Rice cakes are a snack well known for years. They can be found in any supermarket in countless versions (classic, chocolate, even ham). They are advertised as healthy food to snack between meals or for meals such as lunch or snack, but they are not healthy or balanced. The well-known nutritionist Pablo Ojeda, collaborator of the program Las Mornings Kiss on Kiss FM, has warned about them: “Not bad, they are very bad”.
The expert has rated this product as “the most expensive air on the market” and has explained that its nutritional contribution is completely zero. You must also take into account the calories it contains. In this sense, Ojeda explained, we should not look at the quantity, but rather at the type and how they behave. In the case of rice pancakes, they produce a feeling of satiety very quickly, but hunger returns in the same way, he said. “They inflate your stomach.” In the end you end up eating more than if you had chosen an option with an adequate supply of nutrients.
This product also contains “a mind-blowing amount of salt”, the nutritionist has declared. For its preparation, it is used monosodium glutamate or sodium, which is used in many cases to enhance the flavor. The umami taste that many ultra-processed foods have, including these pancakes, comes from this component.
[La advertencia del nutricionista Pablo Ojeda sobre el pollo del ‘súper’ en España]
The Sevillian nutritionist has placed special emphasis on the need for consumers check the labeling carefully of the food they purchase. However, that warning does not stop at rice cakes alone. Ojeda has given the example of some instant soups and creams that practically do not contain the main element indicated on the packaging. “It puts cream of mushroom soup and it only has 0.4%.”
Other foods unmasked
The Sevillian expert has used the section he has on the Kiss FM morning show to deny the concept of other foods as healthy. He has been blunt about the health risk posed by energy drinks: “What they have the least is energy”. Each can of this soft drink contains the equivalent of seven packets of sugar and is the same as drinking four and a half cups of coffee.
Other foods unmasked by Ojeda are very popular in children’s breakfasts: children’s cereals and soluble cocoa. In the first case, he has warned about its high sugar content (55%): “It is not very advisable.” Cocoa powder has an even higher amount. It represents more than two thirds of its composition, specifically 73%. “More than seeming good, I think they have been given publicity that is not”has ruled on the image of these products.
