Let me emphasize at the start that I’m NOT in any way suggesting people not use these products, nor do I look askance at anyone who does. I totally get their appeal and convenience, which led me to discover some eye-openers on the packages a few years ago. I like knowing what’s in packages; nobody likes to go shopping with me. I choose not to use these, but that’s a choice, nothing more, and I respect everyone else’s.
So. Did you know these popular stuffing mixes contain High Fructose Corn Syrup? I don’t know why, except perhaps to satiate the American sweet tooth. Train a palate to expect sugar, as most processed and convenience foods do, and we end up with HFCS and other sweeteners in places we’d never expect. Even Arnold’s new unseasoned variety has HFCS.
Preservatives we do expect, if perishable bread is to have a shelf life beyond a few days. But months? Yes. It’s common. I went to a market yesterday to see if anything had changed in this regard, and the first package of Pepperidge Farm cubes I picked up had a sell-by date of — hang on! — August 10, 2010. For bread. Similar dates were on other stuffing mixes.
There are alternatives between the opposite ends of stuffing mix and baking your bread for stuffing. The store-bought bread for stuffing often favored by foodies in a time crunch, Pepperidge Farm’s Farmhouse Hearty White, does contain HFCS but its Naturals line does not. The latter also has AHA certification. Of course, it won’t stay good for nine months….
My mom used to buy Italian or Vienna bread at a local bakery for her renowned stuffing. Towns with bakeries are becoming scarce, but many supermarkets nowadays have great varieties of baked-in-store breads.
And speaking of supermarket bakeries, if you’re in Upstate New York or New England — possibly other places too, but I don’t know — you can avail yourself of the best idea since cubed bread. Some grocery bakeries sell bagged trimmings of their breads for Thanksgiving stuffing. They’re literally a mixed bag: strips, cubes, white, whole wheat. I believe Hannaford started it and Price Chopper and some others followed suit. I tried them and liked them, but stores here don’t sell them, so I’m back to making my own. Natural food stores, such as Whole Foods, might have HFCS-free cubes, but they’re not in every state so I didn’t check.
Click to enlarge the ingredients, which are representative of those in regular supermarket brands. Props to Pepperidge Farm for using both white and whole wheat flours in its Country-Style cubes and props to Arnold’s for offering an unseasoned variety for home cooks who’d rather season it themselves.
But a big Boo to both for the HFCS.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Huh – I knew they put HFCS in some random things, but come on… My mom uses the Arnold. I only have stuffing once a year though, so I’m not worried too much about the HFCS in it. The times that I’ve hosted Thanksgiving, I’ve used Arnold too — mostly because I worried that “real” bread stuffing would get too soggy or be too complicated. (that’s probably not a good excuse for a holiday that revolves around food!)
Here’s something interesting — I went looking on the Kraft website to see if there’s HFCS in StoveTop stuffing, and the nutritional info was nowhere to be found. Hmm.
Hi, Stella. I found the Stove Top ingredients at Amazon. It has both HFCS and regular corn syrup. Jeeeez!
A little once a year wouldn’t bother me either — as long as I know it’s there — but I’m not diabetic. I just wanted to raise awareness so people who might never think to look at the ingredients for something like this know what’s in it.
As for “real” bread stuffing, it’s not complicated but it can be time consuming, less so if buying bread from a bakery and having them slice it. Then it only has to be cubed and air dried or lightly toasted. It doesn’t get any soggier than packaged mix, usually quite the contrary. I’ve already baked a loaf and once my eyes are fully open, I’ll write about it. It’s a recipe I created and I really love it.
If I don’t “see” you again before Thanksgiving, I hope you and yours have a great one!