By Dean L. Jones, CPM

Fried dough is ever so popular at this time a year for those who visit county fairs and the like.  Fried dough comes named in a large variety of ways such as fried bread, elephant ears, doughboys, scones, frying saucers, beaver’s tail, and buñuelos.  This foodstuff is virtually identical to each other, and somewhat recognizably different from other fried dough commonly devoured as doughnuts, beignets, and fritters.

Speaking of elephant ears, which are made as fried flattened dough, butter, sugar, cinnamon, reflects on something I just read that the great Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin said.  It was part of story where the Queen was in a New York Johnny Rockets chain restaurant (Lewiston near Buffalo) when the server told her that she could not eat her takeout order inside the restaurant.  The Queen complained to management and described the worker’s behavior towards her as “very rude, unprofessional and nasty.”  Consequently, management said the server was wrong and she had not violated any of the restaurant’s take out policy.

Undoubtedly everyone knows that Ms. Franklin struggles with her weight, though, she has lost 85 lbs. since 2008, but still is highly vulnerable to slipping off the whole foods diet wagon.  She stated on the television show The View, “I feel wonderful, I’ve got more energy, I’ve changed my diet, going to Whole Foods now, getting the best stuff … Dropped the chitlins, dropped the ham hocks, getting some — I won’t say better food, I’ll say other food.”

This sounds good, but according to the Associated Press, the Queen of Soul said she’s looking forward to tracking down one of the powdered sugar-covered confections when she performs at the Ohio State Fair on Thursday, July 31, 2014.  Additionally, the Queen of Soul is quoted as saying “I love the state fair, and I love the elephant ears.”  For the record, one elephant ear is over 500 calories and full of sodium and processed sugar.

Health may be inconsequential when you are around 22 years of age, when the body has superb resilience, but not so much at 72 years of age.  While everyone should live their own way, alternatively, being addicted to processed foodstuff is something that no one deserves being controlled by.  Fried foodstuff is comparable to what tobacco companies produced heavily over the last century, putting their cigarette brands out there as something that was so irresistible that everyone should smoke in order to feel fresh clean pleasure.

There are all sorts of reasons to justify eating anything, but sometimes we should proceed with caution on the type of foodstuff we place into our body.  Fried bread and the like are the triple threat against healthy eating, where too much fat, sugar, and salt will eventually get us placed on the injured list, if we do not stay SugarAlert!

www.SugarAlert.com
Dean Jones, Ethics Advocate, Southland Partnership Corporation (a public benefit organization), contributes his view on health attributes derived from processed foodstuff items.