What’ I’ll Miss About London, Part 3: Fewer Preservatives & Additives

It took all of about 15 seconds to realize that the food in the UK, in general, contains fewer preservatives and additives, or “junk.” We first discovered this when a loaf of bread went bad after about three days, and the milk went bad after about four.

I love this. I absolutely love this. Of course, the lifestyle led in London allows it, too: nearly everyone lives literally a stone’s throw from the nearest green grocer and corner shop, with a “real” grocery within 10 minutes walking distance. And nearly everyone has a tiny refrigerator so miniscule that you can’t buy and store more than about a pint’s worth of milk anyway.

This issue was made even more obvious once we discovered that Tadpole had a severe allergy to milk, and a half dozen other products (soy, nuts, sesame…) that he has since outgrown. The allergy instigated the need for me to meticulously read product labels.

Let’s take bread, for example. A favorite purchase in London was Hovis Wholemeal, who’s ingredient list includes: WHOLEMEAL FLOUR, WATER, YEAST, MALT FLOUR, SALT, BROWN SUGAR, VINEGAR, MALTED WHEAT, TOASTED WHEAT, FERMENTED WHEAT FLOUR, VEGETABLE FAT, SOYA FLOUR, EMULSIFIER: E472(E); FLOUR TREATMENT AGENT: E300

My usual American purchase was Nature’s Own Whole Wheat, who’s ingredient list consisted of: STONE GROUND WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, BROWN SUGAR, YEAST, WHEAT GLUTEN, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: SALT, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN OIL OR CANOLA OIL), DOUGH CONDITIONERS (SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM, STEAROYL-2-LACTYLATE, MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM IODATE, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, DATEM), CULTURED WHEY (MILK), VINEGAR, CALCIUM SULFATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, YEAST FOOD (AMMONIUM SULFATE)

Now I’m no scientist, nor am I an expert in food additives, and [DISCLAIMER ALERT] I am pulling this example off the top of my head while writing an unofficial, casual blog from inside Panera Bread Company. So don’t sue me if this isn’t the best example or comparison – you get the idea.

But these two things you can’t argue with: 1) the UK bread label is much easier to understand and 2) the UK bread will still go bad about 10 days before the US bread.

And this alone is compelling. At least, compelling enough for my simple mind to miss food shopping in the UK and wonder this about lots of US food: what in the world am I putting into my body?

I won't get started on organic food now…