Nutrition and healthy eating

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• May 19, 2013 11:00 a.m.

  My feeling is that if wood pulp is good for you then why not just list it as wood pulp and not use cellulose to disguise what's in our food? We've noticed a steady increase in disease in this country and it seem to me it tracks along with these trends to add "unnatural" stuff to our foods so that the corporation can save money. I've read where this wood pulp is treated with a lot of chemicals in order to extract this "cellulose". This is like high fructose corn syrup as it too requires a lot of chemicals to produce, so we're getting stuff in our foods that are not natural and our bodies are having a hard time knowing what to do with them and my understanding is that when it doesn't know what to do with something, it turns it into fat. Could be why obesity is on the rise in this country as well.

  - Judy

• March 19, 2013 1:06 p.m.

  Corporations will do just about anything to increase the bottom line...Almight dollar! As long as they think that people don't notice they will continue. The choice: read the label and make your choice. If it doesn't sound like "real" food, it probably isn't.

  - Patricia

• October 11, 2012 8:53 a.m.

  Last night I ate a gluten free roll (considered a real treat as I have Celiac sprue disease) Within 3 hours I got a terrible stomach ache and fought vomiting. I checked the ingredients and the only unusual ingredient I could find was cellulose finer. I am sure I have probably eaten this before but perhaps not in this quantity? This is one more thing I will add to my long list of foods I can't tolerate. UGH!

  - Sandy

• September 30, 2012 5:57 p.m.

  I first noticed this yesterday, when a friend brought back a package of super high fiber tortillas with only 6 net carbs and 26g of fiber per serving. Yikes! And yes, lots of cellulose in it. So what? Perfectly natural food that helps people with their diets. Fill it with small amounts of meat, veggies, greens, or whatever and you have a nutritious meal that keeps you full for hours. I find the "but it is saw dust" fear mongering all over the net to be shamefully alarmist.

  - Kim

• June 16, 2012 8:46 a.m.

  Those of us with fructan malabsorption don't have the choice of eating many fruits, veggies and certainly no grains,so I'm hoping the new Dow product is found to be safe. It would be heaven to eat real pasta again.

  - Felix

• July 21, 2011 1:39 p.m.

  Cellulose is a naturally occurring plant carbohydrate. Cellulose is present in about 33% of all dry, plant matter. It is the fiber that comes to mind when talking about eating more roughage. The powdered form acts as a tubular sponge. Thus, cellulose is nature's pipecleaner. Avoiding powdered cellulose is comparable to avoiding antioxidant extracts. Both have positive effects on the body. Avoiding foods that contain any cellulose at all limits you to meat, pure starch (e.g. white potatoes, white bread, white pasta), dairy products, and sugar. Complex carbohydrates like cellulose are important for the digestive system.

  - Ryan

• June 22, 2011 11:37 a.m.

  If I want to avoid the added cellulose, it will be difficult since so many foods contain this. I'm watching labels even better now. I did eat a Fiber One cereal because of the 14 grams of fiber until I learned about the added cellulose. Now, just give me the real deal. I guess everything that is declared high fiber that is above normal will be suspect. Getting extra fiber with cellulose deprives our body of real fruits and vegetables. This is bad.

  - Midge

• May 26, 2011 12:02 p.m.

  I personally have a bad reaction to cellulose. It gives me diahrrea and stomach aches. I always check labels to avoid this additive and find it in many breads. The idea of eating wood pulp is not a good one, although I can see where it can be considered an inexpensive and safe food filler. I really wish it was taken off the safe list. To me, it is NOT safe.

  - Kathy

• May 26, 2011 8:30 a.m.

  Author Michael Pollan says it best in his book, Food Rules. "Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."

  - Margie

• May 25, 2011 8:01 p.m.

  I've been avoiding cellulose in foods for years - it was probably in the 80's that I first saw it as an ingredient in a popular brand of cereal.

  - Florence

• May 25, 2011 7:04 p.m.

  Cellulose has long been a common ingredient in most of the major brands of grated cheese. Of course, the ingredients lists on the labels are printed so small you can hardly even read them.

  - George

• May 25, 2011 4:40 a.m.

  Interesting, but I'm not a wood pecker. AnaDrol

  - Ana

• May 23, 2011 6:05 p.m.

  this blogs really help me to lower the blood sugar of my father.thankx you!

  - calgary fitness

• May 20, 2011 5:06 p.m.

  I would like to know if fruit, strawberries, banana, pineapple, and dried cranberries for breakfast will provide too much sugar(fructose. I am trying to lower my blood sugar. Thanks

  - Bob

• May 20, 2011 7:41 a.m.

  One reason people buy fiber-enriched products is that kids often prefer them to the whole grain version (think pasta--the fiber-enriched version looks just like regular pasta). Please answer this question: Does the added fiber offer the same health benefits as natually-ocurring fiber?

  - Brian

• May 18, 2011 3:10 p.m.

  Articles appeared in the Wall Street journal month ago and earlier this month talked extensively about providing fiber rich products. I've read somewhere that wood pulp can not be digested by humans. It is use as a "feel full" defense against hunger by poor people in emerging countries. That is where the food industry got the idea early on to use wood pulp. Now, cellulose which is processed wood pulp has been perfected for additive ingredient. It does not affect the taste of the product it is being used in. What it does is allowed food manufacturers to fill the product with cellulose and less of the actual ingredients. Unfortunately, ingredient labels do not tell us how much of the ingredients is in the product. Who benefits? Well of course the food manufacturers since they don't have the cost of buying all the ingredients in large quantities. They use less and fill the product with cellulose. Major digestive problems for frequent consumptions of these products, gas build-up, constipation, and/or diarrhea. What does the explosive use of cellulose have to do with the resent surge of gluten in-tolerate people? These are people who have consumed gluten products all their lives and now they can't. Just a thought.

  - Zazabeth

• May 18, 2011 2:56 p.m.

  insoluble fiber, as recommended for daily consumption, is basically cellulose (only digested by celluloytic bacteria). It is found as part of protective coating of cereal grains (and removed in refining)and thus consumed in recommended whole-grain. Why add wood-derived cellulose to diet when vegetable/fruit forms are available?

  - Gene