3 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack,

I want to show you something funny.

For Valentine’s Day, you received a bag of M&M’s. On the bag, Mars makes a point to say they only use “the finest ingredients.”

Um… are petroleum-based artificial food dyes honestly “the finest ingredients” they could find? Because, I’m thinking, what about using plant-based ingredients, like Kroger’s brand, Simple Truth, uses?

I would think plant-based coloring would be better than petroleum-based dyes, but maybe that’s just me.

Or maybe it’s not…

Actually, petroleum-based artificial food dyes are banned in other parts of the world, because people are more aware of the health problems these dyes can cause for children.

I wonder if the petroleum melts in your stomach, not in your hands?

By now, you’ve accepted the fact that you’ve got the male-version of Food Babe for a dad.

By the way, Food Babe is the mom and food blogger who is known for calling out companies for the unnatural ingredients they put in their food- especially when it’s food that is aimed for kids.

She was the one who started the petition to try to getKraft to stop putting petroleum-based dyes in their macaroni and cheese; pointing out that the European version of Kraft mac-and-cheese does not contain these dyes, which are linked to hyperactivity in children.

Food Babe has also called out General Mills for using GMOs in their cereals, while they claim their product is “natural.” GMOs are not natural.

Another thing she did was highlight the fact thatartificial vanilla flavors are made from a certain gross part of a beaver. Back when I first pointed this out two years ago, people questioned it. Of course, now, that post of mine has received over 2600 “likes” on Facebook.

Especially with Food Babe’s credibility on the subject, people are starting to believe it as fact, not urban legend.

Oh, and I can’t forget about Subway with the “yoga mat” chemical (azodicarbonamide) in their “fresh” breads…

So because I follow her blog, she has basically trained me to point out peculiar wording on food products.

She had a pretty cool blog post for Valentine’s Day. She used out the same concept I am showing you here today about M&M’s, but with another candy company that leads people to think that their product is truly worth paying premium price.

Food Babe clearly shows that Godiva’s ingredients are not better, in the areas it should matter.

The point isn’t that you should never eat M&M’s or Godiva chocolate. The point is, I am teaching you to question where your food comes from.

It might keep you from wasting money on “the finest ingredients.”

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Food Babe Photo and Chocolate Chart, courtesy of Food Babe.