27 Foods
You Should Never Buy Again
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Cross these items off your grocery store
list—whether they're rip-offs, fakes, drastically unhealthy, or just
plan gross, here are the foods to keep out of your shopping cart.
A
few shavings of nice cheese on top of pasta or vegetables can take a
simple dish from good to great—but you don't have to fork out $22 a pound
for the famous stuff. Instead, look for varieties like Pecorino Romano
and SarVecchio, which offer the same flavor at half the price.
From
fancy charcuterie to “dime a dog” night, pass on cured meats in any
form—they’ve been linked to cancer,
disease, high blood pressure, and migraines. Plus they’re packed with
artery-clogging grease: regulations allow up to 50% (by weight) of fresh pork
sausage to be fat.
Ahh,
blueberries...now in everything from your breakfast cereal to muffins,
granola bars, and sauces—or are they? Turns out that most of the blueberry-flavored items
on grocery store shelves don't feature a single actually berry, just
artificial blueberry flavor. Buy your own berries and add them to plain
cereal for a real health boost.
This
is junk food masquerading in a healthy disguise. Check the ingredient list to
make sure whole wheat is the first, and main, ingredient—otherwise, you’re just
getting a few grains mixed into regular white bread. Better yet, forgo the
bread and enjoy straight-up barley, brown rice, quinoa, or steel-cut oats.
When
companies
take out the fat, they have to add something back in to make the food
taste delicious. In this case, it’s lots of extra sugar—and who wants
that? Instead, spread regular peanut butter on your sandwich for more of
the
good fats and protein without fake sweetness.
A
jar of spaghetti sauce typically runs $2 to $6. The equivalent amount
of canned tomatoes is often under $1. Our suggestion: Make your own
sauces from canned crushed tomatoes or fresh tomatoes — particularly in
the summer, when they are plentiful, tasty, and cheap. The easiest
method is to put crushed tomatoes (canned or fresh) into a skillet, stir
in some wine or wine vinegar, a little sugar, your favorite herbs, and
whatever chopped vegetables you like in your sauce — peppers, onions,
mushrooms, even carrots — and let simmer for an hour. Adjust the
flavorings and serve. Even easier: Coat fresh tomatoes and the top of a
cooking sheet with olive oil and roast the tomatoes for 20 to 30 minutes
at 425˚F before making your stovetop sauce.
Large
bottom-feeder fish
such as tuna, shark, king mackerel, tilefish, and especially swordfish are high in
mercury. Choose smaller fish, like flounder, catfish, sardines, and salmon
instead.
Stick
to a cup of coffee for your afternoon boost. Seemingly harmless caffeinated
beverages are often sugar bombs—and the FDA has received numerous reports
linking brands like 5 Hour Energy and Monster Energy to heart attacks,
convulsion, and even death.
If
you aren't diagnosed with celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, keep
in mind that gluten-free doesn't necessarily mean healthy—and
gluten-free baked goods like bread, cookies, and crackers often are
packed with more refined flours, artificial ingredients, and sugar than
traditional baked goods. Plus, they can cost up to twice as much as
you'd normally spend.
Vanilla-eggnog-caramel soy milk doesn't win you any points in the health department—and
it definitely won't help your grocery receipt bottom line. If you
prefer non-dairy milks for personal dietary reasons, buy unsweetened
versions. And if you're just trying to eat healthfully, skim milk should
be just fine.
Take
a look at the ingredient list for your high-fiber cereal or snack bar,
and you'll probably see an ingredient called "cellulose." Turns out that
cellulose is a code word for "wood pulp."
Food manufacturers use it to extend their products and add fiber, so it
looks like you’re getting more food. But really you’re just left with a
mouthful of wood shavings.
Skip
the refined grains and go for whole: a 17% higher risk of diabetes is associated
with eating five or more servings of white rice per week, compared to eating
white rice less than once a month.
Sure,
you can buy an 8-ounce packet of peas in an herbed butter sauce, but
why do so when you can make your own? Just cook the peas, add a pat of
butter and sprinkle on some herbs that you already have on hand. The
same thing goes for carrots with dill sauce and other gourmet veggies.
When
you buy a pre-made sandwich, you're really just paying for its
elaborate packaging — plus a whole lot of salt, fat, and unnecessary
additives. For the average cost of one of these babies ($2.50 to $3.00
per sandwich), you could make a bigger, better, and more nutritious
version yourself.
At
nearly $2 per bar, frozen 'all fruit' or 'fruit and juice' bars may not
be rich in calories, but they are certainly rich in price. Make your
own at home — and get the flavors you want. To make four pops, just
throw 2 cups cut-up fruit, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon lemon or
lime juice into a blender. Cover and blend until smooth. You might wish
to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water so the final mix is a thick slush.
Pour into 4-ounce pop molds or paper cups, insert sticks, and freeze
until solid.
These
consist basically of rice, salt, and spices — yet they're priced way
beyond the ingredients sold individually. Yes, there are a few
flavorings included, but they're probably ones you have in your pantry
already. Buy a bag of rice, measure out what you need, add your own
herbs and other seasonings, and cook the rice according to package
directions.
These
calorie-laden bars are usually stacked at the checkout counter because
they depend on impulse buyers who grab them, thinking they are more
wholesome than a candy bar. Unfortunately, they can have very high fat
and sugar contents and are often as caloric as a regular candy bar.
They're also two to three times more expensive than a candy bar. If you
need a boost, a vitamin-rich piece of fruit, a yogurt, or a small
handful of nuts is more satiating and less expensive.
Spice
mixes like grill seasoning and rib rubs might seem like a good buy
because they contain a lot of spices that you would have to buy
individually. Check the label first: We predict the first ingredient you
will see on the package is salt, followed by the vague 'herbs and
spices.' Look in your own pantry, and you'll probably be surprised to
discover just how many herbs you already have on hand, and you can
improvise as much as you want.
Powdered
and gourmet iced teas are really a rip-off! It's much cheaper to make
your own iced tea from actual (inexpensive) tea bags and keep a jug in
the fridge. Plus, many mixes and preparations are loaded with high
fructose corn syrup and other sugars, along with artificial flavors. To
make 32 ounces of iced tea, it usually takes 8 bags of black tea or 10
bags of herbal, green, or white tea. If you like your tea sweet but want
to keep calories down, skip the sugar and add fruit juice instead.
Bottled
water is a bad investment for so many reasons. It's expensive compared
to what's coming out of the tap, its cost to the environment is high (it
takes a lot of fossil fuel to produce and ship all those bottles), and
it's not even better for your health than the stuff running down your
drain.
Even taking into account the cost of filters, water from home is still much cheaper than bottled water, which can run up to $1 to $3 a pop.
If you have well water and it really does not taste good (even with help from a filter), or if you have a baby at home who is bottle-fed and needs to drink safe water, buy jugs of distilled or 'nursery' water at big discount stores. They usually cost between 79 cents and 99 cents for 1 gallon (as opposed to $1.50 for 8 ounces of 'designer' water). And you can reuse the jugs to store homemade iced tea, flavored waters, or, when their tops are cut off, all sorts of household odds and ends.
Even taking into account the cost of filters, water from home is still much cheaper than bottled water, which can run up to $1 to $3 a pop.
If you have well water and it really does not taste good (even with help from a filter), or if you have a baby at home who is bottle-fed and needs to drink safe water, buy jugs of distilled or 'nursery' water at big discount stores. They usually cost between 79 cents and 99 cents for 1 gallon (as opposed to $1.50 for 8 ounces of 'designer' water). And you can reuse the jugs to store homemade iced tea, flavored waters, or, when their tops are cut off, all sorts of household odds and ends.
Washed
and bagged greens can be a time-saver, but they can cost three times as
much as buying the same amount of a head of lettuce. Even more
expensive are 'salad kits,' where you get some greens, a small bag of
dressing, and a small bag of croutons. Skip these altogether. Make your
own croutons by toasting cut-up stale bread you would otherwise toss,
and try mixing your own salad dressing.
The
recent trend to package small quantities into 100-calorie snack packs
is a way for food-makers to get more money from unsuspecting consumers.
The price 'per unit' cost of these items is significantly more than if
you had just bought one big box of cheese crackers or bag of chips. This
is exactly what you should do. Buy the big box and then parcel out
single servings and store them in small, reusable storage bags.
We
checked unit prices of those small bags of trail mix hanging in the
candy aisle not that long ago and were shocked to find that they cost
about $10 a pound! Make your own for much, much less with a 1-pound can
of dry roasted peanuts, 1 cup of raisins, and a handful of almonds,
dried fruit, and candy coated chocolate. The best part about making your
own? You only include the things you like. Keep the mixture in a
plastic or glass container with a tight lid for up to 3 weeks.
These
'all-inclusive' food trays might seem reasonably priced (from $2.50 to
$4.00), but you're actually paying for the highly designed label,
wrapper, and specially molded tray. They only contain a few crackers and
small pieces of cheese and lunchmeat. The actual edible ingredients are
worth just pennies and are filled with salt.
It's
painful to watch someone actually pay $6 for a gallon of designer brand
ice cream. Don't bother. There's usually at least one brand or other on
sale, and you can easily dress up store brands with your own additives
like chunky bits of chocolate or crushed cookie. If you do like the
premium brands, wait for that 3-week sales cycle to kick in and stock up
when your favorite flavor is discounted.
Frozen
burgers, beef or otherwise, are more expensive than buying the ground
meat in bulk and making patties yourself. We timed it — it takes less
than 10 seconds to form a flat circle and throw it on the grill. Also,
there's some evidence that pre-formed meat patties might contain more e.
coli than regular ground meat. In fact, most of the recent beef recalls
have involved pre-made frozen beef patties.
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