Whole Foods Make Shopping Easier

Whole foods are a no-brainer for those shopping with food allergies in mind. How do we identify a whole food? Whole foods are close to their natural state (blueberries vs fruit leather). Whole foods are more easily identified in foods than in processed foods (oatmeal vs breakfast cereal flakes). While processed foods often have boxes or bags aimed at getting our attention, whole foods often have no packaging at all (potato vs potato chips). Whole foods are usually free of ingredients that we don’t normally reach for in our kitchens. Can you identify this processed food by its ingredients: sugar, wheat flour, egg white, corn starch, baking soda, citric acid, calcium chloride, modified soy protein, salt, cellulose gum, artificial flavor, sodium lauryl sulfate, nonfat milk, BHT, sodium ascorbate.

Besides being lower in fat and sodium, whole foods contain a variety of vitamins and minerals, and fiber, and best of all, there is no long list of ingredients to check!  oh, and by the way, the above ingredients are from a box of angel food cake mix.

Your local Farmer’s Markets are in full-swing.  In our area, I found contact information, times, and locations by visiting www.knoxnews.com