What Is 'Lecithin'? Deciphering The Ingredients Label (PHOTOS)

Many food ingredient lists are headache-inducing and leave us wondering what we're actually consuming. Do you know what Tertiary Butylhydroquinone is, let alone how to pronounce it? We've picked 9 ingredients that you may be consuming on a daily basis. Find out what you're actually ingesting.

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Lecithin

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What it is: Lecithin is naturally occurring in the human body and in certain foods. It is a popular additive due to its ability to preserve and emulsify. Found in: Naturally occurring in soybeans, nuts, yeast, egg yolk. Added to chocolate, baked goods, margarine, ice cream, mayonnaise. Health impact: Lecithin is derived from soy, a food that poses potential health risks for some people, including those with allergies. (Read about the soy controversy here.) Lecithin itself has no health risks and is used as a supplement for cardiovascular health, arthritis relief and improved liver function. Sources: Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), FDA

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What it is: Lecithin is naturally occurring in the human body and in certain foods. It is a popular additive due to its ability to preserve and emulsify.

Found in: Naturally occurring in soybeans, nuts, yeast, egg yolk. Added to chocolate, baked goods, margarine, ice cream, mayonnaise.

Health impact: Lecithin is derived from soy, a food that poses potential health risks for some people, including those with allergies. (Read about the soy controversy here.) Lecithin itself has no health risks and is used as a supplement for cardiovascular health, arthritis relief and improved liver function.

Sources: Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), FDA

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Comments

[Autumn Rain]

03:54 PM on 10/28/2010

Thanks for this very informative article. It makes me think that I better limit which food I'd like to try. It's also better to cook at home. That way one knows the ingredients and preparation are done healthy.
http://www.quotes-safari.com/

[GoodandBadnews]

11:50 PM on 10/27/2010

I'll have more of whatever they put into Skittles!

http://www.goodandbadnews.com/best-and-worst-halloween-candy-guide/

[Elizabeth Swigar]

08:01 PM on 10/27/2010

Hmmmm...Interesting...

[AnnoyedCanuck]

06:41 PM on 10/27/2010

Lecithin is more-ithin.

[mazaza]

04:50 PM on 10/27/2010

Acesulfame-K : "he Center for Science in the Public Interest suggests avoiding them, as studies are still investigating a possible link to cancer."
Trans fats: The FDA concluded that trans fats are even more harmful than saturated fat and contribute to coronary heart disease. Due to these serious health concerns, the FDA made it mandatory in 2003 to list trans fat on Nutrition Facts labels.
"Carrageenan": Studies are researching carrageenan's effect on the gastro-intestinal tract, exploring a possible link to ulcers and gastro-intestinal cancer. According to a Joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives, it's not recommended to use infant formulas that contain carrageenan.

It will drive you straight to cancer, poison your babies but hell, why should we outlaw these things?

[Fred Butters]

07:37 PM on 10/27/2010

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is the reason McDonald's started using Trans fats to cook French fries.

McD's used to use Beef tallow, but because the CSPI is largely a vegetarian group, they wanted to limit use of animal products. After they realized trans fats are the worst kind of fat, they lobbied McD's again and now they use some crappy soy/corn oil... you know, they kinds of oils known to cause inflammation and lead to heart disease.

[nighttimelady]

03:53 PM on 10/27/2010

Carrageenan !!!!!!!!!!

And you were wondering why when you eat certain things you get 'zits'?? Blame carrageenan! It is in evaporated milk and in most ice creams. It is expecially prevlant in low cost ice creams. It is in most of the half & half, heavy cream and whipping cream sold in USA. Like buttermilk pancakes made from scratch?? Read your buttermilk label! Yep, carrageenan! Like egg nog?? Read the label - most contain carrageenan!! I steer clear of the stuff.


Read your labels folks!

[Fred Butters]

07:40 PM on 10/27/2010

If you're eating pancakes and low cost ice cream made from cheap ingredients, the Carrageenan is the least of your worries.

I've never seen/bought milk, half & half or cream that contained Carrageenan. They all tend to contain milk and/or cream.

[Nerdiac]

03:47 PM on 10/27/2010

My favorite brand of soymilk doesn't have carageenan; my favorite brand of soymilk is also ridiculously expensive, so I always wind up buying the other brands. ALL the other brands have carageenan. I don't get it.

[digdigdig]

05:29 PM on 10/27/2010

You can't milk a soy.
One of the biggest problems with most of this stuff is not the end product itself, but the processing methods used to get it there. Like the use of heavy duty solvents (acetone) to get you your nice cooking oils, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

[Fred Butters]

07:48 PM on 10/27/2010

You know about the concerns with Carrageenan but not the dangers of soy milk? Unfermented soy - found in soy milk and tofu - are basically poison:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/thyroid-health_b_472953.html

[ganglewaefre]

03:35 PM on 10/27/2010

You picked nine, not eleven.

[MicheleMoore-Happy1]

02:53 PM on 10/27/2010

Super listing, many thanks!!!

Is Hellmann's making phony mayonnaise? See the labels and the ingredients listings:

http://www.michelemoore-happy1.com/2010/09/deceptive-packaging-hellmanns-mayonnaise.html

Do you agree it is deceptive?

We sent it to the FDA and FTC but never heard anything back. Is our government at work for us?

[foxisms]

02:38 PM on 10/27/2010

This was swell.
When is someone going to run a story and tell us what aspartame is?
It's in just about a gazillion things.

[seehowtheyrun]

02:41 PM on 10/27/2010

That's easy, it's poison.

[foxisms]

03:18 PM on 10/27/2010

I'm aware.
I would just like to see a major news source that's ballsey enough to make that a matter of public knowledge.
It hasn't happened yet.

[deweydecimal]

10:30 PM on 10/28/2010

Aspartame is a methyl ester of the dipeptide of the natural amino acids L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine. Under strongly acidic or alkaline conditions, aspartame may generate methanol by hydrolysis. Under more severe conditions, the peptide bonds are also hydrolyzed, resulting in the free amino acids.[4]

For some markets, aspartame is manufactured from phenylalanine produced by a genetically modified strain of E. coli,[5][6] a bacterium used commonly in laboratory research and biotechnology.

Nothing to be scared of.

[SteveEttlinger]

02:35 PM on 10/27/2010

Interesting and amusing. I looked into this kind of ingredient a few years ago and wrote a book, "Twinkie, Deconstructed" (www.twinkiedeconstructed.com). If you are interested in where this stuff comes from and how its made, check out my book!
Steve Ettlinger (HuffPost contributor, too).

[Rubyfoo]

02:20 PM on 10/27/2010

Lecithin is a poor example. It's a vital ingredient of the membranes of every cell in your body. And without it we'd be dead.

[satanlite]

04:45 PM on 10/27/2010

The HP interns had to find SOMETHING in the food world to scare people with.

[hippie4ever]

03:49 AM on 10/29/2010

there's always this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4AoPHXZ0aA

[deweydecimal]

10:31 PM on 10/28/2010

They do this all the time in the health section. Organic chemistry & biochemistry should be mandatory courses in high school and undergrad.

[cambridge02140]

01:01 PM on 10/27/2010

Is tBHQ, a petroleum-based product (YUCK!!!) what gives McDonald's french fries that unusual smell?

[ctblue]

01:29 PM on 10/27/2010

Did you see Morgan Spurlock's latest fast food experiment? McDonald's french fries did not decompose after 10 weeks sitting in a glass jar! Frankenfood!!!

[Dutch Flegenheimer]

02:07 PM on 10/27/2010

That's what happens when you fry foods. Even fresh potatoes will preserve for significantly longer when deep fried.

[Fred Butters]

08:03 PM on 10/27/2010

McD's French fries don't decompose because they're fried in oil and have very little water both from the added salt (which is a preservative) and the fact that they're... cooked in oil. You know what else doesn't decompose? Honey.

Spurlock completely lied in his anti-McDonald's movie. It's stated in the movie a few times that he was eating 5,000 cals/day but that's mathematically impossible based on the rules he set. Check out "Fathead" on youtube. That guy ate fast food for a month and got healthier - the trick was he didn't drink soda or go over 100g of carbohydrate per day.

[MIMom]

04:08 PM on 10/27/2010

I know they flavor them with beef fat. There was a big brouhaha over that a few years ago when a customer found that out and it went against their diet (I want to say they were Muslim, but I'm not sure). They had ordered them thinking they were "vegetarian".

[satanlite]

04:45 PM on 10/27/2010

Right. It was essentially the entire vegetarian community they cheesed off.

[newworldgirl]

04:51 PM on 10/27/2010

It was a Hindu who sued.

[Miriam Breslauer]

12:36 PM on 10/27/2010

Oh look... A list of food ingredients I have allergic reactions to. I hate cooking from scratch, but most of these make me horribly ill and they are in many of the standard American foods.

[seeksthetruth]

02:31 PM on 10/27/2010

You better avoid GMOs then. Unfortunately, the U.S. doesn't require them to be labeled like other countries do. You either have to look for products that say they don't contain them or buy organic.

[Ramesh Krishnan]

11:18 AM on 10/27/2010

Guar Gum is a plant product... Huge trading in some commodity exchanges in India