Cereal, Beetle Juice, and a "Green" Company...?

This week we were asked to pick a food item that we enjoy and research whats in it and where it came from.

I chose Special K- Fruit & Yogurt blend.

yummm!

I am obsessed with cereal and always have been. I generally eat a bowl of cereal once a day, not always at breakfast either! I'm not a fan of kids cereals that are full of sugar on sugar on sugar. I love Raisin Bran, Chex, Honey Bunches of Oats... things along those lines. But when I came across Special K Fruit & Yogurt my cereal eating experience was forever changed (OK, maybe it's not that drastic, but I need you to understand how much I love this stuff!). I have no doubt that I could eat nothing but a box of it for an entire day.
When I picked my favorite cereal for this assignment, I admit I was hesitant. Do I REALLY want to know the nitty gritty about something I so often eat? I mean... it's supposed to be a healthy choice but should I risk finding out whether or not that's actually true?
Welp, here goes!

Ingredient list: Rice, whole grain wheat, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, wheat bran, contains 2% or less of vegetable oil (palm kernel, soybean and canola), dried apples, corn syrup, salt, brown sugar syrup, brown sugar (sugar, molasses), nonfat milk, soluble wheat fiber, malt flavoring, rice flour, natural and artificial flavor, polydextrose, tapioca dextrin, confectioner's glaze, whey, soy lecithin, nonfat yogurt powder (cultured nonfat milk; heat-treated after culturing), maltodextrin, honey, molasses, cinnamon, citric acid, lactic acid, red 40, blue 1, BHT for freshness, sodium sulfite to protect color.
Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), reduced iron, niacinamide, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B12.

If you're like me, before this assignment, you probably just skimmed through that list (rice, whole grain, blah blah blah vitamins and minerals blah blah). But in taking a closer look I actually made quite a few faces while reading. Why is there salt in my cereal?! And what the heck are these "natural and artificial flavors?" Plus I'm pretty sure I have no idea what the last few ingredients are let alone an answer as to why they're in my cereal.

Lets start with things on the list that caused me confusion.
1. Malt flavoring. I know that malt is a type of beer (right?) so whats it doing in the cereal? thanks to Google I was able to find out that it is an extract that comes from barley. It is added to things for flavor. It is not gluten free.
2. Polydextrose. It's an artificial fiber. I had no idea the fiber was not all-natural, since Kellogg's claims that Special K is a "healthy" choice. Everyone knows that natural is better than articifical. I found an article from www.slate.com that states the following: "Recent FDA approvals have given manufacturers a green light to add polydextrose to a much broader range of products than previously permitted, allowing food companies to entice health-conscious consumers who normally crinkle their noses at high-fiber products due to the coarse and bitter taste of the old-fashioned roughage. These fiber additives serve dual purposes—they can serve as bulking agents to make reduced-calorie products taste better, such as the case with Breyers fat-free ice cream, and carry an added appeal to consumers by showing up as dietary fiber on food labels." I don't know about you but that seriously just blew my mind. (you can read the full article here http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2009/03/dietary_fibber.html)

3. Tapioca Dextrin. More or less a thickening agent and surprisingly, is listed as a natural fiber.
4. Confectioners Glaze. "it's the same ingredient as shellac, the chemical sold in hardware stores that's used for sealing and varnishing wood floors." "Shellac is actually a chemical secreted by female lac bugs (Laccifer lacca)" SAY WHAT??? You're telling me I'm eating beetle juice??

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033217_confectioners_glaze_shellac.html#ixzz2OdBKH8M6


5. BHT. researching BHT was a life changing experience, no joke. It's an additive used to preserve the fat in food. It literally means Butylated Hydroxytoluene and is listed as an antioxident but is a CHEMICAL that is also found in skincare products such as lotions and soaps, jet fuel, embalming products, and certain oils. It is also a known stabilizer in pesticides and gasoline. Yep, you read that right. BHT is known to cause abdominal pain, confusion, dizziness, and nausea (that makes total sense to me now that I know what it is). It is combustible, harmful to aquatic organisms, and can possibly cause liver damage, kidney failure, and thyroid issues. Additionally, BHT is secreted through urine. You know what that means? It's potentially infecting our water systems.
A great article on BHT (and a cool find as far as "green" websites go!) can be found here: http://2ndgreenrevolution.com/2012/02/07/bht-the-secret-in-your-cereal/

OK. In trying to find out more information about the cereal I immediately went to www.specialk.com. The entire website is dedicated to The Special K Plan (a diet plan involving the company's wide variety of products). While searching for some information other than ingredients I was led to the Kellogg's website (Kellogg's is the maker of Special K products). The information I gathered about the Kellogg's company was actually surprising. In 2011, Kellogg's was named number 36 of 100 Best Global Green Brands. Kellogg's is also dedicated to reducing landfill waste accumulated by the making of their products, reducing energy use as well as water use, and reducing their emission of greenhouse gases. You can look at their sustainability report in its entirety here. 

 

It was news to me that Kellogg's is not just available in the United States but in all of North America, Latin America, and Europe. But where exactly do these products come from? I know, obviously, that the ingredients for my Special K come from a farm, then go to a processing plant, then onto a truck that takes it to the store where I then purchase the cereal and take it home. Kellogg's actually states that their company is dedicated to working with "local" rice farmers in Louisiana. In 2012 they actually created a Rice Master Grower Program, which was established with the help of the Louisiana State university Ag center, to help assure product quality while boosting the economy for the local growers. Cool, right? I had trouble finding information about the source of supply in other countries though.

 

OK. So now I have a summary of ingredients and a general idea of place of origin. Do I agree with Kellogg's that their Special K cereal is "healthy?" Well... I wouldn't necessarily say that it's healthy... just healthier than other breakfast cereals. Did you know that Kellogg's also makes Cheez-Its, Keebler, and Famous Amos products? Seems funny to me that a company that markets themselves based on their achievements in providing a healthier product, also makes such unhealthy things, too. Based on the sole ingredient BHT I can say that I probably won't be eating this cereal any longer. Notice I said probably, haha. Knowing that BHT is in A LOT of things nowadays is frightening. Although I already knew everything has preservatives these days, especially my precious cereal, I didn't know exactly what those preservatives and chemicals were... it was nice when I could eat my cereal in complete ignorant bliss. ::sigh::

 

 

 

 

Lights, Camera, Sustainability...?

For this weeks assignment we were asked to assess how sustainable our campus is. For those who don't know what sustainability is, it basically means how "green" something is. We were asked to compile a list of areas that can be measured for sustainability. Here is the list I came up with:
1. Are paper towels still used in campus restrooms?
2. Is the air conditioning on campus powered by "Energy Star" units?
3. Does the cafeteria use plastic utensils or reusable utensils?
4. How much waste is accumulated on a daily basis? Where does this waste go?
5. Is recycling available on campus?
6. Are buildings built with "green" materials?
7. What types of resources are available online as opposed to paper?
8. Where does the cafeteria food come from?
9. Are their community gardens on campus?
10. What is done to preserve plant life?
11. How much water is used on campus?
11. Is smoking allowed in any area?
12. What is transportation for students like?
13. Pesticide use?
14. How well is the land used?
15. What kind of lighting is used throughout campus?

Next we were asked to look up what other campuses have done in regards to sustainability assessments. In other words, how they figured out their ecological impact, not solutions to the problems they found. A great example I found is from the University of Oregon (really, is their any surprise there?) In regards to the Universitys Materials Management they assessed the extent to which the campus incorporates sustainability into the procurement and disposal of packaging, office supplies, furniture, computer equipment, and chemicals for custodial, landscaping, research, and teaching use. They also assessed their materials management through trends in solid waste and recycling, as well as efforts to reduce waste and properly dispose of waste and hazardous materials. They figured out that solid waste is a big problem in the campus society and the effect landfills have on the environment. They then looked at the dollar amount spent on goods and services (over $132 million dollars during the 05-06 fiscal year) and the amount of waste sent to landfills each year.

The entire University of Oregon assessment is available at http://uplan.uoregon.edu/subjects/Sustainability/SustDDprojects/UOSustainabilityReport.pdf
I recommend skipping down a few pages to the "Indicators" section if you're interested in the actual assessment process.

Next in the assignment we were asked to pick one of the factors we listed (above) and devise a detailed assessment. I choose to look at lighting throughout the campus. What kind of lighting is used? What is the cost each month spent on replacing lighting? Are lights motion censored? What time do lights turn on at night and how many lights on campus turn on during that time? How many watts are in each bulb used? How many bulbs are needed to light up a room? Are all bulbs turned on or is it every other bulb? Who is in charge of making sure the lights on campus are energy efficient, if applicable? If not applicable, why isn't lighting a concern? Is solar lighting available anywhere on campus? What kind of lighting is used to power classroom projectors? How much money is spent on projector lighting? How much is spent each year to light up the football field? Do high schools that use our football field for graduations pay a fee? How much is that fee and is the lighting cost factored in? When do parking lot lights turn on and when do they turn off? Are all areas of the parking lots lit up?
In order to conduct such an assessment, I think my first step would be to contact the President of the school,  Dr. Cynthia Azari and explain my assignment and ask her for permission as well as resources. I would need to examine light bulbs in every room (classrooms, bathrooms, the gym, office buildings, parking lots) and find out what kind of lights are used. I would need information on how lighting is controlled, how the football field is rented out, and so on. I would ask for help from the administration as well as student services. I would need to do research on the different types of lighting available and which is the most energy efficient and compare it to the lighting currently used.