Choose Wisely – Mayonnaise

Choose Wisely #11- Mayonnaise

There are many uses for Mayonnaise in our diets so it’s important to pick the wisest choice for our bodies. If you choose the best Mayonnaise, you can enjoy it occasionally guilt-free. Use it on sandwiches, salads, deviled eggs, as well as use it in your favorite recipes.

Choose This

Safflower Mayonnaise
Ingredients: Expeller Pressed Safflower Oil, Whole Eggs, Grain Vinegar, Filtered Water, Egg Yolks, Salt, Egg Whites, Dehydrated Cane Juice, Spice, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Honey, [Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E) Ingredients not Found in Regular Mayonnaise], Natural Flavors, Paprika Extractives (for Color).

Safflower mayonnaise uses expeller-pressed safflower oil.  At this time, Safflower mayonnaise is the only mayonnaise I can find on the market that does not contain soybean oil or canola oil.

Expeller-pressed means the manufacturer uses a chemical-free mechanical process that extracts oil from seeds and nuts. The temperature reached during this process depends on the hardness of the nut or seed. The harder the nut or seed, the more pressure required to extract the oil, which in turn creates more friction and higher heat. There is no external heat applied during this process, therefore it is a wiser choice than the hexane-extraction method used for many conventional oils.

Do Not Choose This:

Make sure you always check your ingredient lists! Here is the reason why I think these brands are not a wise choice. Besides the sugar in some brands, most have soybean or canola oil in them.

Soybean Oil: Most soy beans grown in the US are genetically engineered to allow farmers to use large amounts of herbicides. They are treated with acid baths, high heat, and additives such as nitrates before they are made into soy products. Most of the soybeans grown in this country are for producing soybean oil, which is then hydrogenated and turned into trans-fat.

Canola Oil: Manufacturers put this oil through a process using very high heat. When you do this, you are destroying the healthy qualities of the oils. This process takes any healthy fat molecules and turns them into harmful free radicals.

Best Foods: INGREDIENTS: SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, WHOLE EGGS AND EGG YOLKS, VINEGAR, SALT, SUGAR, LEMON JUICE, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (USED TO PROTECT QUALITY), NATURAL FLAVORS

Best Foods Light: INGREDIENTS: WATER, SOYBEAN OIL, VINEGAR, MODIFIED CORN STARCH**, WHOLE EGGS AND EGG YOLKS, SUGAR, SALT, XANTHAN GUM**, LEMON AND LIME PEEL FIBERS** (THICKENERS), (SORBIC ACID**, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA) USED TO PROTECT QUALITY, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, PHOSPHORIC ACID**, DL ALPHA TOCOPHERYL ACETATE (VITAMIN E), NATURAL FLAVORS, BETA CAROTENE**.
**INGREDIENT NOT IN MAYONNAISE

Many are drawn to Duke’s mayonnaise because it is naturally rich in Omega 3 ALA (alpha linolenic acid), is trans-fat free and unlike other brands, is sugar-free. However, the very first ingredient is Soybean Oil and this ingredient is why I don’t choose it.

Ingredients: Soybean oil, eggs, water, distilled and cider vinegar, salt, oleoresin paprika, natural flavors, calcium disodium EDTA added to protect flavor. Contains: Eggs