A couple of weeks ago, I took a little a weekend jaunt to Chicago to celebrate my 29th birthday. I went prepared with some organic apples hidden in my luggage to have as end-of-day/pre-dinner hotel room snack. As I’ve mentioned, even out and about in the city, my friend Jay and I had a challenge finding healthy options.
It is rare that I find myself in a situation where I don’t have some sort of health food at the ready. When I was fifteen at summer camp, and everyone was happily gobbling down their bowls of brown sugar with a sprinkling of instant oatmeal on our camping trips, I was carefully spreading peanut butter on my rice cakes. I suppose it is just one of those comfort things for me, knowing that I have some good nourishment available to me should I need it. Perhaps it is a touch of orthorexia, but either way, I am usually very prepared.
Uncharacteristic of me, as I waited in the Chicago airport for my flight home that was delayed two hours, I was caught unprepared and I was hungry. I wandered around the restaurants and newsstands trying to work out what the best option would be. What I settled on was a banana and a bag of ‘Raw Trail Mix’. As I sat there munching on the nuts, I read the package more closely.
On the package I found the standard nutritional label (which might as well be in hieroglyphs given that they don’t make all that much sense) and the ingredient list that included: peanuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, raisins and dates.
An addition, however, the following, was also included in various areas of the packaging:
- No Cholesterol (all plant based foods are cholesterol free so unless they were slipping some meat or animal fat in there, there should not be any cholesterol).
- No preservatives (false claim as all conventional dried fruit has sulfates used as a preservative).
- Caution: may contain shells fragments
- Allergy information: Packed in a facility on shared equipment that may contain peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, seaweed, milk, eggs, and FD&C colors.
- Product of U.S.A may contain ingredients from Mexico and/or China and/or India and/or Brazil and/or Chile and/or Argentina.
- May contain oat flower as an anti-caking agent.
So what was I eating? To be honest, I have no idea. The allergy allerts are fairly standard and required by law. It was all that ‘and/or’ information about the countries that really threw me. Different countries have different laws around hygiene, chemical use and food modification practices. I just likel to know what I’m eating and am thrilled I got through the bag without my insides being torn to bits by those hazardous shell fragments. Lesson learned and from now on, I am packing my own.
Here is my own little Trail MIx recipe. Mix it together, store it in a jar, keep a supply in your bag or purse, in your glove box, in your desk drawer. Be ready so that when hunger strikes, the right (and apparently safe) option is at the ready.
Trail Mix
2 cups raw, unsalted almonds
1 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds
1 cup raw, unsalted cashews
1 cup raw, unsalted pecans
1 cup raw, unsalted walnuts
1 cup organic dried cranberries
1 cup organic raisins
1 cup dried apple (cut into pieces
1/2 cup crystalised ginger, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
Mix together and enjoy!
[...] I suppose I have learned my lesson and will just chill out until this Spring moves on and summer moves in- ripe with fresh, local, organic strawberries. And I was reminded once again to read the small print on food packaging. [...]
I, too, make a trail mix much like this one. I also add cinnamon and sea salt to mine. I have a sweet tooth so I reach for this instead of something bad for me