I’ve written before about deceptive food marketing buzzwords such as “lite” and “sugar-free” that should strike fear into the heart of any healthy eater, but outright lies on the labels of products really grate on me as well. This time my beef is with Lea & Perrins “The Original Worcestershire Sauce.”
In my youthful memories of the 1970s it seemed like Worcestershire sauce was a ubiquitous flavoring for steaks and burgers, and used as an ingredient in various recipes. The label on the bottle reads: Since 1835, Lea & Perrins has been the one truly authentic brand of Worcestershire Sauce. Aged in wooden casks for 18 months, Lea & Perrins uses on the finest ingredients sourced from around the world to produce a flavor unmatched for over 170 years.
After reading that, you’d think it means they’ve been using the same recipe since 1835 to produce this sauce, wouldn’t you? But when I read the ingredients list, it says: vinegar, molasses, high fructose corn syrup…
Now, I know for a fact that high fructose corn syrup has not been in existence since 1835 as it was only developed in a chemist’s laboratory in the 1970s, so is Lea & Perrins lying or just not telling the truth when they talk about their 170 year-old recipe?
If it contains HFCS, we know that Lea & Perrins “Original” Worcestershire Sauce contains GMOs, too. So much for history and tradition when it comes to mass producing food products.
