CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Let’s face it, cooking meals every day can be a pain, so it’s no surprise that millions of Americans use meal prep companies to save time.

Many of these companies market their meals as healthy, clean or dietitian-approved.

But FOX19 NOW’s Courtney King discovered that some companies don’t directly list all the ingredients used in these dishes. Some of these ingredients can potentially cause health problems.

Here’s what an FDA spokesperson said to keep in mind as you read this story:

“All packaged foods must meet FDA’s food labeling requirements, including ingredient declaration, which must be listed by their common or usual names. When an ingredient itself contains two or more ingredients, sub-ingredients must also be specified on the product label and label. All labeling must be accurate and not misleading.”

Registered dietitian and functional medicine specialist Preeti Bansal Kshirsagar says, “So we as consumers need to make the right choice and demand this from the company by saying that we will not buy products containing all these additives, right?” ?”

Consider this question: Do you really know what’s in your food, and do you trust what companies say they put in it?

“Why do we have all these additives? That is the question,” says Kshirsagar. “You can eat plain chicken here.”

King researched two meal prep companies over the past few weeks and found that one company’s meals contained dozens more ingredients than those listed on the labels.

We picked up a few meals from Clean Eatz in Newport, Kentucky.

King walked in and grabbed a few meals from their prepared freezer.

“On the packaging it says the ingredients are shredded beef, seasoned red potatoes, and green beans,” King says as she reads the ingredients.

Only a few ingredients were listed on the packaging, but almost a paragraph more on the website.

Factor is a well-known meal prep company, and King ordered online through that company for this story.

Their website lists basic ingredients like pork, cauliflower, and onion as the ingredients for the dishes ordered.

When the meals arrived exactly seven days after ordering from Factor, we noticed that the ingredients on the packaging were completely different.

After reaching out to Factor, a spokesperson showed us that you can find all the ingredients online. They are not listed with the original ingredients, you have to “click”read more”on Factor’s website.

So what are the ingredients?

We noticed that both Factor and Clean Eatz use xanthan gum with every meal, but we bought one.

“Xanthan gum is a fibrous substance,” explains Kshirsagar. ”Gives thickness and stabilizes. “It also acts as a kind of preservative for the foods produced by companies.”

When asked to break down xanthan gum, Kshirsagar says it can lead to some health problems.

“Xanthan gum is a fibrous substance. It gives thickness and makes it stable. “It also acts as a kind of preservative for the foods produced by companies.”

He continued: “These digestive imbalances may actually reflect a systemic change, problems like migraines, in your particular case, may be common problems for other people. Other people may also have dental problems. They can cause many different problems as they migrate from the gut to different parts of the body.”

If you haven’t heard of it, it is used in many gluten-free baking and salad dressings.

“The way maltodextrin affects us the most is again through imbalance of the gut microbiome,” says Kshirsagar.

Maltodextrin can also cause health problems, says the dietitian. It is also used as a thickener and stabilizer. Found at Clean Eatz meals, but not at Factor’s.

“It reduces the good bacteria in our gut and can actually cause bad bacteria like salmonella or E. coli to grow,” Kshirsagar explained. So this is a major negative, possible adverse effect of maltodextrin for an individual. “I repeat, it does not happen to everyone, but it can happen to many people.”

Both companies we reviewed market their meals as clean or healthy eating, with Factor even saying its meals are dietitian-approved.

When asked if maltodextrin and Xanthan gum are clean ingredients, Kshirsagar replied:

“I definitely wouldn’t say that. I definitely don’t have them in my kitchen, and you can always cook without them. Why do you need maltodextrin or Xanthan gum or any of these stabilizers? Because it’s actually very easy for companies to produce these products without additives and still make them delicious and healthy for us.” possible.”

Kshirsagar says overuse of Calcium propionate, which is used to prevent food from molding, can cause digestive problems.

He also says that companies use these additives in ready-made meals for flavor purposes because they are cheap.

“And there are so many advances in packaging now that so much is possible if we, the consumers, demand it.”

FOX19 NOW also emailed Clean Eatz in Newport.

The store owner said takeout meals are different from meals you can order online, even though many have the same name.

However, they stopped responding to emails when asked if they put more ingredients in takeaway meals than listed.

“We follow all local, state and federal menu labeling requirements and provide additional ingredient information on our website,” Clean Eatz’s owner said in emails.

Factor also said that they listed the ingredients in their most complete form in their emails. This allows individuals to quickly determine whether a recipe meets their dietary preferences.

The FDA did not comment on samples submitted for this story and declined to be interviewed.

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