I have loved dill pickles for as long as I can remember, and have fond memories crunching on them with my cousin at our grandma’s house as tiny little kids. Please don’t even mention the words sweet pickles to me though because I cannot stand them…at all. I have always loved sour things, sour candy, Salt and Vinegar Chips, Italian dressing, pickles, you name it and I probably like it. I am a pickles all the time kind of girl, as in we almost always have a jar in our fridge. I know this is frequently something that comes along with pregnancies but I actually didn’t have any huge pickle cravings, mainly just bread and milk were the only things I wanted that didn’t make me feel sick. Funny enough I actually I remember Tanner buying more pickles than I did when I was pregnant so luckily he is also a fan. Now we have baby girl and she also loves them. She likes hers in her little silicone mesh feeder and it works great.
Something that I didn’t know until recently that most pickles have artificial dyes in them to help them not look gray. The one that seems to be most common is Yellow 5. Now I am not going to claim to be an expert on the dangers of dyes in food, as I am sure there are a lot of foods in my pantry right at this moment that have an assortment. However, I have wanted to start making small changes, and buying a different jar of pickles felt doable to me. There has been some research on the effects of Yellow 5 on children with ADHD where behaviors have improved when it is removed from the diet. I’m sure this does not help everybody, but I do think it is an interesting route to research more about. I have been surprised when looking at ingredient lists and seeing how many of the things we eat have artificial dyes in them to make them look more appealing so this is something I am hoping to begin looking at more frequently.
Now I tend to be a bit of a pickle snob and am slightly picky on my brands, but generally like Vlasic. Well I was happy to realize that Vlasic has a jar of pickles called “Vlasic Purely Pickles Kosher Dill Spears” that do not have yellow dyes in them. I’ll post the picture of the ingredients at the bottom of the post. I had to try them before posting because I wouldn’t want to mislead anyone to buy something that tastes awful. I am happy to report they literally taste the exact same to me, but just have a bit clearer of a liquid they are in. I noticed no differences in flavor or quality and love that I can make such a simple switch yet still be making healthier choices. Now I am sure other brands do this same exact thing, so just pay attention to the labels if this is something you are interested in swapping out and see if the brand you like has a better alternative right next to your normal jar.
WELL BALANCED 