Friday, May 25, 2012

A La Bamba


Bamba snack has been around in Israel since the 60’s. You’ll spot it’s recognizable packaging in any supermarket or makolet (milk bar/convenience store) around town. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the notorious “Bamba Snack” – it is essentially peanut-butter flavoured puffed corn. It claims to be free from any cholesterol, preservatives, food colouring and enriched with several vitamins. Sound healthy? Lets see what this peanut-flavoured snack is really all about…


A little bit of history…
Despite its humble appearance (refer to pictorial below), Bamba snack makes up 25% of the Israeli snack market. It was first manufactured by the Osem corporation in 1964 as a cheese flavoured snack, and moved over to a peanut butter snack 2 years later. Other manufacturing companies have tried to come up with similar products (e.g. “Shush” and “Parpar”), but none have reached the mouths of as many children and adults alike, as Bamba. Other more recent flavours that have come out include, strawberry (useful for anyone allergic to peanuts), chalva filled and nougat filled. If anyone is interested there is a Bamba house in Holon, where you can learn anything and everything about the snack (tours are free).

A spot of nutrition...
Ok, granted – as advertised, it is free from preservatives, food colouring and cholesterol. But so is a lot of other snacks, take natural peanuts for example. Being that Bamba is only 49% peanuts, you’re better off having them plain.
Added vitamins? Fair enough, but we shouldn’t be confusing foods that naturally contain vitamins compared to added vitamins. Vitamins and minerals are meant to be eaten as part of a whole food, along with all the other nutrients that the food contains. If we want to encourage eating a more nutritious diet, we should be encouraging foods that are naturally high in nutrients, rather than a peanut puff with some added nutrition. The little Bamba baby on the packaging specifically targets the product to children – we shouldn’t be confusing the little ones of our generation with mixed nutrition messages.
This comes along with the fact that the product is still high in fat and energy – in 100g of Bamba (a small bag is 25g), there are 544 calories (or 2277 kJ), which is about ¼ of the amount of calories an adult should have in a day, and 35g of fat.  

On the plus side, compared to other packaged snacks – like potato chips and Bissli, I would probably place Bamba a little higher on the scale. The other bonus that proponents of the product like to argue, is that Israeli children appear to have less peanut allergies because of they are more exposed to peanuts (i.e. Bamba) at a younger age. This is according to the opinion, that the early introduction of peanuts to infants can prevent the development of peanut allergies because the body is able to develop a tolerance to the peanut protein. One specific study found that Jewish children in the UK were 10 times as likely to develop a peanut allergy compared to Jewish children in Israel.




Friday, May 11, 2012

BBQ season



Ensuing my Return to Zion I was greeted by a country filled with a cacophony of barbeques:




‘tis the season to be covered in smoke. And by smoke, I mean barbeques. My arrival to Israel a few weeks ago seems to have coincided with a nationwide BBQ infatuation, also known in this country as “Mangal מנגלor “Al Ha’aish על האש. It all began with Yom Haatzamaut (Independence Day), where parks and gardens were filled with family and friends enjoying burgers (boo-gerrr) and hotdogs. Moving onto Lag Baomer, which took place just a few days ago, the night sky was filled with so much smoke from  the multitude of bonfires, you could have easily thought the country was at war. When - in fact, the night was just another excuse to cook food over a fire.
 
And now, with summer well and truly here (maybe not technically, but certainly weather-wise) I do not doubt the constant aroma of grilled meat and other assorted goods wafting through the streets on a balmy summers night.

On that note, we have arrived at our usual question –
Are barbeques nutritionally good or notoriously unhealthy?
And as always:
There are two sides of the coin, or should I say, two sides of the burger bun? (don’t worry, I'll avoid including anymore corny-ness in this blog entry)

To start off on a positive note barbeques definitely have the potential to be a really healthy meal. The method of cooking on a barbeque doesn’t require much added oil, and if you go for meats like chicken breast, lean pieces of steak, fresh fish and homemade burgers you will be eating minimal amounts of fat. Add in vegetable skewers, fresh salads, corn on the cob, baked sweet potato and fruit salad for dessert, you'll become the perfect picture of health. To top it off, eating a meal outside in the sunshine with good company is also great for your mental health. How’s this for a relaxed atmosphere? Picture a picnic blanket filled with colourful food and happy people laughing and eating together. Perhaps a casual game of Frisbee/footy/madkot (depending what country you are from) going on in the background – what could be better?

Unfortunately, it’s not all fun and games. There are a few health risks that come along with BBQs. Cooking meat at extremely high temperatures won’t only ruin the taste and texture of the meat, it can also produce chemicals that have cancer-causing properties. To get a little technical, when the meat is cooked at high temperatures, the amino acids (proteins in the meat) react with something called creatine. This reaction forms a dodgy substance called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) that have been thought to increase cancer risk, particularly stomach and colon cancer. The longer the meat is cooked for, means more of these heterocylic amines are produced. The smoke produced from the burning coals also exposes the meat to cancer-causing chemicals.

Then there is the potential of undercooking the chicken on the barbie, which can result in uncomfortable situations. Ever had a really bad stomach ache after a BBQ, with the irrefutable knowledge that the meat was cooked wayyy too quickly? It is also really common to use cheap, unhealthy cuts of meat such as sausages, pre prepared burgers, chicken wings and lamb chops, paired with bread and a couple of beers or cans of coke (no salads included, except for maybe a mayonnaise-laden coleslaw). Top that off with sitting out in the sun for hours, exposing your skin to UV rays and cancer risk – remind me of the original scenario I painted?

So maybe that was two extreme (or not so extreme) examples of BBQs. The point is, they have the potential to go either way, you might just have to put in a little more effort to make them healthier (as usual).

Also, here are some ways to reduce the formation of HCAs:


  • Clean the grill
  • Trim excess fats from foods
  • Avoid flare ups from the grill, as they increase HCA formation
  • Try to avoid overcooking the food, the black, charred bits are the largest source of HCAs
  • Use marinades that contain olive oil and lemon juice, as well as fresh herbs like oregano, sage, thyme and rosemary – as these can also reduce the formation of HCAs
So here is to an upcoming summer of beaches, barbeques and breakthrough moments. And for everyone else in the Southern Hemisphere - apologies, you'll have to wait 6 months..



I’m not sure how this song quite fits into the theme but just roll with it…