Read the labels, stupid.

[erronis]

That's me, stupid.

I needed to get a few ingredients to make baked beans and a vinaigrette salad dressing. Thought I was a pretty savvy buyer until I got home and discovered:
- The Breanna vinaigrette has sugar added (shouldn't need it if using real balsamic), and xanthan gum (an emulsifier.)
- The "no sugar" ketchup I bought (knowing that tomatoes have lots of sugar) has sucralose instead - UGH
- The Maille Dijon mustard had in very light print on the main label "Honey Mustard". And the first ingredient is sugar.

This happens to me too many times. Am I getting old?

[GreenWave]

1. No! You are not getting old. They are sneaky snakes.

[erronis]

2. Thanks. Agree about the snakes, but the calendar tells me time is marching along.

Getting closer to 80 than I want, but I guess I want to get there.

[MOMFUDSKI]

3. Prolly. I have discovered, at age 76, that I

shouldn’t do anything in 5th gear anymore. That was my standard setting. One must Slow Down to not make stupid mistakes. And it is hard to downshift to 4th or even 3rd. Carry on

[perfessor]

4. Getting old? Can't answer that one.

But so many products have hidden sugars and other ingredients that I read labels as a matter of course.

“No sugar added” is often, though not always, an indicator of sucralose. For example, Del Monte NSA canned fruits contain sucralose. Mott’s NSA applesauce is just apples, water, and ascorbic acid.

[elleng]

5. Dunno, I AM old, and didn't buy enough beans, even tho already prepared,

so still HUNGRY!!!

[surrealAmerican]

6. It's not about your age.

Nobody reads all the ingredients of everything they buy at the grocery store. That would take far more time than anybody has to shop.

[usonian]

7. A phone camera can capture the ingredients list, and magnify it so it's actually readable.

My eyes sure can't and I'm mighty nearsighted.

Then again there was a soda with yellow letters on a yellow background.

Geniuses.

[NJCher]

12. Sneaky snakes

Again.

[Warpy]

8. I can't read labels any more, my eyes are about shot

so I have to cross my fingers and hope they haven't changed the formula on peanut butter or mayo and started to use canola oil, something that sets off an erupting volcano under my sternum.

Vinaigrette is so easy to make that you might want to stry it, it keeps for a few days and that's all you need in salad season. It's also good on some hot veg and I've even used it on chicken and fish that I've grilled or broiled.

Basic vinaigrette is one part wine or cider vinegar to three parts oil. Beyond that, you can put in salt and pepper, garlic, minced onion, herb du jour (your choice), and I do put a little sweetener in mine, I'm not diabetic.

Xanthan gum isn't the worst thing in the world, it allows the emulsion of vinegar and oil to hold a little longer while giving more of an umami mouth feel. Alternatives are guar gum and carageenan, equally benign.

I'm shocked mustard had sugar in it (yuck), it doesn't belong there. I like this stuff the best, it's loaded with horseradish so it clears out the sinuses along with being a great mustared: https://plochman.com/products/original-stone-ground-mustard/ I think they'll mail order but Amazon has it. It lasts, it's not like that wimpy hellow stuff you squirt on in a thick layer.

I can't help you with ketchup, all that stuff has sweeteners, it's how they cut the acid from too much vinegar used as a preservative. . The sugar free stuff has sucralose or worse. I don't use it, I use tomato salsa, instead.

[erronis]

9. Thanks for those helpful notes, Warpy.

Yes, you are right, xanthan is pretty benign. I've been reading how the use of emulsifiers causes some digestive issues in our gut that isn't used to these substances.

I never understood sweet mustard but I think it is a staple somewhere - probably in the mid-west. I was fooled by the "Maille" brand which - to me - always meant a good french-produce mustard. Now, just like Grey Poupon, it has been conglomerized by US/international companies.

And yes, I like making my own vinaigrette, but I'm between homes and don't have much in the way of cooking supplies.

[Warpy]

10. The thing about Xanthan is that it takes only a tiny amount

in something like salad dressing to do the trick, not enough to cause digestive problems. I think those were reported mostly by people with newly diagnosed celiac disease who were transitioning to gluten free baked goods. Those take a little more than half a pinch.

All it takes to make vinaigreete is a screw top jar or ketchup dispenser from Wally's, something you can put the oil, vinegar and whatever into, close tightly, and shake it up.

I hear that about moving. I moved from a house with a big (but poorly planned) kitchen into a senior livng center with an urban kitchenette.

[Retrograde]

11. There are a lot of ways to hide added sugar

It can hide under a lot of names - sugar, sucrose, fructose, HFCS, honey, cane juice - plus all the artificial sweeteners.