Reading the fine print on your food can be time-consuming. So, to give your to-do list a break, we vetted some of Aldi's specialty selections so you don't have to, starting with a few you'll definitely want to avoid.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Reading the fine print on your food can be time-consuming. So, to give your to-do list
00:05a break, we've added some of Aldi's specialty selections so you don't have to,
00:10starting with the few you'll definitely want to avoid.
00:13Melville Cinnamon Crunch Squares are exactly the sort of item that gives
00:16factory food production its dubious reputation.
00:20The industry has engineered what they call
00:23the bliss point for the perfect amount of sugar in products. Not too little, not too much."
00:29Anything that leaves syrup in the bottom of the bowl after you pour milk over it
00:32is bound to be worth a side-eye on your shopping trip. This one? It's a sugar bomb in a bag,
00:38in a box, and on a shelf, where it should absolutely remain.
00:42Like other low-quality boxed cereals, these squares are fortified with vitamins and minerals
00:47to compensate for the rest of the ingredients in the mix. It feels like the only reason for
00:52the whole-grain wheat and rice flour is to give the three different forms of sweetness — sugar,
00:57dextrose, and fructose — a vehicle for delivery, along with a pinch of unnamed natural flavor.
01:03Oh yeah, there's cinnamon in there, too. But its natural benefits are sure to be outweighed by the
01:08three-sugar pile-up. In fact, a one-cup serving of this crunchy catastrophe serves you 14 grams
01:14of sugar, more than a quarter of what you should have in a day. This is one of the
01:19worst foods you can buy at Aldi if you value your physiology.
01:23Has canned spaghetti and meatballs ever been associated with high-quality eating?
01:28Heat-and-eat meals like Bonitalia Canned Spaghetti and Meatballs are almost
01:32always a low-quality pantry addition, thanks to the shelf-stabilizing additives and unhealthy dyes
01:37used to maintain a palatable color. Chef Boyardee becomes Chef Boy Hardly,
01:42and nobody wins by spending their grocery cash on this unsavory stuff.
01:47A meal of spaghetti and meatballs generally conjures up images of wholesome home fare
01:52cooked by someone's grandmother and served on a red checkered tablecloth.
01:56Such is the power of well-prepared cuisine. What you'll find in this can, among the pasta and beef,
02:01are non-meat soy protein in two forms to fortify the meatballs, thickeners like
02:06glycerol monostearate in the spaghetti, high-fructose corn syrup to sweeten the sauce,
02:11and enough sodium to fill a single serving with 33 percent of what you should be eating daily.
02:17Maybe having this meal in a can on hand for evenings when cooking isn't in the cards
02:21sounds like a good idea, but you'd be better off with a box of real spaghetti in the pantry
02:25and a bag of frozen meatballs in your freezer instead.
02:29Resist the tempting name and check out the ingredients list on Bitton's Caramel
02:33Coconut Fudge Cookies to discover the low-quality nature of these sweet treats.
02:38A glimpse of the wrapper easily reveals that these cookies are a knockoff of Girl Scout Caramel
02:43Delights, a gooey favorite come springtime. Having them within reach all year round at Aldi
02:48makes it easy to overindulge in a food that's best enjoyed infrequently.
02:53The Girl Scouts are onto something with that springtime schedule.
02:57It's enough to know that two bite-sized cookies deliver 130 calories and 6 grams of fat,
03:035 grams of which are saturated, representing a whopping 25 percent of the recommended daily
03:08intake. The ingredient rundown shows off the use of hydrogenated coconut and soybean oils,
03:14as well as palm and palm kernel oil, along with sweetened condensed milk.
03:18All of that comes between sugar, the first ingredient on the list,
03:22and high-fructose corn syrup, with the controversial plant-based sweetener sorbitol
03:26also making an appearance. How many questionable components can you include to add sweetness and
03:31creaminess to a single cookie? In this Aldi offering, the answer is way too many.
03:37Jarred queso is always a questionable purchase, given the low-quality profile of the ingredients
03:43required to make cheese sauce creamy and pourable. Casa Mamita Salsa Con Queso may be
03:48Aldi's in-house branded attempt at shouldering out the competition, but it also ranks as one
03:53of the more low-quality products you can purchase here. It's a real temptation to grab a jar for
03:58your office food day or tailgate party, but is it the best you can do for your colleagues and
04:03weekend warriors? Hardly. Surprisingly, this jar's label lists water as its number one ingredient.
04:10Shouldn't a cheese sauce feature cheese as the primary element?
04:13There are also thickeners like sodium alginate, datum, and xanthan gum on the list, all of which
04:20are food-safe, but not exactly top-quality components by any stretch of the discerning
04:25shopper's imagination. And you've already paid for water as part of the purchase.
04:29Add to that salsa flavorings that come in the contains less than 2% section of the culinary
04:35credits, and you start to wonder how much better you could fare with a block of cheese
04:39and a jar of real salsa instead. Yes, you can find a Pop-Tart Analog for a lower price at Aldi,
04:46in the form of Millville Toaster Tarts. And yes, they're likely to soothe your sweet tooth as a
04:51morning staple or an after-meal treat. They're also one of the lower-quality items you can toss
04:57in your costs-a-quarter rent-a-cart, made from a mishmash of things you know as food,
05:01things you know as additives, and things you can't even begin to identify.
05:06Are we supposed to eat that?
05:08The volume of ingredients on the back of the box would be enough to put avid readers to sleep,
05:13if it wasn't for trying to determine why so many ingredients are necessary for a packaged pastry.
05:18There are recognizable low-quality items like corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, and palm oil.
05:24There are also some unfamiliar and unpleasant-sounding pieces to the puzzle.
05:28Things like pre-gelatinized yellow cornmeal, whey permeate, and enzyme-modified soy protein.
05:35Isn't a tart in its most simplified form supposed to be crust and jam? That feels
05:40miles away from this concoction. And it doesn't take a nutrition expert to recognize food that
05:45is this processed is an unfavorable choice. But don't despair. There are still good,
05:50healthy buys to be found in the Aldi aisles. And since you'll be needing
05:53replacement items for your store list, we've got some suggestions.
05:57High-quality sweet snacks can be hard to find, thanks to brands that maximize enjoyment over
06:02helpfulness. Sometimes, the search for something tasty can lead shoppers beyond the cookie aisle
06:07and into the fruit and nut bar aisle. Such is the case with Elevation Pure & Simple Peanut
06:12Butter Cookie Fruit and Nut Bars, which turn out to be a premium replacement for a more decadent
06:17treat, thanks to a simple recipe that keeps the ingredients to a minimum and the flavor to a
06:22maximum. Does the top of the box call out that these cookies are dairy-free, vegan,
06:28gluten-free, and non-GMO? It certainly does. A green flag for snackers with dietary preferences
06:34or limitations. You'll find nothing but dates, peanuts, peanut meal, and sea salt inside the
06:39wrapper. This may just be an Aldi food you need to try before you die. With a fiber- and protein-packed
06:45nutritional blend like the one on the label, it might even push back your expiration date
06:50to give you more of a chance to get snacking.
06:53Apple cider vinegar is near the top of the healthy eater's high-quality food list as a zesty,
06:58mindful add-in to a slew of dressings and sauces. Aldi provides an affordable alternative to better
07:04known brands with Simply Nature Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, which packs essential probiotic
07:09power in a culinary component. With a one-ingredient item, there isn't too much that can be done to
07:15clutter the basic formula. Aldi announces the pure vinegar essence here with a four-word
07:20ingredient list, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. In an industry where more on the label rarely equals
07:25better for your health, this bottle offers clean reading that makes for clean eating.
07:31When a quick dinner means reaching for something in the freezer and zapping it in the microwave,
07:35Aldi offers the whole and simple Southwestern-style Chicken and Quinoa Bowl,
07:40a high-quality blend of protein and grains that satisfies without worry.
07:45Is it one of the most delicious Aldi finds ever? Quite possibly. It all depends on how
07:50much you love frozen food with a nutritional profile of a freshly made meal. What do you
07:54get when you toss one of these ready-to-cook boxes in your cart? According to the ingredients
07:59on the label, you get red and white quinoa, seasoned chicken breast with rib meat included,
08:04and a host of veggies like tomatoes, bell pepper, and sweet potatoes.
08:08You'll find black beans, too, an added dose of fiber and protein from the plant world,
08:12along with chipotle powder and cilantro for that distinctive Southwestern flavor blend.
08:17And that's about it, just a blend of high-quality ingredients inviting you to dinner at home.
08:22If only every Aldi product could be so simple and straightforward.
08:27The simplest healthy snack in the world may be popcorn with a bit of neutral oil and a
08:32sprinkle of sea salt. So when you see Aldi shelving Simply Nature Organic Sea Salt Popcorn,
08:38you know you've got a nutritious nosh on your hands. Not that you're snacking for the health
08:43of it, but isn't it nice to know you can indulge with less worry about what you're consuming?
08:48Simple snacks are always the best for unbothered eating, and with less than a handful of
08:53ingredients in every handful, this popcorn is sensationally pure. Let's see microwave popcorn
08:59try to pull off that kind of quality. Reading the back of the bag feels like rediscovering how
09:04minimalist a mass-produced food product can be. With the tasty triumvirate of organic popcorn,
09:10organic sunflower oil, and sea salt, it almost feels like the chain has made a mistake.
09:15Are you sure?
09:16Where are the fancy multi-syllable add-ins that dust the corn with tingly, tangy flavors?
09:21Where are the chemical preservatives that make sure everything stays fresh until the cows come
09:26home? Aldi proves it knows better than to tamper with what nature has declared a high-quality food.
09:31The absence of weirdness in words only scientists can pronounce is all part of
09:36the deal — and what a delicious deal it is. Nuts of all sorts are part of a high-quality diet,
09:42thanks to the high fiber and protein count, accentuated by a splash of beneficial fats.
09:48Simply Nature raw cashews, walnuts, and macadamia nuts is Aldi's rustic mix of
09:53shelled favorites that come with a high-quality pedigree, ready to tear into and enjoy.
09:58Do you want high-quality ingredients in your Aldi foods? With an ingredients list rattling
10:02off a mix of cashews, walnuts, and macadamia nuts, just like the name on the package announces,
10:07you have just about the highest-quality food you could hope for. And these crunchy nuggets
10:12are uncooked, which anyone who adheres to a raw food diet will be over the moon to discover.
10:17In an industry that makes tricky moves to get customers attached to their products,
10:21it's refreshing to find a packaged food that offers exactly what it says on the label — nothing
10:26more and nothing less. Plant-eaters in search of high-quality burger alternatives will be
10:32elated to have Earth-Grown Black Bean Chipotle Burger as an option. Stocked in Aldi's freezer
10:37section, you'll find this enticing burger made from brown rice, black beans, soy protein,
10:42and wheat gluten. A team of power players in the plant-based protein world, for vegetarians
10:47and vegans who have a hard time swallowing the strange blends that bend over backward
10:52to emulate beef and chicken, a dependable patty that doesn't play games is a real winner.
10:57To flavor the quartet of nutritious-based ingredients, these burgers toss in green
11:05chilies, green and red peppers, corn, onion, garlic, and tamari, an umami drizzle similar
11:12to soy sauce. Some of these items are in dried form, something to be aware of if your version
11:17of high-quality includes only fresh vegetables and spices. But a profile like this is a savory
11:23find for seekers of heat-and-serve staples made of actual food. The label does make mention of
11:28natural flavor near the end of the list, which may give cautious consumers pause. With all the
11:34other prime elements in the formula, and with it likely being a modest inclusion given its
11:39placement in the lineup, we're willing to let it slide.