I love pizza! It’s one of my top favorite foods next to kale and cake. And I know I’m not the only one that loves it, either. Recently, the USDA conducted a study which revealed the enormous amount of pizza we consume in the United States. American consumption of cheese increased by nearly 30% in 10 years because the dairy industry is spending big bucks to promote pizza and partner with big chains like Dominos. Congress even voted to declare pizza a vegetable in the school lunch program. The government wants us to eat pizza – a lot of it. But there’s a lot going on behind closed doors that nobody wants us to know or talk about, and it all starts with the ingredients.
When I started researching pizza ingredients, one thing became abundantly clear. Pizza restaurants did not like the questions I was asking.
The only way to find out what may be lurking in your pizza is to review its complete ingredient list, which is often concealed from the public. I began calling the top pizza chains and easily found a couple ingredient lists online. But, when I called most pizza restaurants and began asking questions, they blatantly refused to share ingredient lists and their customer service reps were oblivious to what their ingredients were – they had no clue.
Little Caesars, California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) and Mellow Mushroom have all refused to answer my questions about their ingredients. I was told by Mellow Mushroom’s corporate offices that they will only comply with minimal government regulations, which require them to publish an allergen list.
After sending me their dough ingredients, CPK suddenly claimed that due to “proprietary restrictions” they can’t disclose their full ingredient lists. They went on to tell me that they “don’t have an easy way to perform a search by individual ingredient” and would need to call each vendor first. While traveling, I stopped into a CPK in an airport to ask questions face to face. Both the manager and store clerk had zero access to ingredients. I even asked to look at the packages of their dough and other ingredients that got shipped to the store in and they said they did not have them.
I called many local pizza restaurants and was informed that it’s their policy to NOT disclose ingredients to their customers. Little Caesars literally told me that if I was concerned about what was in it, I “just shouldn’t eat there…” Ha! Don’t worry, I won’t!
Papa John’s also has repeatedly refused to release their ingredient list, which really caused a stir last year with my friend Melanie Warner, author of the processed food exposing book “Pandora’s Lunchbox“. How can Papa John’s claim to have “Better Ingredients… Better Pizza” without telling us what’s really in it? While they say their lack of transparency is due to the proprietary nature of their recipes, they could be hiding some seriously harmful ingredients. After repeated calls to corporate offices and some helpful photos sent to me by Melanie Warner, I was finally able to uncover some details about what is really in their pizzas.
Why are the ingredients so hard to find? Why are they refusing to share their ingredients? What is it that these pizza restaurants don’t want us to know?
Well, I’ll tell you what they’re hiding: Lots and lots of hidden MSG!
Restaurants don’t want to get a bad rap by putting monosodium glutamate (MSG) on their ingredient or allergen statements, so they have found another way to secretly add this potent flavor enhancer to your food, without the average customer realizing it. Instead of letting you know that they are putting MSG in your food, they are using an FDA loophole to sneak processed free glutamic acid into your food, which has the same effect as MSG – all without warning you. They simply use other forms of free glutamic acid (such as Hydrolyzed Soy Protein), which is the main component of MSG. This allows them to have “clean labels” and deceive us into believing their product contains no MSG – when it actually does!
While it’s true that tomatoes and cheese are naturally high in glutamates, they do not have the same effect on the brain as added manufactured free glutamic acid additives. When I talked to Papa John’s, they admitted that these additives are used as a replacement for MSG by the food industry.
It will blow your mind – literally
MSG tricks your brain into believing that what you are eating tastes so great that you want more of it. Your taste buds sense that there is more protein in the food than there really is – which is great for food manufacturers that want to save money by using less or lower quality meat. These ingredients also promote an addiction to pizza so that you keep coming back to order more. Repeat business keeps their pockets lined with lots of cash. Ever wonder why you can’t stop at one slice? This is why.
MSG and hidden MSG additives are known to commonly cause headaches, obesity and depression – and this is just the tip of the iceberg. As an excitotoxin, its effect on the brain is so toxic that it has been linked to learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Board certified neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D. warns that, “Excitotoxins have been found to dramatically promote cancer growth… It also causes a cancer cell to become more mobile, and that enhances metastasis, or spread… When you increase the glutamate level, cancer just grows like wildfire”.
This is serious stuff. But the industry will tell you it’s harmless and that you are crazy for being concerned.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it is okay to eat this stuff occasionally, because these ingredients can stick around in your body for a long time, leach nutrients from your system, and can make you really sick. As put by my pal Kristen Michaelis at FoodRenegade.com, “Not only is MSG not a traditional food, not only are many people immediately sensitive to it, but it can also interrupt the hormonal and biological development of children! Lest you think this is all fanciful, it’s important to remember that a number of studies have found that the effects of MSG can occur cumulatively over time with subsequent exposure.”
Toxic hidden MSG ingredients buried in popular pizza menu items:
- Autolyzed Yeast Extract (Hidden MSG)
- Textured or Hydrolyzed Proteins (Hidden MSG and GMO)
- Hydrolyzed Corn (Hidden MSG and GMO)
- Modified Starches (Hidden MSG or Possible GMO)
- Natural Flavors (Possible Hidden MSG)
- Disodium Inosinate or Disodium Guanylate (MSG enhancers)
The additives Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate are not added to a product that doesn’t contain MSG because they are considered expensive additives that are ineffective without MSG ingredients. The presence of Disodium Guanylate or Disodium Inosinate in a product is a strong indication that a product contains hidden MSG.
I’m talking about more than MSG here
The ingredient lists that I could get my hands on are riddled with artificial colors, artificial and natural flavors, partially hydrogenated oils, cellulose (wood pulp) to keep the already shredded cheese from clumping, and GMO soybean oil.
Partially Hydrogenated Oils (Trans-fat) – There is absolutely no reason for anyone to still be using this. These oils are so bad that even our FDA has woken up and warns that it’s not safe to eat this in any food. Partially hydrogenated oils block arteries and the CDC estimates that they could cause up to 20,000 heart attacks every year! I found these dangerous oils in Pizza Hut’s hand-tossed crust, Round Table’s Creamy Garlic sauce, Papa John’s dipping sauces and Dominos Philly Steak pizza. Partially hydrogenated oils are found in 21 menu items at Cici’s Pizza – it’s even added to their cheese!
Soybean Oil (likely GMO) – You’d hope to see just olive oil in there, but soybean oil is the oil of choice for most pizza restaurants. It’s in the dough and pizza sauces, so it basically makes its way into every pizza. This genetically engineered inflammation causing oil is being used at these restaurants:
- Papa John’s
- Domino’s
- Pizza Hut
- Uno Pizzeria
- Papa Murphy’s
- Little Caesars
- Cici’s
- Mellow Mushroom – “Soybean oil is a major ingredient in our pizzas”
- California Pizza Kitchen – “our Ciabatta Bread and our Wheat Dough do contain Soybean Oil”
- Round Table Pizza – Creamy Garlic sauce
BHT/BHA (Butylated Hydroxytoluene.Butylated Hydroxyanisole) – BHT is used in embalming fluid and to fuel jets. BHA is toxic to your organs and linked to cancer. These were found in the pepperoni on every ingredient list I looked at from Uno’s to Dominos.
Sodium Nitrite – Whenever this is added to a meat, there is a really good chance that it contains cancer-causing Nitrosamines. Nitrites are often found in the pepperoni, ham, bacon and sausage toppings.
Enriched Flour – This is a dead food that has had some vitamins and minerals artificially replaced. It’s absorbed by your body as a starch, rather than a whole grain. This flour is used in pizza dough, except the gluten-free versions.
Artificial Colors – These are petroleum-based colorings linked to asthma, allergies and hyperactivity. I found them in the banana pepper toppings, the cheese at Cici’s, and specifically in the garlic oil used by Domino’s.
Caramel Coloring – This is often made by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure which creates carcinogenic compounds. You’ll find this very controversial coloring in the bacon at Pizza Hut, the Italian sausage at Round Table, the beef at Little Caesars, the zesty pizza sauce at Cici’s and in the BBQ Chicken pizza at Uno’s.
BPA (Bisphenol A) – You won’t find this on any ingredient label, but BPA leaches from the cans that hold pizza sauce in some restaurants. Many fast food pizza chains use canned tomato sauce that could have BPA. This substance exposure increases your risk for cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes and a slew of other medical problems.
How these pizza restaurants stack up
Papa John’s – They add a lot to their “Better Ingredients”. For instance, their “100% Beef” topping is a lot more than just beef! It contains corn syrup, maltodextrin, natural flavor, natural smoke grill flavor, beef flavor and seasonings. Also, so much for believing that there is 100% real cheese topping their pizzas, as they add modified food starch (hidden MSG), preservatives and powdered wood pulp (cellulose) to their cheese blend. They also add natural flavors to their thin crust, pepperoni, and chicken topping, as well as hidden MSG (autolyzed yeast extract) to their garlic ranch and spinach alfredo pizza sauces. Those little dipping sauces that come with your pizza are loaded with partially hydrogenated oil, GMOs and (you guessed it) more hidden MSG.
Update: In June 2015 Papa Johns announced they’re removing 14 ingredients by the end of 2016, including artificial colors, caramel color, the preservative sodium benzoate, and hidden MSG ingredients like autolyzed yeast extract and hydrolyzed proteins. They have also listed ingredients on their website (however this list is not entirely complete as they don’t publish the ingredients in some of their seasonings, such as in their beef topping).
Domino’s – One of the few pizza restaurants that openly publishes their ingredients online – and their ingredient list has hidden MSG written all over it. It’s almost impossible to avoid at Dominos, as it’s in their cheese, marinara sauce, white sauces, BBQ sauce and a slew of toppings (chicken, beef, Italian sausage and Philly steak). They also add “flavors” to their pan crust, cheese, pepperoni and shake-on seasoning. The garlic oil used on nearly every pizza is NOT what you’d expect (garlic & oil). It’s actually a toxic combo of over 20 ingredients including artificial colors, artificial flavors and TBHQ.
Pizza Hut – You get a lot more than “100% Real Beef” in this topping loaded natural and artificial flavors. Their sausage and bacon toppings have hidden MSG (autolyzed yeast or hydrolyzed proteins), and you are eating modified starches in their cheese, chicken and cream sauce (starches usually derived from GMO corn). The garlic sauce and seasoning used on every hand-tossed pizza is loaded with natural flavors, artificial flavors and partially-hydrogenated GMO oils. Pizza Hut recently reformulated their hand-tossed crust by replacing the high fructose corn syrup with sucralose (Splenda) – an artificial sweetener that has been shown to cause DNA damage to the gastrointestinal tract, reduces beneficial gut bacteria, and is linked to inflammatory bowel disease. Recent research indicates that sucralose is linked to leukemia.
Round Table – “The Last Honest Pizza” honestly adds straight “Glutamic Acid” to their creamy garlic sauce. They add hidden MSG ingredients to their pizza sauces, chicken and sausage toppings. Their cheese is far from “100% real” with “Natural Smoke Flavoring” and cellulose.
Little Caesars – Although their corporate office told me that their ingredients are top secret, the first gal I talked with admitted that there is yeast extract in their beef topping. I also called a local store and found that their super-secret ingredients were listed right there on the package for anyone in the kitchen to read. According to my local restaurant, their sauce contains natural flavors and the cheese contains wood pulp (cellulose). They also rattled off the beef topping ingredients to confirm it contains yeast extract, beef flavorings and caramel coloring.
Mellow Mushroom – One of the most tight-lipped restaurants I talked to would only admit to the use of soybean oil, which is likely GMO – “Soybean oil is a major ingredient in our pizzas” they wrote to me in an email. Furthermore, when I asked about hidden MSG ingredients, they told me that they weren’t required to tell me since they are not one of the 7 major allergens designated by the FDA and don’t list them on their allergen list. So I decided to go use their allergen tool to see what they do list and found something shocking. The tool gives misleading, inaccurate and potentially dangerous information if you have a soy allergy. For example, I confirmed their crust uses soy, but when you use the tool, it says there are plenty of pizzas without soy. The information doesn’t add up and regardless of whether if you have an allergy, I would not trust Mellow Mushroom until they release the full ingredient lists for their menu.
Uno Pizzeria – They are not much better than the rest with hidden MSG in their BBQ Chicken pizza, Harvest Vegetable pizza, sausage topping and gluten-free crust. I was a bit surprised to see that they also add caramel color, artificial flavors, and a large amount of natural flavors to their BBQ Chicken pizza – it’s totally unnecessary.
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) – As they were being very difficult in sharing ingredients, I was only able to confirm that the Thai sauce, tomato pizza sauce, pepperoni, salami, bacon, romano cheese, and chipotle sauce do not contain any of the hidden MSG ingredients that I listed. Because they refuse to share an ingredient list, I have no way of knowing whether they contain other additives or hidden MSG that I didn’t ask about – so don’t be convinced that these menu items are clean! I also inquired about hidden MSG ingredients in their other cheeses, BBQ sauce, chicken, sausage and ham toppings – and they have not responded at all regarding those items. Again, I will take their lack of a response as an indication that they do contain hidden MSG until they inform us otherwise.
Papa Murphy’s – It’s all about the sauces at Papa Murphy’s, where there’s yeast extract in their basil pesto sauce and modified food starch in their BBQ sauce, buffalo sauce, creamy garlic sauce and sweet chili sauce. They also add “flavors” to nearly every meat topping available and to their cheese.
Cici’s – They don’t really hide it by adding straight MSG to 10 menu items including their “Zesty” pizza sauce. Cici’s further adds hidden MSG to their buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, bacon cheddar sauce, sausage topping and beef topping. Quite frankly, I can’t believe how bad their “cheese” is – modified food starch, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, (added) casein, aluminum, natural flavors and artificial color! I was also astounded to find high fructose corn syrup in their BBQ sauce and dessert pizzas, as well as carrageenan and propylene glycol in several of their sauces, including the Alfredo.
Are you wondering about your favorite pizza place?
The good news is that you can do the exact same thing I did at your favorite pizza place, and please share the outcome with me!
To get the best results, plan to visit your pizza place during a slow time and not during their dinner rush. This way their employees won’t be rushed and will have time to answer your questions. Right off the bat, ask them if they have an ingredient list to share with you. Most likely they won’t, but it’s worth a try. If their ingredients are not readily available, here’s my game plan for navigating the menu and asking the right questions:
- Typically the safest bet is to stick with a veggie pizza without cheese. This is dependent on what they have lurking in their sauce and crust, so it’s really important to find out what is in those items! Ask them to read you the complete ingredients in the sauce and dough.
- Hidden MSG is most often found in meat toppings, seasoning mixes and creamy sauces – so if you plan to order those things I would ask specifically about hidden MSG ingredients. Ask them if monosodium glutamate, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed proteins, modified starches, or natural flavors are in any of those menu items. Which ones?
- GMO soybean oil is usually found in the crust and the sauces. Ask them if they use soybean oil – and in what menu items. Is soybean oil used in their pans? Can they make you a pizza without it?
- Ask them directly if any of their ingredients are GMO. You may be surprised as they may have no clue what you are talking about. Use this as an opportunity to briefly share with them what a GMO is and why you don’t eat GMOs. Let them know that most soy is GMO so if they use soy in any products, it is probably GMO. Their allergen statement should also be able to tell you if soy is used in any product.
- Remember that “garlic oils” and “shake-on seasonings” may contain a bunch of questionable ingredients and MSG. Ask them if there are any specialty oils, butter sauces, or seasoning mixes used on their pizzas. If they can’t tell you the ingredients in those, ask them not to use it on yours.
- Do they use high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners in their sauces or dough? These sweeteners are probably derived from GMO sources – including “sugar”.
- Most vegetables will not be GMO, unless they have corn, tofu, zucchini or yellow squash toppings. I would avoid those.
- What about cellulose in their cheese? Are flavorings and preservatives added to the cheese as well?
Beware that often times the restaurant employees truly do not know the answers to your questions, and will give you incorrect answers. For instance, they may tell you that their cheese is “100% real cheese”, without realizing that the pre-shredded bag of cheese in the back contains an ingredient list. On that ingredient list, they will likely find cellulose, some preservatives, and possibly some flavors and colors. It’s good to remember that it’s not all that it seems on the surface, and in order to find out what is really in their food they will need to read the ingredient list on the box, bag or can that the menu item comes in. The bottom line – If they won’t tell you what is in their food, don’t eat there.
They don’t expect the average customer to demand answers about their food!
Only four of the restaurants I investigated publish their current ingredient lists online – Dominos, Uno’s, Papa Murphy’s, Cici’s. (Pizza Hut publishes them online, but they admitted to me they aren’t current in an email). As in my Chipotle investigation, I had to be extremely persistent over several months to get the limited information that I did from the other restaurants. This took multiple phone calls, voicemails, emails, and website contact forms – which often went unanswered. I had to ask specific questions about obscure ingredients. They are counting on the average customer to not do this!
On Papa John’s website, they say that their cheese is “crafted from 100% mozzarella and high-quality milk by one of America’s finest cheese producers” – But the ingredients tell the real story. Now we know their cheese also contains wood pulp and modified food starch… and that IT’S NOT 100% CHEESE. When Papa John’s claims in all of their advertising that they have “Better Ingredients”, yet they won’t openly tell us what they are, it’s a safe bet they’re hiding something.
I wonder if any of these restaurants will have the courage to discuss this issue. Will they do the right thing now that we are calling them out, like Chipotle did when they finally released their full ingredient list online for everyone to see? These companies do not deserve our business, until they publish their ingredients online and make them easily accessible to the average customer.
What to eat instead:
Okay, this is the good part! I’m thrilled to say that I’ve found some pizza places that are doing it right!
Pizza Fusion – I called up a Pizza Fusion restaurant and they freely answered every question I had about their ingredients – a big WIN in my book! Their sauce is super simple: organic tomatoes, olive oil, water – and no nasty additives or hidden MSG. They only use olive oil in the restaurant, so you won’t find any GMO soybean or canola oil here. They confirmed with me that their gluten-free crust no longer contains canola oil and that they are diligent about preventing cross-contamination with gluten. I was really happy to find out that all of their meat toppings are antibiotic-free! Their chickens are also fed a non-GMO diet. Many of their veggie toppings are organic and local, and all are non-GMO. This varies and depends on what is seasonally available, so simply ask them which veggies are organic when you order. They have about 12 locations right now, and I really hope they grow into a larger chain so that more of us have access to pizza places like this!
Pure Pizza – I simply love this place. If you are ever in Charlotte, this is the place to go. They have an amazing organic sprouted grain crust, and source their toppings locally.
Truly Organic Pizza – This pizza chain in Florida is USDA certified organic. Because of this, none of their ingredients can be GMO, and all of their meats are antibiotic-free and not injected with hormones. I called them up and asked specifically about hidden MSG ingredients. They told me that they do not use any flavor enhancers such as autolyzed yeast extract or hydrolyzed proteins to season their food. They cook their meatballs and chicken from scratch and only season them with basic seasonings like what we would use at home! This is another great option if you are in Florida.
My Favorite Homemade Pizza Recipe – If you don’t have pizza restaurants like these in your neck of the woods, my homemade pizza recipe is super simple and will be ready in less time than it would take you to order and have it delivered – I promise! This recipe cures my pizza craving in no time!
If you know someone who is ordering or eating pizza with these terrible ingredients, help them make the switch by sharing this very important information with them!
Together we are changing the world, one company at a time, by sharing the truth.
Xo,
Vani
It is info, use it or don’t. But I really don’t need the bashing. Really just trying to educate myself.
FDA and Monsanto (a poison company) are one. Both are run by the same sub-humans.
How about what
Frozen pizza aren’t
Bad for you
I used to work at Arby’s.Their roast beef is more like a meatloaf.The ingredients listing only came up to 85%…what was in it???
Just offering another area to investigate for you.
Thank you.
I love Marcos pizza and asked for the ingredients list three times. This is what they sent me the third time: http://marcos.com/images/docs/MCP-Nutritional-and-Allergen-Information-04032013.pdf
I was looking for something more in-depth.
Such baseless and utterly false information. Let’s just pretend to know what things are and make huge sweeping assumptions and outright lies so we can get hits from people looking for reasons to be scared and paranoid. If you don’t like a company or food because it violates your sensitive feelings, don’t give them your money. The wrong way to go about it is spreading false information and, at best, half truths.
You, are blind. She found ingredients for many of the pizza’s and listed them. Aluminum, food coloring, partially hydrogenated oil, GMOs and some of the others that for a fact are in the pizza’s is harmful.
You just don’t want to know.
It’s because of people like you these things to go on, making American sick. You make me sick.
Get a clue, these companies don’t care about you, or the consumer. The more you eat that crap, the dumber you get and the more they sell.
Your thought process proves what my wife has been telling me, eating these foods makes you dumb.
Aluminium is in pretty much everything.
Plants take up trace amounts of it because it is in the soil; so by eating fruit and vegetables you are also ingesting aluminium at trace amounts. Which is why the FDA can approve trace amounts; which is why you have it in your food.
As for foods colouring see my above response to your comments RE: Preston.
I think you Bryan need to do some research before you start hitting the cruise control.
I have done my research, it’s not research that is needed here, you need to stop being a government sheep and believing everything they tell you.
Trace amounts is one thing, putting in larger amounts in the food is different. We’re not talking “trace amounts” here. It’s added to your bread, canned goods, lunch meats, almost everything you eat, so it adds up to be a lot more than trace amounts.
Then I realize I’m arguing with an idiot, that make me the same, now I feel stupid.
damn sheep, will follow the government right over the cliff.
I bet you own stock on one of these filthy and deceiving companies poisoning humans!
I am a Holistic Nutritionist, and Vanni is just exposing REALITY here!
Scared? We should be! We should run like the pest itself from consuming these “fake” and poisoned foods!
[ “fake”]…….lol that is all 🙂
Well I wouldn’t have known about most ingredients that all big pizza chains are using if she had not put this info on the web. And now that I know, I will do my due diligence.
What about those who have legitimate allergies? It’s important to have accurate information about which foods contain allergens, and some companies really make that information hard to come by. A life-threatening allergy is about a LOT more than just “sensitive feelings.”
False? These ingredient lists are from the labels of the companies in question.
It is evident the degree with which MSG, and, other highly toxic additives, have on the mental capacities of the public at large!
I suppose, Vani, you could use such comments as a litmus test for the authenticity of your assertions.
They didn’t tell you the ingredients because of competition between chains. Do you think apple would tell Microsoft how they do things.
Even if you told me all 13 spices in KFC’s secret recipe, I still probably couldn’t recreate it.
What would you say about the pizza at Whole Foods?
WF does not use 100% healthy organic ingredients, so never assume it’s all good if you bought it from there. I asked about the tortilla they use to make my burrito and it contained canola oil ( translate;:rapeseed, not a healthy choice) tried to find cottage cheese w/o carrageenan and other additives but theirs had all that junk in it…and it cost twice as much as the mainstream market.
WF is NOT totally organic or 100% healthy.Beware, their cottage cheese has all the same nasty additives that mainstream markets do and it costs twice as much. The burrito wrap they use is made with nasty canola oil. Translate: rapeseed..bad.
What do you think of the Amy’s Brand Vegan Pizza found in the frozen section on Kroger’s or other places?
You said the tortilla at Whole Foods is untrustworthy, but what about the actual pizza dough? I have heard not all at WFoods is totally non-GMO as amazing staff there told me upfront and only some is. I hear the dough is homemade and organic there. Also, I hear by 2018 their plan and goal is to go totally non-GMO. It seems like they have good intentions and trying and they have always been rated as the top socially responsible co. despite flaws. They are the opposite of Monsanto or Dupont for sure.
What is your take on my further questions ? Thanks!
What are the ingredients listed in the Amy’s pizza? I have not tried it as I tend to shy away from frozen food unless it’s a whole organic food like berries. i.e. Costco carries many items now like this.
WF may be doing some things right to become non-GMO but they are charging a lot more than other organic carrying stores also. Look at their ingredients in hot foods-to-go, lots of them have canola and soybean oil (as does Trader Joe’s) and I could taste it when mistakenly bought some fresh salad. Now I read everything before purchase.
I have not asked about the pizza dough but it’s very white so I assumed it is not whole wheat. I don’t eat white flour products, they are stripped of nutrients. WF is trying but the bottom line is they are charging a lot more than others and this to me translates into huge profits. I see many people spending a lot of cash there on produce that can be had at the local farmer’s market for a lot less and it’s very fresh and organic, picked the same morning. My philosophy is to eat well as often as I can and occasionally I buy a couple products at WF. I like the organic corn tortillas and they are not expensive. Their raw in the bin nuts and seeds and their cheese are all outrageously priced compared to Sprouts, but then again, I am a thrifty comparison shopper and live in CA where we have fresh produce everywhere. I can afford to be choosy as all these stores are in a 5 mile radius in the Silicon Valley. They do a lot of good for the community I’m sure and I commend them for ‘trying’ to be non-GMO. I heard that 2 yrs ago. so hopefully it happens sooner than later. As for me, I will pick and choose certain products at different places. Rotating between Sprouts, WF, TJ’s and the farmers markets I do manage to get everything I need.
Like the others said, Whole Foods doesn’t have necessarily healthy food ot the healthiest food. Look at the ingredients on their hot food bar – lots of canola oil and less than healthy stuff. Plus their to-go food bar items aren’t very good. Over priced and they don’t seem to care if it’s that good – both in regards to taste and health.
If everything was above board i don’t suppose we would need the FDA would we? How many prescription drugs have the FDA cleared that still killed/severly harmed people…not just a few but Thousands and Thousands!! Thanks for the informative article!
Here’s the thing; if you are able to grow your own food, please do so. The closer you eat to the way the food came out of the ground, the better off you are. As a lab tech in a cancer center at a very well known hospital, I can tell you that the new cancers we have seen in the last few years are not just developing on their own. People are what they eat. If a food has been changed in it’s composition, chances are it’s not real ‘food’ any longer. Pay now or later, it’s really your choice.
Good stuff, keep it up
I worked at CPK.. doesn’t surprise me with the new direction they’re going. Ingredients USED to be thought about and carefully manufactured and then they got too big–and then the new CEO came in and turned it into a typical chain and cares less about quality and more about quantity. Nice article 🙂
My son has an allergy to rice and he got sick after eating Donatos Pizza. We couldn’t find the ingredients online so we called the restaurant. The 1st restaurant we called didn’t have any ingredients to their pizza crust in the store. They had us call another store. It took 2 hours before they were able to get back with us to let us know because even the 2nd store didn’t have the ingredients to their crust. Thank God they didn’t have rice in their crust and he didn’t need an epi-pen! That information should be accessible to the public online. He has a very unusual allergy.
Great research. Thanks for posting!!!
And what about the japanese and chinese food? Please, tlak about they also.
Cheese is unfit for human consumption.
If you’ve ever had Whole Foods wood-fired pizza made fresh in their store you know it’s AH-MAZING. Seriously, THE BEST pizza. I reached out to them recently to find out their ingredients in their crust, sauce, and cheese. SO EXCITED to say the news is good!
INGREDIENTS: CRUST (CRUST: WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, OLIVE OIL, SALT, YEAST. SAUCE: TOMATOES, SALT, DRIED SWEET LEAF BASIL.), SAUCE (TOMATO, OLIVE OIL, SUNFLOWER OIL, SALT, OREGANO, SPICES, GARLIC, CITRIC ACID), MOZZARELLA CHEESE (PASTEURIZED WHOLE AND PART SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), PARMESAN CHEESE, ASIAGO CHEESE, SMOKED GOUDA. CONTAINS: MILK, WHEAT.
I don’t think anyone actually thought that pizza from any of the places was healthy. It’s like going to McDonald’s and complaining that there isn’t good quality beef on your burger. You take a risk anytime you eat out. If you don’t like it, eat home.
I just make my own pizza at home. It’s easy.
Equipment required is an oven, a pizza stone, and a pizza peel (big spatula for pizza).
The crust is flour, yeast, water, and salt.
Toppings are whatever you want to put on it. I usually use sauce that I make myself starting with unsalted tomato puree (nothing added…just tomatos) to which I add my own salt and spices, unprocessed toppings like vegetables, mushrooms, and a quality mozzerella or bocconcini. If I want meat on it, I try to stick with things that are not highly processed. (So, avoid pepperoni, use something like lightly marinated chicken, made with a home-made marinade, of course).
This is all very easy, and isn’t even time consuming. I’ll whip up one of these pizzas anytime. The only thing that takes time is for the dough to rise, but the actual physical effort is minimal.
Wow, so glad I saw this, I haven’t had pizza in forever but I got some coupons in the mail and wanted to order one. Thank goodness I read this article! Great job!!
What about COSTCO pizza? I love their pizza? They seem to be trying do to the right things! I am going To call up the Corp . Offices what are some of the ?s to ask?
Thanks for doing the Due diligence on this! Cheat day or not… I appreciate the truth about what we put into our bodies unknowingly! Keep up the excellent work!
Just a note: As a frequent traveler to many parts of Asia, I can say that they eat large amounts of MSG (sold in big bags and used to cook almost everything); they also eat tremendous amounts of rice (a starch) … and yet are generally thin and relatively long life expectancy (especially when compared to other 3rd world areas). I think we place too much emphasis on what we eat without taking into account what we do ‘after’ we eat … i.e. do we eat and then spend our day sitting at a desk and our nights sitting in front of a TV? I notice that every time I visit Asia, in the course of a month, I always lose 10-15 pounds while eating far more than at home … difference? In Asia I ride a scooter and walk (instead of driving my car), get up and out of the house earlier, tend to be more active, watch little to no TV, etc., etc. …. My 2 cents … ok all … go ahead now and tell me I’m a fool 😉
Right on
Keep going strong Vani and company! Education is power. The more people we educate and transform into caring about what goes inside their mouthes the better. Please don’t forget the chewing gum and candy industry.
Parents, please take a look at what the children of today are eating. It is a sheer disgrace. These are the people of our future workforce, they’re going to need some good brain power to succeed in life-all the younger generation is getting is sugar in every form. Give a vegetable a chance.
I have worked at both Pizza Hut and Domino’s I am a current Assistant Manager at Domino’s Pizza and I have been eating it everyday for the last year. Nothing has affected my body I am in great shape, I never work out. However since starting here I can say that I have lost more than the weight that I did gain at Pizza Hut. I don’t see anything wrong with posting this article, although I do believe that in most of these places you are paying at most 16 dollars for a pizza. If you want a healthy organic pizza then it wouldn’t exactly be pizza now would it?
You’re awesome! Thank you for this!
I have been cooking my own organic food for a while. I love knowing that what I am eating is benefiting me and tastes amazing and makes me feel and look better, the proof is in the food. When we eat out we are bloating, and feeling ill. Listen to your body, it will tell you what you need to know. Regardless of whether or not this article is true, all you have to do is compare your at home pizza with your dominoz pizza. I feel way better and i dont over eat my at home pizza. I think everyone should do whats right for them, and making my food at home, fresh, organic, safe, healthy is the way I like it! And i am as healthy as can be 🙂
http://www.fooducate.com/app#page=product&id=D2A623AA-594B-11E0-A55F-1231380C180E
What about this pizza? That’s what we like, how does it stack up?
@ Preston:
The FDA is there to keep food and drug companies honest and safe! Have you lost your mind? All any one has to do is turn on the TV every 45 sec or so there is a new commercial in regards to a new class action law suit against yet another new medication that is of course killing people! These companies are settling and paying millions of dollars out to victims. How is that the FDA protecting us? It takes years for these lawsuits to be settled and for victims to be Compensated so that gives these companies plenty of time to make the money they need to make and then some. The payouts don’t hurt them they’re figured into their budgets and why because they know their products are not safe. Everything is being pushed through the FDA in record time these days so long as there application is accompanied by a big fat check! Since you claim to be a fact checker why not check out the PDUFA act of 1992
Are you all seriously surprised that chain pizza restaurant’s have all these ingredients in their pizzas? I thought this was common knowledge.
EXACTLY!!!
Amazing article, saidly not useful as I live in Canada and those brands that you checked or promoted as organic are not available here. The only one is Pizza Hut and it might be different ingredients in other state as well. 🙁
What questions did you ask those restaurants, or what exaclty to look for when I ask them about ingredients ? I would like to call or email local brands in Alberta like http://www.avatarapizza.com/
Should I look only for Partially Hydrogenated Oils, Soyabean oil and MSG ?
Thanks
Very shameful what the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry has done to the American people but were all scared and won’t come together & stand up for ourselves so it will keep being allowed. I wish the people that were poor or has very limited funds could eat organic too
Hi Vani,
I watched a documentary on BBC News last night, titled The Man Who Made Us Fat, part 1.
It is definitely worth a watch. It has opened my eyes as to hold the food industry has a on us with vengeance. Scary stuff and if we want to start eating healthy again. we have one tough battle ahead of us. I am happy to be part of this fight. Thanks for all you do, to inform us and to take the challenge to, take them to task and tell it like it is. Bless You
Gary
What about zPizza?
how about Stevie B’s ? I like their pizza,it like Cici’s but they claim they
are gluten and free. lol ya know it a shame Chickfla is suppose to be christian company right ? hmmm they need to go pray and ask God to forgive them
for lying to the consumers. Can you do a search on Stevie B’s Pizza. how about the Chinese and the Japanese restruants ? like Makoto’s Panda Express, Fugiyama i think that how it spelled,cause they cook in front of you so u an see what they doing,but they was gonna put sauce on my food i told them not to put that crap on there lol God knows what is in that sauce.
Hi vain,
Its an excellent research… Just wanted to know your recipe of home made pizza
since california pizza kitchen is refusing to send you any kind of ingredient list, why not go to the grocery store and copy what they list for their grocery variety?
Here in NY (and I always assumed everywhere else) I would have to say that NO ONE considers any of those restaurants above pizzarias. Pizzarias use here use fresh dough, fresh sauce & fresh cheese. If you want pizza that compares to homemade food you go to a pizzeria. If you want some kind of nasty, who-knows-whats-it-it , comparable to McDonalds fast food, then you go to one of the above fast food restaurants that sell ‘their version’ of pizza just like McDonalds sells ‘their version’ of hamburgers.
I must have died 10 Years ago ~ According to this article ~
Here is a little food for thought. The article was a well written because our food supply has become tainted, from the sauces, cheese, and meats to name a few. Those pizza’s also all have one common denominator, and that is the WHEAT. Dr. William Davis a cardiologist recently wrote “Wheat Belly”. The book should be read by everyone, as he noted when two slices of whole wheat bread raise your blood sugar that has a higher glycemic index than table sugar, than five teaspoons of table sugar , and higher than even a Snickers bar, what happens when the wheat is removed? Dr. Davis tried this on many of his patients, and their fasting glucose would be lower, their A1C which is a 60 days blood sugar test would be lower. If they returned to eating wheat all of their problems came flooding back.
These are not the same grains as in the old testament. The wheat in the bible had 28 chromosomes and was called Emmer wheat. What we are being sold today has 42 chromosomes, and it also looks different as it resembles a field of grass. Dr. Norman Borelaug invented the semi-dwarf variant, that is very stocky, and short So the plant increased yield over 10 fold. This all happened around the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Now on to GLUTEN. The dangerous part is Gliadin, which is a smaller protein than gluten. The Gliadin acts as a appetite stimulant.
This garbage is addictive, and causes a withdrawal syndrome. It also causes inflammation in the brain itself and is responsible for MS, Parkinson, and Alzheimer’s according to Dr. David Perlmutter, a board certified neurologist. THIS IS DEVASTATING FOR THE HUMAN BRAIN!
We will have to learn to grow our own food in the very near future, as well as save our own seeds, and leave this MSG, GMO mess along. Our children and loved ones deserve this much. Support CSA’s (community supported agriculture)
Hamburger chain, pizza, intant noodles, sliced bread are fast foods. Save time.
Maybe someone should talk to McDonalds about this. They are not hard to find, there is at least 3 in every city across the US.
I like pizza
OR… you could try not eating pizza and other over processed, high fat, low nutrient fast foods if you care about your health. You know, instead of being all shocked to find out that crap is, in fact, made with crap. just a thought.
You can also, you know, eat pizza and other foods like it on occasion if you like. Sure it’s not good for you, but life is too short to be worrying about what you eat every minute of every day. Even a Domino’s pizza or whatever, is ok from time to time.
Having done a good amount of research into MSG, I resent the fake “science” that you are promoting in this article. The number of people sensitive to MSG is a fraction of a fraction of the number of people allergic to peanuts, for example.
Shame on you for jumping on a bandwagon instead of using your own intelligence to research a matter. You come across as someone who’s definitely more intelligent than you are attractive … make use of it, please!
I saw the movie Food Inc. about a year ago and it just completely grossed me out. From then on out I started to buy grass-fed meat, cage-free chicken, and wild caught fish. I also learned that soy and corn were GMO but it never really crossed my mind until I ran across your website. I have started a clean diet about 7 weeks ago and my waist has slimmed, I have WAY more energy, and I just feel awesome. I still would like to continue to take all the bad foods out of my diet and would just rather make everything from scratch. My husband and I are starting our own garden this year so that we know WHERE stuff is coming from. I have been doing a lot of research and I ABSOLUTELY love your articles. Reading this one makes me never want to eat pizza again unless I make it from scratch myself. I just can’t believe the food industry is like that it is only making it to where we are obese and unhealthy. It is a little more expensive to eat cleaner and healthier but I think it will save you money later because it will keep you out of the doctors office. Thank you for all of your investigations and all your hard work to help let US know what is REALLY in our food and to teach us so that we can lead healthier lifestyles.
So, we’re not supposed to eat anywhere? Thanks!
I bought fresh grown Strawberries at Safeway…We crush the strawberries with out hands to make shortcake…The red dye covered my hands. I went to Safeway and showed the dye on my hands to the manager…
I was sick and out of commission all day because the dye made my heart very weak..It took turpentine to remove the red color from my hands..Soap would not touch the red color. It was much like the chinese red sauce color but that does not make my heart slow down.
It should be illegal to add coloring to our foods…I got very sick on salmon from Costco over the years that I later found was farmed and colored orange.
Safeway store did not care and Safeway Corp did not care either.
What about Chucky Cheese ?
Vani, AKA Food Babe: You are fantastic. I really dislike MSG and try hard to avoid foods that have them. Alas, one cannot avoid the torrent of MSG sprinkled on Chinese Food (I’m of Asian descent) and lots of western food too. When my young daughter gets a dose of MSG at a restaurant, she will wake up with puffy eyes, rashes on her body from scratching at night, and so forth. We need advocates like you to lead the charge for healthier cooking.
I have no idea what’s in pizza at Domino’s, but I’ve never eaten there assuming it’s good for me. I don’t go to McDonald’s expecting to find vegetables either. None of those pizza chains claimed to be health food or organic. They are large corporate food chains; minimal food prep in store to get lots of pizza to lots of people. So, obviously they are using flavor enhances, food stabilizers, and preservatives.