By Jimmy Downs

Shredded oats (TM) brand cereal manufactured by Barbara's Bakery has come to my attention lately.   Looking at the label, I can see that the food maker has a good intention to produce a healthy processed food, but there is something some health conscious food consumers may want to know about the product.

The ingredient list reads as this: Whole Oat Flour, unsulphured molasses, whole wheat flour, malted barley extract, oat bran, ground almonds, salt, baking soda, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), natural vanilla flavor, natural vitamin E (mixed tocopherols to maintain freshness).  Everything looks good.  But anti-GMO consumers may want to know whether molasses is made from genetically modified beet or non-GMO sugar cane.  

And in the food product, molasses is listed in the second position indicating that a large amount of molasses is used.  I do not know if the molasses is made from genetically modified beet or not, but it creates some uncertainty for which some anti-GMO consumers may opt not to buy the product.  Vitamin C can also be made by genetically modified microorganisms.  But it is a minor ingredient in this food so its impact if there is any should be minimal.  

(Remember that in Europe, non-GMO foods are allowed to contain no more than 0.8% GMO ingredients/foods because in this world, the industry has made such a pollution that 100% non-GMO foods are not as commonly seen as ever.)

The nutrition facts label for the shredded oats brand cereal shows two things that catch my attention.   The sugar is relatively high.  In one serving of 55 grams of the product, 15 grams are sugar, that is, about 27% of energy comes from sugar even though the food does not taste too sweet.  One good thing about the product is that the fat is relatively low.  In one serving of 220 calories, only 25 calories come from fat, that is, only 11.4% calories come from fat.

Overall, compared to tons of other foods on the market, shredded oats (TM) cereal is a quality product that has many goodies to offer.  As Barbara's Bakery claims, it is a good source of vitamin C, fiber, iron, phosphorus, zinc, and magnesium, low fat, an adequate amount of protein, no artificial flavors, additives or preservatives, and no animal ingredients.

However, this food product may not be for those anti-GMO food consumers who want to reject foods that may potentially contain non-GMO foods because essentially the food maker does not claim that molasses comes from non-GMO beet.  Some beet used to make sugar has been genetically modified.

In the anti-GMO community, soy, corn, canola, Hiwaii papaya, beet are viewed as at-risk foods because when they are present in a food as an ingredient, they may be genetically modified.

(Shredded Oats (TM) is a trademark of Barbara's Bakery)