Thursday, September 30, 2021

Unnecessary Additives in Chicken

 













It would be so nice if real food was really real. Unfortunately,
I think those days are over. I assumed the chicken I bought
might have chicken broth in it, but I was appalled to see how
many other things had been added to the chicken tenderloins.

Why was carrageenan, sea salt, and natural flavor added to raw
chicken? According to the USDA, additives are not allowed on
fresh chicken. I called Kroger's customer service to get some
answers.

Me: "I bought some of your chicken tenderloins, and I want to
         know why you have carrageenan in your chicken?"

Customer Service: "First of all, I apologize for that; what's the
         barcode?"

Me: "Carrageenan is one of the ingredients listed on the package." 

After that, the lady proceeds to read me a scripted paragraph about
carrageenan telling me its been used in food for years, and how it's
GRAS (generally recognized as safe). She went on...and on...and on.
When she was done reading, I asked her what was in the natural 
flavor, and she said it was proprietary information. She said if I was
concerned about any food allergies, she could tell me what allergens
were in the natural flavor. I'm surprised that wasn't "proprietary
information" too.