What’s in your food? Investigating catering companies

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Let’s face it, cooking every day can be a chore, so it’s no wonder millions of Americans use meal prep companies to save time.

Many of these companies market their meals as healthy, clean, or dietitian-approved.

However, FOX19 NOW’s Courtney King learned that some of the companies don’t directly list all the ingredients used in those meals. Some of these ingredients can cause health problems.

Here’s a statement from an FDA spokesperson to keep in mind when reading this story:

“All packaged foods must meet FDA food labeling requirements, including the declaration of ingredients, which must be listed by their common or usual name. When an ingredient itself contains two or more ingredients, the sub-ingredients must also be declared on the label and product label. All labels must be truthful and not misleading.”

Registered dietitian and functional medicine expert Preeti Bansal Kshirsagar says, “So we as consumers have to make the right choice and we have to demand this from the company saying we’re not going to buy products with all these additives, right. ?”

Think about this question, do you really know what’s in your food and do you trust what companies say they put in it?

“Why do we have all these additives? That is the question,” says Kshirsagar. “You could just have plain chicken here.”

King investigated two meal prep companies in recent weeks and found that one company’s meals contained dozens more ingredients than listed on the labels.

I bought several tables from Clean Eatz in Newport, Kentucky.

King came in and grabbed a few meals from their freezer.

“This one on the package says the ingredients are ground beef, seasoned red potatoes and green beans,” King points out as he reads the ingredients.

The packaging only listed a few ingredients, but the website listed almost an extra paragraph.

Factor is a well-known meal prep company, and King placed an order through them online for this story.

On their website, basic ingredients such as pork, cauliflower and onions are listed as ingredients for the meals ordered.

When I received the meals exactly seven days after placing the order with Factor, I noticed that the ingredients on the packaging were completely different.

After contacting Factor, a spokesperson told us that you can find all the ingredients online. They are not listed with the original ingredients, you must click on the “read more” on Factor’s website.

So what are the ingredients?

I noticed that xanthan gum was used by both Factor and Clean Eatz at every meal, but I bought it.

“Xanthan gum is a fibrous substance,” explains Kshirsagar. “Gives thickness, stabilizes. It also acts as a preservative for the food that companies produce.”

Kshirsagar, when asked to break down xanthan gum, says it can cause some health problems.

“Xanthan gum is a fibrous substance. Gives thickness, stabilizes. It also acts as a preservative for the food that companies produce.”

She went on to say, “These digestive imbalances may actually reflect a systemic change, problems like migraines, in your particular case, other people may have joint problems. Other people may have, you know, dental problems. It can cause many different problems as it migrates from the gut to different parts of the body.”

If you haven’t heard of it, it’s used in many gluten-free dishes and salad dressings.

“The way maltodextrin affects us the most is that, again, it unbalances the gut microbiome,” says Kshirsagar.

The dietitian says that maltodextrin can also cause health problems. It is also used as a thickener and stabilizer. It was found in Clean Eatz meals, but not in Factor’s.

“It reduces the good bacteria in our gut and can actually cause bad bacteria like salmonella or E. coli to grow,” explained Kshirsagar. “So that’s a big negative, possibly negative effect of maltodextrin for an individual. Again, it doesn’t happen for everyone, but it can happen for a lot of people.”

Both companies we reviewed market their meals as clean or healthy eating, Factor’s meals even say they are dietitian approved.

When asked if maltodextrin and xanthan gum are clean ingredients, Kshirsagar replied:

“I certainly wouldn’t say that. I certainly don’t have them in my kitchen and you can always cook without them. Why do you need maltodextrin or xanthan gum or any of these stabilizers? Because it’s actually quite possible for companies to make these products without additives and still make them taste good and be healthy for us.”

Kshirsagar says that overuse of calcium propionate, which is used to prevent food from going moldy, can cause digestive problems.

She also says that companies use these flavor additives in prepackaged meals because they are cheap.

“And there are so many advances in packaging now that so much is possible if we as consumers demand it.”

FOX19 NOW also emailed Clean Eatz in Newport.

The shop owner said that the food you can take out is different from the food you can order online, even though many have the same name.

However, he stopped responding to emails when asked if they put more ingredients in their takeaway meals than listed.

In emails, the owner of Clean Eatz said, “We follow all local, state and federal menu labeling requirements and provide additional ingredient information on our website.”

Factor also said in their email that they list the ingredients in their most complete form. This allows individuals to quickly determine if a recipe matches their dietary preferences.

The FDA did not comment on the samples submitted for this story and declined an interview.

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