WTH? There’s Environmentally Destructive Wood Pulp Hiding in Our Food and Other Everyday Items

Wood from trees shows up in goods we use every day … calendars, journals, snail mail and so many other tools are all made from it. But do you know how wood is transformed into these many unrecognizable forms?  Turns out, it’s pretty science-y.

It starts with trees – those gorgeous, deep-breath inducing, carbon sequestering factories out in the woods. A timber company (small or big) knocks the tree down and ships it off to a factory. At the factory, trees are broken down into sneezy sawdust and chunky wood chips. This is where the science comes in. Through either chemical or mechanical processing, the small fibers of these wood products (known as cellulose) are separated by breaking down lignin – the natural “glue” that keeps the fibers together. From this process paper pulp is born and until we run out of forest to cut down, the process is continued over and over again.

As a note, processing of natural resources (like lumber into paper pulp) uses a lot of energy and emits a lot of greenhouse gases. This means that paper pulp is relative to deforestation and an enabler of Climate change – thanks to the greenhouse gases emitted during production, like the carbon dioxide that was previously living in the trees. Clearly, that’s a combination to avoid, and smart buying is an easy avoidance tactic.

What surprising items are paper pulp found in? Far beyond notebooks and paper plates, this list will show you some of the most random items that have a special ingredient: cellulose!

1. Almost anything you eat at a fast food “restaurant”

If you’re the relative that stops off for a burger before the family picnic, because you are a picky picnicker- you might want to think twice (for many reasons). Jack In The Box, KFC, McDonalds, Wendy’s and Arby’s all have cellulose in some of their meal choices.

2. MorningStar Farms Chik’n Nuggets, Chik Patties Original, Buffalo Wings, Veggie Wings

The good news: MorningStar makes mostly meat-free products.  The bad news: They trade meat in for paper pulp. Wood cellulose is such a common ingredient because it’s edible, cheap, and “thickens” food products to make them more enjoyable to bite into … instead of adding nutritious ingredients to do that job.

3. Fiber One Chewy Bars

Cellulose can’t be digested and has no nutritional or caloric value. It is treated like fiber in many processed foods because it goes straight through your body, but has none of the nutrients of normal fiber-rich foods. So, explore labels that boast, “added fiber” to see if it’s talking real fiber or cellulose.

4.  A few other common food items

Shredded cheeses, chewing gum, salad dressing, ice cream, cereal, cake mixes, icings, artificial vanilla –  it can be in a lot of items.  Make sure to read your labels to search for carboxymethyl cellulose, cellulose gum, or microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and then steer clear, if you don’t consider your spirit animal a termite.

Now, let’s look beyond the supermarket aisles, to other random and surprising places paper pulp can be found …

5. Shampoo and Conditioner

Cellulose thickens formulas of shampoo and conditioner. Otherwise they would be gloopy and runny in your hands. Look for alternative shampoos and conditioners that don’t contain tree ingredients.

6. Sponges

Choices for sponges are mostly those that contain cellulose or plastic. Neither are too earth-friendly. So maybe it’s time to look into alternatives to sponges.

7. Toothpaste

Gives it that paste-like consistency to glide onto your teeth.  Maybe that’s why beavers’ chompers look so good.

Avoiding Paper Pulp

There are many items that have wood pulp, especially since it is one of the cheapest forms of cellulose.  There are a lot of ways to keep our wood in our forests, and it starts with smart consuming, label-reading, and alternative-seeking.  Check out these hemp-based alternatives for starts, and good luck out there!

Image source: Jim Crossley/Flickr