In this 3 part series we will discuss some “healthy” foods that turn “bad” when processed. Stay tuned to find out what they are, and how you can enjoy them in their natural “healthy” state…they way God intended.
Baby Carrots: The Truth Behind the “Healthy” Snack
Today we will take a closer look at baby carrots. You know the ones sold in small, or even larger, packages in just about every grocery store.
Baby Carrots are…
- Quick
- Convenient
- Healthy
- Nutritious
…at least that’s we’ve been led to believe.
Most of us have probably eaten baby carrots before. We’ve all probably fed them to our children as a quick and easy “healthy” snack. But have you ever wondered how baby carrots are made and what goes into processing them? Well, let’s take a look.
The Process of Making “Baby” Carrots
- Full-size carrots are harvested (they may be twisted or otherwise deformed).
- The carrots are cut into 2-inch pieces.
- Cut carrot pieces are then peeled.
- Peeled carrots are soaked in a water/chlorine solution to kill any bacteria.
- “Baby” Carrots are packaged and sent to the supermarket for you to purchase and enjoy.
Now what problems do you see with that picture? Chlorine? Who wants to eat chlorine or feed it to their families? Most supposed experts will tell you that the chlorine is so minute that it is not harmful to your health… they go on about chlorine being in your drinking water. But aren’t we filtering it out of our water because it’s not good for us? Would you take a bottle of chlorine bleach and put a drop on your tongue everyday? To me poison is poison…. it’s all bad, whether we take a little at a time or a lot. One just kills you faster.
So it may be a little more work to peel them and cut them into cute little sticks, but I will be buying whole fresh carrots from now on for me and my family. What is the health of your family worth?
Video: How Baby Carrots are Made
*Note: the video doesn’t show, or mention the chlorine bath.*
Thanks for this info Shannon! I hate finding out these things after the fact. I JUST bought a bag of baby carrots last week. In fact, I’ve gotten so good at reading labels that I assumed (that was my mistake) they are safe as long as the ingredient list only says “carrots”. But I hadn’t thought about how they are cleaned. Thank you! I’ll be buying only whole carrots unpeeled from now on.
Does this include Organic Baby Carrots? I only buy them because of the high concentration of nitrates in the non-organic ones.
According to my research, Organic Baby Carrots are not treated with chlorine. Instead they are treated with something called “Citrox”. All I could find out about Citrox, was that it is derived from citrus… nothing on how exactly it is made. For me, not knowing what it is exactly, I will still avoid all baby carrots. But, you should do as you feel comfortable.
So if we buy a bag of regular full sized carrots @ the store, they are not processed that way, right? Is there a way to know?
This only applies to bagged “Baby Carrots”, not full-sized carrots. To know for certain, make sure the carrots are not peeled.