What Do You Know About Your Favorite Food?

If you are reading this, then you are reading blog assignment #5. For the assignment I was prompted to choose one food that I enjoy. The requirements for this food were easy; it had to be something that I eat on a regular basis and/or something that my fellow classmates would possibly find unusual or interesting. It could either be a single ingredient product (an apple) or a multi-ingredient product (spaghetti). So, now I am sure you are wondering what I selected as my one food. Well that was easy, it is the multi-ingredient smoothie known as Naked (more specifically the green machine).

Now that I selected my product, I was further instructed to research this item and answer the questions provided in the assignment.  So, as usual I will begin with question #1 and work my way down the list. To make it easier, I will be providing the questions as well as the answers :)

1) If it’s a multi-ingredient food, what are the ingredients?  Figure out what each of those ingredients is (if it isn’t obvious) …preservative?  coloring agent?  etc.

Since my selection is multi-ingredient I suppose it would be appropriate to inform you on what exactly is inside a green machine. First I will start by listing the fruits (or as Naked calls them, the “goodness”) which includes: Apple juice, banana puree, kiwi puree, mango puree, and pineapple juice. As for vegetables (known as the “boost”) a green machine incorporates:  Spirulina, Chlorella, Broccoli, Spinach, Blue-Green Algae, odorless Garlic, Barley Grass, Wheatgrass, Ginger root, and Parsley. Lastly, “natural flavors” were included. What are “natural flavors” exactly? Good question, I too was asking myself that. Upon research I found out that definition of “natural flavors” under the Code of Federal Regulations is, “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional”. To sum it up, certain products in the green machine are used just for taste/flavoring rather than for a nutritional value.

Source:http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/textidxc=ecfr&rgn=div8&view=text&node=21:2.0.1.1.2.2.1.1&idno=21

2) Where did your item come from?  (Chile?  Alaska?  Australia?  Right here in sunny CA?)

While researching my product I found out that my product comes from right here in California. It started out in someone’s home located in Santa Monica; in 1983 Naked started making homemade juices and selling them to people on the beach. From there it grew to the larger known company it is now. Even more, its products are widely distributed in all the 50 states, Canada, and the U.K.

3) How was it (or its ingredients) grown or raised?  (organic?  pesticides?  hormones?  Factory farmed?  wild caught?  etc.)

Finding out how the ingredients were grown was not an easy task. The product though has no artificial flavors/ colors, no preservatives, no added sugar, not from concentrate. While it is considered vegan/kosher friendly, it isn't considered certified organic. Also, during my product research I did find out that while it boasted “no GMOs” there were recent lawsuits filed claiming that their products did in fact contain hidden GMOs.  Whether or not those claims are true is something I plan to do further research on.

4) Who raised / grew / produced / manufactured it?  (small farmer?  major corporation? migrant farm workers? who benefits economically and who 

might be harmed?)

The product started out as something that was homemade, but the small company was purchased from Pepsi co., so now it is produced by a major corporation. The good part though is that the values of the company are still held up from what I read. Farmers, their families, and communities are said to benefit from the products partnership with The Rainforest Alliance (a nonprofit organization whose commitment it conserving biodiversity, and sustainability).

5) What are its environmental impacts?  (How was it produced?  How is it packaged?  How was it transported to you?)

The bottle that the product is stored in is made from other bottles, and will be used to make new bottles when you’re finished with it.  They’re bottles are also square, which is supposed to be more efficient. As for the bottling facility and corporate offices, they also boast be green. They were awarded LEED status for their environmentally friendly buildings; they have over-sized windows for natural light, they reuse and compost waste, and they also use solar panels to provide their needed energy.  The products are however transported via trucking, which releases carbon emissions into the air.

6) What health effects might it have?  (Is it healthy?  Is it unhealthy but tasty?  How do you know about these health claims?  How do you know that they are accurate? 

Green machine is healthier than most things, especially since it contains a lot of greens (which an average person doesn't consume enough of). So, it is a good way to consume the needed vegetables and vitamins to maintain a healthy diet. However, it isn't a low calorie food and it does contain natural sugars. They health claims are advertised on the products website, and you can see the ingredients for each individual type of Naked. The health claims seem to be accurate because a green machine does contain a lot of vegetables, and if you consume at least one bottle you are consuming those vegetables. As for evidence I haven’t found any.

7) Include any additional information or answers to any additional questions that occur to you as you do your research.

Doing my research I was interested to find out some of the answers I couldn't find just from research, or from the website. So, I figure that next step is to email the company these questions. I am hoping for an email back. The questions  I am going to ask include how their fruits and vegetables are grown, where they get those products from (who grew them), and if any research was done about the potential benefits of the product. They aren't considered organic which makes me wonder if they use pesticides, or anything on their ingredients.

Researching the product was an eye-opener. That is, it is surprisingly hard to find out detailed information about the product. That seems like something that shouldn't be hard to find, but I had troubles. It’s also interesting to find out the back story of the product, and to see how its evolved through the years. I will continue to consume the smoothie, but I am a little disappointed that there’s a possibility that the company uses GMOs. 

Product Website:http://www.nakedjuice.com/