This is why you need to know more about the food you eat

Chef and owner of Lungi's Corner, Lungile Nhlanhla PICTURE: Supplied

Chef and owner of Lungi's Corner, Lungile Nhlanhla PICTURE: Supplied

Published Sep 20, 2017

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There’s something in the air and no, it’s not pollen. It’s people’s renewed love for good food and, most importantly, knowing where it was sourced and what’s in it. With the effect that food can have on our health, we have taken an interest in the sourcing of our food and an increasing number of people do not mind paying top Randela’s to pick what goes into something as ordinary as their granola. 

Chef Lungi Nhlanhla, who runs Lungi’s Corner, a Durban-based food service, and is a MasterChef alumnus, thinks it’s about time we took a greater interest in where making sureour food is from. 

“There has become an awareness around health and wellness and we are increasingly making the connection between our food and our health. It starts with where the food is sourced and how it is grown. It really has a direct effect at the quality of life it adds to the consumer.” 

Nhlanhla, who was in the Top 5 of the first season of M-Net’s MasterChef, has been on our radar because of the designer granola she makes, which has taken the Durban influencer scene by storm. The reason? They are sure that it’s good. “I’ve had an interest in food nutrition for the past year and after lots of research I wanted to start creating health foods and meals. I started with something as simple as a signature granola that has worked for me as I believe you need to be able to enjoy what you produce.” 

HOME-MADE: 
Chef Lungi Nhlanhla’s designer granola is a hit.

Here’s Nhlanhla’s step-by-step guide into making sure your food is as good as it claims to be on the package.

KNOW THE PROCESS

People are becoming more conscious of pesticides, hormones, etc used during farming and preservatives added during sourcing and preparation. 

You need to know what exactly it is you are putting into your body. Ask food providers questions about their processes.

LOOK FOR ALTERNATIVES

Due to the trend of wanting to know what goes into the food and the growing trend of “farm-to-table”, we now want to create and grow our own foods. However, due to the reality of our lifestyles, work and family-time demands, we are starting to source food services whereby we can get already prepared products such as the granola we have at Lungi’s Corner.

SCRUTINISE PACKAGING 

The main thing is to definitely look at the ingredients list and make sure it’s all healthy and that there are none or very few preservatives used.

These are usually chemical compound names or ingredients that either don’t have a name or are letters, numbers or a familiar ingredient followed

by the letter and numbering system. Also be very wary of sugar content. If there’s no nutritional breakdown, look at the order in which the ingredients appear, they will be or at least should be listed in order of most to least usage in the product.

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