but workable for a special treat (Valentine’s Day).
I was amazed at how much junk was in nearly ALL of it, even ones labeled “organic” and “100% juice.” (Obviously I didn’t even look at the juice cocktails!) All but a couple of the organic ones had “natural flavors.” Most of the juice in the regular aisle had added colors and/or sugar. All of them had added acid. Ascorbic acid doesn’t bother me too much, but all the rest were unpronounceable. I finally went for organic apple juice with just ascorbic acid, but I was really surprised at all the stuff in juice. Apparently I’m out of the loop!
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I love reading your blog because it makes me feel slightly less nuts about doing things like keeping empty bags in the freezer because I know they’ll be refilled soon, reheating day old oatmeal, and freaking out over the evils of artificial sweeteners. So glad I’m not alone! I’m not aware of all of the aliases artificial sweeteners appear under, so I hope you’ll enlighten all of us here some day! Thanks for all your hard work
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I have gotten myself in trouble because of my desire to educate others! It came off, accidentally, as preachy or something. I truly feel as you do — it used to be I didn’t know, and I just assume many others don’t, either, and I want to help! They don’t always find it so helpful.
Good luck tomorrow!
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OH the food colorings – and the dilemma when out at birhtday parties, etc. I cann’t be the mean-mommy all the time and not allow any suckers, etc. I do my best, but abide by the 80-20 rule for Sanity’s sake!
The one thing I use juice for is JELLO! we’ve eliminated fruit juice with Water Kefir and Kombucha!
I’ve made some breakfast Dessert here: http://bit.ly/xabvOm – ONLY using 1/2c real unrefined suagr in each one…
Blessings!
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I’m sooo glad you are doing this post about artificial sweeteners. They are in everything. Many things that people assume are better for them. Soda is bad no matter what, but I think diet soda is so much worse because of the aspartame. Aspartame is even in yogurt (Fiber One). I’ve noticed that sometimes when you find a product with increased fiber, you also find artificial sweeteners.
My son has juvenile diabetes and is told by his doctors to always have diet sodas and crystal light. We don’t have soda in the house, but we have taught him, that if he is at a birthday party and just can’t resist the soda – go for the regular. It’s the lesser of 2 evils
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lizi Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
good for you!! i really applaud your efforts to see through the hype and misinformation about diet foods and artificial sweeteners. hopefully others will take notice of your bold position and realize that fake sweeteners aren’t so benign. i agree with katie- artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame, are one thing i stick my foot down on. although fake colors, MSG, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and HFCS aren’t too far behind, something about nutrasweet and splenda just flashes a giant skull and cross bones in my head.
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Speak up, moms!
I’m very grateful that our school has adopted a “no food” rule across the board, due to allergies and health concerns.
The kids get to pick a book on their birthdays. If they want to share a “treat” with friends, it can’t be edible. (Pencils and bookmarks are fine.)
No food at holiday parties. They play games and do crafts.
If kids need a snack, they can bring fresh fruit or vegetables to munch. They can pack whatever they want in their own lunch (or buy hot lunch), but they’re not allowed to share food. Period.
It sounds harsh, but it’s a wonderful policy! The kids accept it without question because they’ve never known anything different.
And I’m grateful for the moms who have gone before me who said, “Why are kids given candy at school? Why all these cupcakes?”
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Jackie Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 4:50 pm
What a great idea! Excellent policy. I was frustrated because my son’s school requires any birthday treats to be pre-packaged. I think his classmates will be receiving non-food treats this year.
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Good luck with your community lesson tomorrow! Have faith that education is the only way to begin change!
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I too have tried telling adults about the effects of Aspartame but they don’t want to hear it. My advice for you is homeschool your child and you won’t have to worry about all the other issues. People just plain don’t care.
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i guess i fail to see how a fresh smoothie, made with organic fruit is a gut bomb akin to kool-aid. i make my family a healthy smoothy with frozen tart cherries, wild blueberries, and a small portion of sweet fruit like mango or strawberies and either kombucha/kefir/home made villi yogurt, and often add in greens. i actually prefer smoothies over whole fruit because the blender breaks down the cell walls and makes the fruit/greens much more digestible. although i don’t make the smoothies i used to make, which were 100% fruit but still heavy on the very sweet fruit like bananas. i think if you are aware of the sugar, yes even natural fruit sugars, and try to eat it with healthy real fat and protein to keep your blood sugar from spiking/inflammation from kicking in, i think smoothies are a great way to go, IMHO….
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Katie Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 10:24 pm
Lizi,
Katie
Never fear, I’m ONLY talking about bottled juice in the regular grocery store aisle, not smoothies at home or juicer creations, for sure, nor even the real juice sold in the produce section, chilled. This is about Hawaiian Punch, Capri Sun, and Juicy Juice.
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All this makes me want to list artificial sweeteners on my sons’ health forms as things they are allergic to. At least that way the adults around them might take it seriously to look at labels before passing out the treats! Give ‘em real stuff any day!
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I can’t stand the snacks that people in my daughter’s class bring for snacks. We all have to rotate, and I often can’t stand what my daughter tells me they have. I have thought about not letting her eat a snack there and wait until she gets home. We have cut out all HFCS except when we go to parties and the like, but I find myself getting really frustrated about how much the people of the United States are deceived by these big companies that promote their “healthy” food that is completely harmful to us. I just don’t understand the irony of it all. Thanks for sharing and getting people to think about it.
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I know this is out of your control, but I had to chuckle there was a Skinny Cow ad at the bottom of your email. Have not read the label, but I assume it uses artificially sweetener.
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Amazing post.
I just drank my ‘naughty’ treat of chocolate milk sweetened with stevia (sometimes a touch of Grade B maple syrup) SO GOOD. I’ll have to post up the recipe on my blog:
http://www.thenourishingroad.co.uk
We never buy juice and I have managed to get both my parents and my in-laws off there sugar/splenda addictions!! No mean feat I tell you.
Keep preaching girl!
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Can someone refer me to some research regarding artificial sweeteners? I googled for more info, and it seems that this is a really controversial ground. I like to have facts to present to friends…
I have seen that the first two created sweeteners were known carcinogens, but that the currently approved ones have not shown to be carcinogenic in the latest studies.
I can fully accept people avoiding them out of a suspicion of artificially created “foods,” but I’d like to know whether it’s mainly that or something I’m missing…
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Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 1:14 am
Emily,
I don’t know if it’s “good” research or not, but here’s my follow-up article on artificial sweeteners:
http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2012/02/08/the-dangers-of-artificial-sweetenersare-they-safe-for-kids/
(Just saw your comment, sorry I let it get lost for so long…)
Katie
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I homeschool, and don’t have to worry about other people giving my kids things I consider bad, right. Wrong! I had to educate my own mother about artificial sweetners in gum the other day. She is the grandma with gum in her purse and my kids are now big enough to know it and ask her for it.(They are 5, 5, and 2) I told her to just tell them she doesn’t have any unless she can find some that doesn’t have artificial sweetner. It’s a special treat andI can overlook the other things in gum if it’s just coming from Nana once in a while. But NOT the artificial sweetner.
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I hope you see this. I was reading today (2/1/13) about the new USDA guidelines for school snacks and “outside” foods. I am not a big fan of the guidelines, but it is my Libertarian streak. I was however, SHOCKED to see that all soda is banned for students under high school age and in high school only DIET SODA is allowed. Personally, we don’t drink much soda, but we certainly don’t let our children drink diet soda. OH MY GOODNESS.
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Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship Reply:
February 2nd, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Lori,
I didn’t even know there were guidelines for snacks, which are always brought from home, right? Gahhhhhhh! Only diet????? Heaven help us…
Katie
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Lori Jeffries Reply:
February 4th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
Just another way your government is here to help. Seriously, I have mixed feelings on the subject. I appreciate what they are trying to do, but I would rather they invest their time in finding and funding quality ingredients for the foods they do prepare. I don’t know what is worse – regular soda or diet soda. While I am trying to rework out diets, and we aren’t a big soda family, I have begun buying the “throwback” sodas. They have regular sugar and not corn syrup. Not much better, but baby steps.
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