"Fake cheese is disgusting," she said.
Although I notice she doesn't seem to mind processed cheese on her fast food hamburgers.
Ingredients
• Pasta (76%) [wheat flour, stabiliser (405)] — Of course pasta would be made of wheat flour, but the pasta I have in my pantry doesn't contain a stabiliser - in this case propylene glycol alginate (405). I can only guess that this is in here to help the pasta soften and cook quicker than normal pasta.
• Wheat flour — This will be in the sauce that accompanies the pasta.
• Milk solids — This is what is left over in milk when you take out the water. It is most likely in here for flavouring.
• Cheese powder (2.8%) (contains milk) — Good to see some real cheese in here, albeit dried into a powder.
• Yeast extract — This will be in here for flavouring.
• Salt — This is a high-salt product. It has a very salty taste when cooked and one 70g serve of this product when made up with the added milk, water and butter will give you 1040mg of sodium, which is at the low level of the daily allowance of sodium which is between 920mg and 2300mg. Those on a low-salt diet will want to avoid this product.
Sugar — There is also a distinctive sugary aftertaste. You will get 9.9g of sugar per made-up serving, which is just over two teaspoons of sugar.
• Flavour enhancers (621,635) — Here we have MSG or monosodium glutamate (621) which can cause allergic reactions such as headaches, numbness, nausea and asthma. The other flavour enhancer is disodium 5'-ribonucleotide (635) which is a chemical which can be a problem for gout sufferers. The last time I saw these two together was in some 2 minute noodles.
• Onion powder — Dried onion in here for flavour.
• Mineral salt (339, 508) — These are sodium phosphate (339), which is probably in here as an acidity regulator, and potassium chloride (508), which is a common anti-caking agent.
• Flavours (contain wheat and milk) — These will be artificial as there is no mention of natural flavourings.
• Chives — You can see tiny specks of chives in the end product.
• Vegetable fat — Not sure what vegetable oil this is, but it is in a very small amount being this low on the ingredients list.
• Garlic power — Dried garlic in here for flavouring.
• Colour (160a) — Nice to see a natural colour used here. Carotene (160a) is a common natural orange-yellow colour.
• Spices (paprika, pepper)
• Food acid (citric) — This is citric acid.
My recommendations
When I finally found someone in my family to taste test this with me, the unanimous finding was that it tasted artificial. Which is a shame.
Pasta alfredo traditionally is pasta served with parmesan and butter. So what can be more simple than cooking some pasta - admittedly it will take longer than three minutes - then grating over some parmesan and adding a dob of butter? You do away with the MSG, the artificial flavouring, the added colour and a host of other additives.
Surely we are not so time-poor that good natural flavours and food go by the wayside while packets like this replace them?
Highlights
• Contains MSG
• Uses artificial flavourings
• Very high in salt
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