Sometimes it’s easy to just reach for that bag of chips, package of cookies, or any other processed food when your child is hungry. Maybe they are crying at the grocery because they want fruit roll-up snacks and you give in to make them stop. The truth is that many of these foods have cancer-causing ingredients, among other chemicals that can be detrimental to a child’s future health.
Healthy snacks are important for a child. If children can discern what is healthy and what isn’t at a young age, this conditions them to make healthy choices throughout their lives. It may require a little more effort (and you may have to put up with some crying), but it will benefit them in the long run. The following are the five cancer-causing snacks you should never feed your kids.
#1: Pop Tarts
Don’t let the “Baked with Real Fruit” note entice you. Read the nutrition and ingredient labels and you’ll find that you can’t pronounce most of the ingredients. Corn syrup, soybeans, palm oil, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial flavors have all been linked to sugar addiction, diabetes, and liver problems in children. Even that “real fruit” is sprayed with pesticides and grown with GMOs. Don’t be fooled by these!
#2: Goldfish
Goldfish are common in many households. They are said to be made with “whole grains” and “real cheddar,” but look at the bag or carton to see why they should be out of your kid’s diet. So many nutrients are eliminated in the processing of these Goldfish that they have to be enriched with fake nutrients that the body can’t properly absorb. Finally, we have the vegetable oils. After being heated to unsafe temperatures, these oils are treated with petroleum solvents. Then they are colored to make the odor more pleasant.
#3: Teddy Grahams
These little bear snacks are laced with the chemical preservative, TBHQ, which has been linked to stomach cancer in lab rats, fragment DNA, and can damage human lung and umbilical cells. Kids who eat these snacks can develop ADHD, anxiety, and symptoms of restlessness.
#4: Kid Cuisine
These frozen meals appeal to kids because they are often adorned with the newest cartoon movie characters. Corn, macaroni & cheese, chocolate pudding, and chicken nuggets do not equate to a nutritious meal. Everything in this box is processed and filled with GMOs. Read the label to discover all the trans fats, hydrogenated oils, Red 40, Blue 1 & 2, and Yellow 6, among a bunch of other chemicals. These microwave meals may save time in the kitchen, but it can shave time off life in the long run.
#5: Fruit Snacks
You may want to lower your expectation on the “fruit” aspect of this snack. A package of these is not the same as an apple, not by a long shot. The most commonly used color in these fruit gummies is Red 3 or erythrosine. This chemical is unsafe to use on your skin, yet it is ok to put inside your body? Just saying…
It’s always best to know what you are putting inside your bodies, especially when it comes to the health and future of your children. While healthy eating may require a bit more effort, it is worth it in the long run.
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
