(Sign Me Up)

The Ingredients for the food that I chose are as follows:

• All Natural Almondmilk (filtered water, almonds) 
• All Natural Evaporated Cane Juice[healthy alternative to Refined Sugar]
• Calcium Carbonate[Dietary Supplement to increase the amount of Calcium]
• Sea Salt[Taste Amplifier]
• Locust Bean Gum[Sweetener]
• Sunflower Lecithin[Fully Metabolizable Emulsifier(holds ingredients together)]
• Gellan Gum[Emulsifier]
• d-aplha-Tocopherol (natural Vitamin E)[Antioxidant]
• Zinc Gluconate[Dietary Supplement to prevent Zinc Deficiency]
• Vitamin A Palmitate, Riboflavin (B2), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D2.

This Particular Variation of the Food I chose is Free of Dairy, Free of Cholesterol, and Free of Soy, Provides 50% more Calcium and relatively more Vitamin D than regular processed Cow Milk, has no Saturated Fat, and comparatively fewer calories than even 1% Milk, (Sign me up).
http://www.whitewave.com/sites/default/files/article-attachments/pure-almond.pdf

**[What role this Particular Ingredient takes on]**

The Main ingredient is Almonds, which are grown in the United States.


The stubbornly minimized processing begins with Whole Natural Almonds, which are slightly roasted and ground, in effect producing a creamy almond butter. Blended with filtered water; Certain sweeteners such as, naturally Evaporated Cane Juice, Sea Salt, Locust Bean Gum; and Vitamins and Minerals such as Zinc Gluconate. No Genetically Modified Organisms, just the way I like it.
http://www.silkpurealmond.com/why/#ingredients


Most of the Ingredients here are naturally occurring, the Sea Salt was collected from the Sea, the Gellan Gum is naturally fermented by a Microorganism known as Sphingomonas elodea. Also these ingredients are often alternatives to less naturally occurring ingredients of similar features and use, one clear example of this is, is the Sunflower Lecithin which as a non-GMO alternative to the genetically engineered Soy Lecithin.
http://www.austradeinc.com/sunflower-lecithin.html


Inductively, I would conclude that most of the processing is done in California. This is because the Almond producing industry in the United States is focused in California.
http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/nuts/almond_profile.cfm

Much like the rest of our foods (that is, not to reduce liability) that are intended to be Consumer-friendly, the transportation and packaging of Silk Pure Almondmilk, aren't geared to being environmentally friendly. The Packaging is just as horrible as regular carton milk. It was transported using refrigerated trucks, which use refrigerants, of course. Refrigerant emission, is also so much a problem that it is to be regulated by both the Montreal Protocol and the Clean Air Act, in the United States. http://www.articlecity.com/articles/environment_and_going_green/article_474.shtml

This Product is definitely healthy, especially when compared to what society refers to as it's dairy-equivalent, "Cow Milk". Cow Milk being the unhealthy counterpart as noted by the China Study, http://www.thechinastudy.com/la-timesarticle.html

Researching this product has led me to seriously consider producing my own Almond milk; not that there's anything wrong with the already exceptionally healthy WhiteWave (manufacturer) variation of Original Almond Milk; but I thought to myself, "Why not do me one better, and do it myself?"