Five Thanksgiving dinner dangers you can easily avoid

We’re just a week away from that big family gathering around the Thanksgiving feast.

But as you hit the supermarket to gather up all the essentials for this big day, there are some very important things to look out for – especially where your turkey is concerned.

The fact is that there are certain additives and chemicals that you definitely don’t want to include in the festivities, from the side dishes to the main event.

A chemical feast

Whatever shortcuts you take to make Thanksgiving preparations easier, just make sure you choose ones that won’t put your family’s and guests’ health at risk.

Because what’s in the foods you select can ruin the most picture-perfect Normal Rockwell-looking dinner.

So here are some tips on how to avoid the top five Thanksgiving dinner dangers — and to make the very best selections for your Thanksgiving table:

1. Stuffing: Sometimes I think stuffing is more popular than the turkey! Its basics should be pretty simple – bread or cornbread, with fat, herbs and seasonings. Yet the ingredients in most boxed stuffing mixes typically sound like a high school chemistry experiment. They commonly contain such risky additives as MSG, preservatives, trans fats and high fructose corn syrup.
   The Fix: Read the ingredient label, and don’t buy ones with unpronounceable, chemical ingredients or any of the additives listed above. Seasoned and quickie stuffing mixes are loaded with these things, so look for simpler versions and add your own seasonings.

2. Green beans: Even if you don’t make grandma’s green bean casserole, this veggie is a Thanksgiving staple. It turns out, however, that green beans are sprayed with not only more pesticides than other veggies, but the ones used on them are the most toxic. Consumer Reports has put green beans on its “very high risk” category every year since 1992!
   The Fix: There’s only one thing to do where green beans are concerned, and that’s to buy organic — even if you get them frozen.

3. Cranberries: If you check the label on many big-name brands of cranberry sauce, you’ll find they are loaded with HFCS. And that turns this amazingly healthy fruit into one that’s anything but.
   The Fix: There’s actually nothing easier than making your own cranberry sauce, and every bag of fresh berries has a recipe. Or, find a canned or jarred version that uses cane sugar instead of HFCS.

4. Pumpkin pie: It wouldn’t be a proper Thanksgiving without it! But not all pumpkin pies are created equal. If you take the time to read the list of ingredients on most frozen ones, you’ll probably have no idea what many of them are after “pumpkin.” Plus that, you’re likely to also be serving up a good dose of artery-clogging trans fats, which may well have been used in the crust.
   The Fix: If you have a good local bakery that bakes from scratch — with good ingredients, of course — that’s one option. Another is to get an organic ready-made graham-cracker crust (most conventional ones also have trans fats) and a can of organic pumpkin pie mix. With that, some eggs and evaporated milk, you can make a homemade pie in no time at all.

5. Turkey: And last, but not least, the main event. It may look perfect, but what you won’t see are residues of both antibiotics and a dangerous asthma drug many conventional birds are fed to help them get bigger, called ractopamine. And get this, even the FDA doesn’t know how much of this risky med might still be in your turkey when you serve it, because no one tests for it!
   The Fix: I know, organic turkeys cost more, but that’s the only way to be sure your turkey hasn’t been basted with risky chemicals, shot full of antibiotics and force-fed an asthma drug. And having that peace of mind is certainly worth spending a little more for.

“Why you should buy an organic turkey” Consumer Reports, November 13, 2016, yahoo.com