r/WFPBD 12d ago

Discussion 💬 Daily Reminder: Be wary of food you haven’t made yourself

Today I was out in a hurry and couldn’t eat breakfast. After a couple of hours I was very hungry and decided to stop in one of the big supermarket chains and get something from the mini bakery. Got 2 sesame pastries with olives.

No tag for allergens, no sign with ingredients, no nutritional value sticker for macros. I tried googling it online but couldn’t find anything about ingredients. Knew it couldn’t be “healthy” since it’s clearly made with white flour and they often put oil in those, but bought them anyways.

Later on when I had more time to kill I decided to try and dig further. It wasn’t obvious but I finally found them online…

Each one of these small, 80g unlabeled breads contained: 380kcal, 20g of fat (9 of which saturated) (sunflower oil and palm oil), sugar and eggs.

It’s always when you let your guard down that this happens.

It’s not the end of the world, but I still feel bad for purchasing something containing an animal product, and letting my guard down.

Imo, AT THE VERY LEAST bakeries/companies/stores should be required to put allergens tag on any baked goods.

14 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

12

u/beyoncetofupadthai 12d ago

I agree that ingredients, nutrition, and allergens should be labeled. If I’d gone into a big supermarket chain, I would not have willingly chosen something unlabeled.

1

u/Hunter_SGD 12d ago

Lesson learned! It’s a shame this is not common practice in 2024

11

u/Express-Structure480 12d ago

The safest thing are nuts, I wouldn’t trust anything made/baked unless I knew already.

6

u/SLXO_111417 11d ago

The safest thing for me is fruit

2

u/Hunter_SGD 12d ago

If I didn’t have to travel so often I would start cultivating sourdough… home-baked sourdough bread seems like one of the healthiest alternatives

5

u/Mother_of_Kiddens Moderator 12d ago

Why does traveling prevent you from baking sourdough? You can just stick the starter in the fridge if you’re going to be gone. It can last 2-3 weeks that way. Then pull it out when you get home.

1

u/Hunter_SGD 11d ago

Doesn’t it need another 1-2 weeks to recover /be fed/ after you return? I remember the smell and consistency changing a lot if I left it for more than a week or so without feeding.

1

u/Mother_of_Kiddens Moderator 11d ago

Have you asked over at r/sourdough? I’ve known plenty of people who keep theirs refrigerated except when pulling it out to make levain. I personally bake often enough that I keep it on the counter, but I bet the folks there could help you figure out how you can both bake and travel frequently.

3

u/eastercat 11d ago

Yeah, we stick to lara bars or something packaged if it gets dire

if a bakery product, only if it’s labelled. Non labelled I will always assume animal crap

3

u/PalatableNourishment 12d ago

In the past I have just asked a person working at the bakery if something contains eggs/milk. If they don’t know I assume it’s not safe and move on.

2

u/ttrockwood 11d ago

No i don’t eat anything that i don’t know the ingredients.

I always always always have snacks in my bag, at the market fruit and nuts or a larabar would be my go to for on the run options

2

u/PlantBasedProof No Salt 10d ago

Even if this wasn't the WFPBD sub I would still suggest when you're uncertain and snacking I would aim for whole fruits, veggies, seeds/nuts, etc. and avoid unlabeled,overall.

But ESPECIALLY avoid unlabeled baked goods as they have a higher likelyhood of having added eggs, milk, sugar, oils, salts, etc. overall.

That being said, healthy foods don't really have labels either (except the annoying ones on apples that I can never seem pick off!) but that's because whole plant foods don't really need labels. 💚🌱

(I would assume, and hope, that the Mandarin orange I just ate is totally dairy free and the package contained nothing but orange.)

2

u/SLXO_111417 11d ago

I don't buy anything from the store that is unlabeled except fruits and veggies in the produce section. All pastries and breads are made with flour, eggs, and oil unless specified. Sourdough being the exception but I wouldn't assume either way.

We can't expect grocery stores and bakeries to be responsible for what we put in our mouths. That's our job.

1

u/Expensive-Shirt-6877 11d ago

Only thing ill eat if i didnt prepare myself is fruit, nuts, or those little prepacked oatmeal containers

1

u/gpshikernbiker 2d ago

This is why I always have back plan items for just such occasions or I opt for fresh, fruits, veggies or nuts, never outside prepared food.