Eatin' healthy and other follies

I have nothing against eating healthy foods. I don't do it myself, mind you, but I have no problem with people who make that effort. I see nothing inherently wrong with my diet of peanut butter and Craisin sandwiches, multiple Snickers bars, and anything with lots of cheese and/or butter, or deep-fried. And hot dogs. And a number of other things I can't think of right now but I am sure taste good. Like Utz pretzel rods... which I buy by the jug.

But my sister-in-law, Franny, is health conscious. And diabetic. Something she had a genetic predisposition for and which was triggered by eating at Jack in the Box 3 times a day for a year or so until her pancreas went on strike in protest.

I can tolerate a lot of unhealthy food. I figure it's because of my early diet and Mom's cooking. Mom was not a culinary artiste. Lard was a major factor in anything she cooked. I did not have to worry about things like trichinosis or e.coli from insufficiently cooked foods. Mom burnt everything. Burgers clattered onto your plate (glistening in melted lard) like little black hockey pucks. Pork chops were... crispy.

My main dietary concern in my youngest days was making sure no food touched another on my plate. And surviving the meal with as many unbroken teeth as possible. Later on, I got less picky. I learned that burgers can actually be soft (thank you Burger King!) and that some foods actually tasted better when mixed together; like corn or peas or green beans or cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. And that mashed potatoes did not actually have to be lumpy (made from actual potatoes) or soupy (from a box of "instant" mashed potatoes). But I was into my teens by then. Once in the Navy, I found I could eat just about anything... except liver (though I do like liverwurst).


Marathons - Peanut Butter


But today is about peanut butter. And high fructose corn syrup. You see, we have 4 (large) jars of peanut butter  in our pantry. Two of crunchy, 2 of creamy. One creamy/crunchy pair is store brand, the other is Peter Pan. So I tracked down the likely suspect, Franny, and asked why we have all these. She showed me the Peter Pan crunchy label that said "No High Fructose Corn Syrup."

I later checked the ingredients on the other jars, noting that the creamy version of Peter Pan did not have that announcement, looking for the words "High Fructose Corn Syrup" or "HFCS". I could not find any indication that the other jars included that additive.

But just because something does not mention it does not mean it doesn't have it, I went online to see what I could learn about peanut butter ingredients. I still don't know. It's possible that it is not in the ingredients list because they are not required by law or regulation to list it. But, somehow, I doubt that.