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Glue in Your Greek Yogurt?

Greek Yogurt is a hot trend…

 
 

Brands like Fage, Chobani, Oikos, Yoplait and Safeway are competing for Greek Yogurt dollars. People are spending ridiculous amounts of money on Greek yogurt and sales have soared over the past few years.

As always, it is important to look at the ingredients used in the food we consume.

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Ingredients: Milk, Milk Protein Concentrate, Cornstarch, cultures, added vitamins.

Yogurt is typically the result of culturing dairy but there are ways to cut corners and spike the ingredients to increase the profits.

 

 

 

 

 

Slipping a Fake-Milk Mickey into Your Food and Baby Formula

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The first ingredients listed include glucose syrup, palm oil, whey protein concentrate, milk protein concentrate and soy oil.

 
 
 
 
 
Food manufacturers are using Milk Protein Concentrate (MPC) in an ever growing list of foods.  

 

You will find MPC in:

  • Low Carb products
  • Nutritional Shakes
  • Infant Formula
  • Yogurt
  • Cheese on Pizza, sliced cheese, cheese and macaroni, Cheez Whiz
  • Ice Cream
  • Meal replacement products
  • Weight loss shakes
  • Nutritional product for patient feeding tubes
  • Baked Goods and more.
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The first ingredients listed include: Water, Corn, Maltodextrin, Milk Protein Concentrate, Fructose, Glycerol. It is a crime that this highly processed sugar drink is promoted as a healthy drink for diabetics. 8oz bottle has about 8 tsp sugar, similar to a Coke.

MPC

The U.S. imports well over $250 million of Milk Protein Concentrate (MPC) from foreign countries to add to many processed foods.

It is not always know if the source of the protein is from cows, yaks or water buffalo and the country of origin is not stated on food packages.

 

 

 

 

MPC was not originally a “food” but used as an industrial glue.

 

Some money hungry food manufacturers began to slip a fake-milk Mickey into all types of foods you eat everyday.  MPC allows food manufacturers to increase the protein listed on the ingredients label in a cheaper way.

Just because a food label lists high protein grams, does not mean your body is utilizing it the same way it utilizes real animal protein.

MPCs are being used in increasing amounts and American Dairy Farmers are on the losing end of this trend.

 
Questionable Technology –  How is MPC made?
 
 
 
 
 

Milk is separated into cream and skim milk.

Skim milk is broken down into various fractions. The milk sugar lactose is drained out and the large molecules are kept.

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The first ingredients on the label: Water, Sugar, Milk Protein Concentrate, Canola, Sunflower or Corn oil, Calcium Caseinate…

The large molecules include milk protein, bacteria, and somatic cells (the cells that come from organs, skin, bones, blood, and connective tissue).

The portion containing the large molecules is heated and a spraying technique turns the liquid into a powder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nestle Boost High Protein Ingredients

Yak in Your Shake?

MPCs are unregulated and imported from foreign countries.

American companies only started producing MPC within the last 10 years. The majority of MPC is imported from countries with questionable safety records including China, India, Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine.

The milk source is unknown and when it is coming from other countries, may include sheep milk, goat milk, yak milk and water buffalo milk.  My concern is not with milk coming from unusual animals, but the fact that the origin is unknown, and the country is unknown. It is disturbing. How are these animals raised?

There is a concern that MPCs may be adulterated with melamine (remember the melamine adulteration of infant formula that killed children?). Melamine is used to make dishes and China used it in 2008 to elevate the protein content of watered down milk, until this practice killed six babies and sickened another 300,000.

What you can do?

Check ingredients labels in all packaged food for “milk protein concentrate” and don’t buy the product. Let manufacturers know that you won’t buy their product as long as it contains MPC.

Better grocery store Greek yogurt options are going to be organic (no rbST, no antibiotics and dairy cows fed organic feed) and full fat when possible.

Most of the better Greek yogurt is not organic and the full fat version either doesn’t exist or is hard to find. Ingredients are always changing. Products are reformulated. Always read the ingredients on the products.

Choose plain over flavored as the flavored varieties may contain additives like sugar, corn starch, natural flavors and xanthan gum.

Eating real food shouldn’t be this hard, should it?

Let food manufacturers know that you won’t eat foods with MPC in them and vote with your wallet, choose better products!

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