And these companies will continue to cry poor mouth about how it is the low-carb dieters that are hurting their bottom line.
IMO, and I could be wrong, a major part of the problem is the "need" of a long shelf life for products, thus requiring all the artifical additives to them. And that "need" was created by the food manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers themselves, not the consumers.
I am truly amazed at all the "complete" meals you find on supermarket shelves any more.
The food manufacturers convinced people they didn't have the time to fix nutritious meals from scratch and are now crying the blues because many people have finally seen through their lies.
YOU: And these companies will continue to cry poor mouth about how it is the low-carb dieters that are hurting their bottom line.
The beauty of capitalism is that even though they whine and complain, they eventually turn around the ship and get it going in the right diretion. Or, they will buy a small company that's ahead of the curve.
My eyes are open to it now. And if I can help it, I'll never buy another "prepared" supermarket meal again.
Before my lifestyle change, my wife and I (who both work) would prepare these type of meals every night. It was so convenient to just pop them into a microwave and have dinner ready in about 10 minutes.
Here is one example of a popular "prepared dish" we would make. This is actually something that we thought was good for us. It is Trader Joe's Chicken Chimichangas which is chicken, beans, tomatoes, onions and jalapeno peppers rolled into a flour tortilla. Just pop in the microwave for about five minutes and it is ready to eat. Sounds tasty and nutritious, right?
Here are the ingredients for this prepared dish:
Filling
Chicken Leg Meat
Cooked Beans (Water, Beans, Flavorings including Paprika, Salt, Dehydrated Onion, Enriched Flour [Bleached Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin & Folic Acid])
Tomatoes (Tomatoes, Tomato Puree, Salt, Citric Acid)
Onions
Water
Jalapeno Peppers (Jalapeno Peppers, Vinegar, Salt, Water, Calcium Chloride, Garlic, Spiced)
Modified Food Starch
Green Chilies
Bell Peppers, Flavorings including Paprika, Bell Peppers (Bell Peppers, Water, Citric Acid)
Salt
Chile Pepper (Red Chile Pepper, Citric Acid)
Vinegar
Tortilla
Enriched Flour (Bleached Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin & Folic Acid)
Water
Safflower Oil and/or Soybean Oil
Salt
Baking Powder (Starch, Monocalcium Phosphate and Sodium Bicarbonate)
Tortilla sealed with Water and Modified Food Starch, fried in Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
And mind you, this was purchased at a natural food store know for it's quality foods. What you typically find in the supermarkets have even more artificial ingredients then what was listed.
As for nutritional information, two servings of these Chicken Chimichangas contain 780 calories, 1860 mg of Sodium (78% of RDA) and 104 carbohydrates.
I listed two servings because real world, nobody ever has just one of these ridiculously small "serving sizes" that you see on packaged foods. Otherwise a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal would last a kid for weeks (and we know that that just doesn't happen).
Now we would make somethings like this at home. Ingredients are as follows:
Low-carb tortilla
Grilled fresh chicken
Onions and Jalapeno Peppers sauteed in olive oil
Diced fresh tomato
Beans
Shredded cheese
It would take considerably longer to make something like this at home but as you can see, nothing but natural ingredients.