Finding high-quality ingredients for your kitchen is always challenging. There are so many companies out there just looking to make a quick buck and pump up their margins. However, there are some telltale signs you’ve found someone with the right level of quality for you. But what are they, exactly? Well, that’s what you’re about to find out.
The List of Ingredients In Each Product Reads Like a List Of Foods You Know
Have you ever turned over a grocery item to look at the list of ingredients on the rear? Usually, it’s a terrifying list of chemicals that you’ve never heard of.
Unfortunately, most of those ingredients are designed to do one thing: increase margins. For manufacturers, it doesn’t matter if the food is low quality or damages your health. If they make a profit out of the sale, they’re happy.
That’s why it is so critical to find vendors who sell products with ingredient lists that you recognize. You want to buy from companies that have your best interest at heart, even if that means paying a slight premium.
Transparent Sourcing
Another thing you want to look for when searching for an ingredients brand is transparent sourcing. The company should be going out of its way to tell you where it gets everything from. For example, take a food company like Maine Lobster Now. This firm, which delivers fish and lobsters to customers’ front doors, keeps a record of where all its products come from, which clients can check afterwards for veracity.
No Filler Oils
Also, look for products from brands that don’t have filler oils. Adding oils is a way to cheaply bulk up a product without really adding any flavor or quality. Of course, if virgin olive oil is added, that’s okay, but most other oils are just junk and not helpful at all. For example, if you buy peanut butter, beware of manufacturers that add palm oil. The sole purpose of this ingredient is to reduce the peanut content to cut costs and push up margins. Worse still, palm oil is highly damaging to the body and leads to heart disease.
The same goes for meat products or even pastries. You want those that aren’t packed with cheap oils or bulked out using them when higher-quality alternatives are more available.
The First Ingredient Isn’t Sugar
Another sign you’ve just found a great brand is when the first ingredient isn’t sugar. A lot of companies add this as first because they’re using so much of it to make their products taste better. However, if the product is natural or has real ingredients, it shouldn’t require so much of this. If the first ingredient is the actual name of the food on the label, then that’s a sign that you’re doing okay. Ideally, sugar should be low down on the list, or not there at all. For example, suppose you want to buy some oat-based cereal for breakfast. Oats are great for most people, but if there’s also a lot of sugar with them, then that can lead to health issues and rotting teeth.
Third-Party Testing
Another sign you’ve found a great ingredient brand is third-party testing. This may sound strange, but this type of testing is critical, especially if the company is selling powders.
Third-party testing is useful for all sorts of things, like letting you know what’s in the food. It’s also valuable if you’re buying foods with rare ingredients that aren’t immediately recognizable. You want to know that you’re getting the real thing and not just some cheap knock-off.
Protective Packaging
A lot of food and ingredient brands will focus on packaging that sells. But what you really want from a great company is packaging that protects. Just because it sells, doesn’t mean that it is necessarily good for you or the food it contains.
Usually, you can tell you’ve found a high-quality product because the packaging is plainer. It looks simple but you can tell that it has a certain quality about it when you feel it. It’s robust and designed to keep food fresh as a priority.
Fair Shelf Life
Finally, you’ve often found a high-quality ingredient brand if food can maintain its shelf life for longer. Often, fresh produce rots in a couple of months. But if you can find foods that seem to last and last without going bad, that’s usually a sign that the company behind them has state of the art processes they are using.
