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Does the snack aisle at your local healthfood store sometimes paralyze you? Do you look at the ingredients labels trying to decide exactly which cookies are the best ones to buy and yet feel overwhelmed by the numerous choices available all beckoning with the labels “all natural” or “organic”?
If so, you are not alone. This happens to me all the time.
Granted, I try my best to avoid the snack aisle at the healthfood store as much as possible and I don’t even go down the snack aisle at the supermarket because there are zero offerings there of any value. As much as is humanly possible, I prefer to make my own snacks for my family as this is always the most nutritious not to mention budget conscious way to go.
But let’s face it. Life happens and sometimes things just don’t go as scheduled.
All sorts of things from flat tires to your child’s badly scraped knee can occur to mess up your plans for baking an afternoon batch of cookies for school lunches the next day.
What to do then?
I thought it might be fun to analyze two different brands of cookies that I might consider buying when I am in search of a decent after lunch treat for my kids and far behind in my cookie baking duties.
Ginger snaps are one of my favorite store cookies as they are typically lower in sugar per serving than most other types of processed cookies. They also taste similar to the grain free ginger snaps I make myself, so buying a boxed version made with wheat flour on occasion is not going to all of a sudden cause my children to prefer the processed cookies over my own.
The picture at the top of this post is of the two brands of ginger snaps available at my local healthfood store.
Let’s analyze the ingredients labels of each and see if one of them is the clear winner over the other.
The Front of the Cookie Packages
From the front of the packages, you can’t really discern much if any difference. They both say “all natural” or “naturally flavored”.
The Mi-del brand says “Swedish Style” which I admit would draw me in as I like anything that suggests that the cookies are based on some traditional recipe. Of course, this may or may not be true. It’s all just marketing on the front of the package after all!
From a visual standpoint, the colors of the Back to Nature brand are far more appealing than the Mi-Del brand which are a bit harsh on the eye. Then again, purple is my favorite color so maybe that’s just my personal preference.
Ingredients Label Comparison
With the front of the packages not really telling us much, it is necessary to examine the ingredients labels to get the full story.
The first ingredient label to the right is of the Mi-Del Ginger Snaps.
I like that the wheat used is organic. That is a definite plus. In addition, the sweetener is organic dehydrated cane juice which is acceptable.
I don’t like that canola oil is used for the shortening as this is very potentially GM canola as it is not organic. In addition, canola oil is a polyunsaturated vegetable oil which almost certainly means that it is rancid.
Canola contains high amounts of omega 3 fats which are very delicate and can never be heated. You most certainly cannot bake cookies with it!. Use of canola in a boxed snackfood virtually ensures a rancid, health robbing product even if the ingredients are all organic.
Another item I don’t like is the use of soy lecithin. It is not organic soy lecithin, so the odds are good that it is GM soy given that over 90% of the soy in the the United States is genetically modified at present.
The second ingredient label to the right is of the Back to Nature Triple Ginger Cookies.
You’ll notice right away that the wheat flour used is not organic. The sweetener is also not as good quality because it is listed simply as cane sugar. It is not organic and it is not clear whether it is from dehydrated cane juice. It could easily be plain white sugar and probably is.
Not good.
So far, the Mi-Del Ginger Snaps are way in the lead.
However, the next ingredient changes the game entirely as palm oil is listed as the shortening.
This is very good as palm oil is a much healthier choice that the rancid canola oil used in the Mi-Del Ginger Snaps. Palm oil is acceptable for use in cookies and crackers. While coconut oil or butter would be best, palm oil can most definitely be considered a healthy fat.
Continuing down the ingredients label, all the other ingredients are excellent as well with no ominous “soy lecithin” listed.
Which Brand Did I Choose?
After analyzing the ingredients labels for these two boxes of ginger cookies, which brand did I ultimately choose?
If you guessed the Back to Nature Triple Ginger Cookies, you are correct!
The fact that the Mi-Del cookies are made with organic wheat flour and organic evaporated cane juice is insignificant compared with the fact that the Back To nature cookies use the much higher quality palm oil and no soy lecithin.
If you ever find yourself torn between two different brands of snack foods, always choose the one with the healthy fat like palm oil. The fat that is used is much more important than whether the flour or sugar used is organic.
In addition, go for the brand that clearly has no GMOs in it and that would be the Back to Nature brand as well.
Do all Back to Nature cookies get the thumbs up? Not necessarily.
I haven’t checked the labels on all the different cookies offered by this company, so don’t go and buy them without checking closely for yourself.
For that occasional need for a decent box of cookies from the store, though, the Triple Ginger Cookies pass with flying colors.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Hello Sarah, Is peanut oil a better fat too? I buy plantain chips cooked in it on occasion.
Peanut oil is ok for a light saute (like olive oil). But, you can’t really fry in it as it would be too damaging. I personally would not buy chips fried in peanut oil or olive oil like some of the brands on the market. Lard, tallow, ghee, coconut oil would be best for this.
I’ve eaten both of those cookie brands many times and I can say that the Back To nature brand is superior to Mi-Del. Mi-Del also makes a gluten-free version of finger snaps that is loaded with sugar and additives.
Hey Sarah! Between you and Dr. Mercola Ive learned soooo much about nutrition…and the sun lol Im a bartender and I always share everything I learn with all my coworkers and managers and bosses. Ive been in many arguments with my boss because we wont vaccinate our kids and he thinks we’re ridiculous, but thats another topic. One of my coworkers will always run food by me that she brought into eat and have me read the ingredients list and tell her if its ok to eat…I havent said yes yet. One day awhile ago there was palm oil in something and I told her that was good. A couple hours later my manager brought me a print out of all kinds of information about how they get the palm oil and its ruining alot of animals habitats. He went to something in North or South Carolina last year that was like a tiger retreat. You get to pet them and learn all about them. Ever heard of the place? Well while he was there thats when he learned about the dangers of getting Palm Oil and said once he learned that he wont eat anything with Palm Oil in it. Do you know anything about any of this?
I wrote a post on coconut sugar that addresses this. It is possible for palm oil and palm (coconut) sugar to be harvested sustainably.
Sarah,
I was wondering if you could share other cookie recipes with us. I love chocolate chip cookies but have not had much success with making them healthy.
I don’t use chocolate for baking. I don’t believe caffeine is a good thing to give children unless it is medicinal (for example, a cup of weak organic green tea for a headache).
Sarah – I can understand why you don’t want to use chocolate – but for those of us who are new in this journey to healthier eating it is nice to have some recipes that although they won’t meet your high standards are still a step in the right direction for the rest of us.
Great post. I’ve been looking for suggestions for a good midmorning snack, so please everyone let me know your thoughts. I was a big fan of Luna bars until my daughter put my onto your site. They contain soy protein and soy lecithin – although they use palm kernel oil. So on the whole does the soy outweigh the good palm kernel oil?
Soy is bad bad bad. If you eat soy, it’s a thyroid problem waiting to happen for most people (small amounts of fermented soy ok for those without thyroid issues). Stay away from it even if the luna bar has palm oil in it.
Hashimoto’s is at epidemic levels in women. Soy in our food everywhere is a big reason why (although there are other contributing factors as well .. fluoridated water etc etc).
I would enjoy other posts on comparative shopping. I’m one of those that spends a long time shopping because I’m doing so much label-reading. Sometimes I’m not sure which is the lesser evil.
I have more planned 🙂
But how did they taste?
Great post! Followed by an ad for a snickers Easter egg. 1. It’s okay to accept their advertising even if you don’t believe in their products? 2. Funny that they would even choose to place an ad on your site.
Yes, those pesky ads … I have opted out “of all processed foods” You wonder how Snickers got past that filter?????
After reading your article I decided to make the homemade ginger cookies. I love the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. Will add an egg as well.
As a general rule, if buying a manufactured product I have found “back to nature” to be a good choice. Even better from organic grains, freshly milled, properly prepared, etc., but sometimes a made product is very helpful! I also go by how I feel after eating the product to know if there are hidden ingredients. I have traced back a soy or canola “reaction” (after being free of these ingredients I can tell when I have even a trace of them!) to pan sprays. So little of the pan spray is used for a given product that it is not required to be put on the label. Overall, I have not had any problems with their products.