Mustard & Mayo- Aren’t They Paleo?

What’s the problem with using mustard and mayo from the grocery store?  Aren’t they gluten-free and not loaded with chemicals, like many other condiments might be?

While they’re may be less offensive than a loaf of bread with margarine, these two seemingly benign packaged products are actually not typically Paleo.

Following are ingredient panels form two generic variations of each:

Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise: SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, WHOLE EGGS AND EGG YOLKS, VINEGAR, SALT, SUGAR, LEMON JUICE, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (USED TO PROTECT QUALITY), NATURAL FLAVORS. GLUTEN-FREE.

Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard: Water, Vinegar, Mustard Seed, Salt, Wine White, Fruit Pectin, Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid, Sugar, Spice(s)

Yes, there are other brands that are more natural that don’t contain calcium disodium edta as a preservative or sugar, or soybean oil but there are still a few non-Paleo little culprits there.

Neither vinegar nor salt are part of The Paleo Diet, nor is fruit pectin or tartaric acid.

Think I’m being nit picky?

Maybe so, but here is my line of thinking:  Things are either Paleo or not.  Once we start blurring the line, even a little, and include grey-area foods as a regular part of our regime, it becomes much easier to allow other, more toxic foods, in larger quantities, to sneak in.

Is it a crime to drizzle a little balsamic on your salad now and then, or top off a grass fed bunless burger with a homemade mayo?  Of course not, but still, that doesn’t make these foods Paleo, any more than the rationale I hear from people time and time again that ‘if grass fed dairy doesn’t make you feel ill, then it’s Paleo’ (huh?  Completely inaccurate…)

So, no, these two condiments are not Paleo.

What to use in their proxy?

I’m a fan of just tasting food as it is.  Putting some kind of sauce on top of a piece of raw wild salmon or a dressing on a salad of arugula with rare, grass fed bison just seems like it would ruin it.

Get to know the true flavors of your True Paleo foods and before long you won’t be missing these ‘toppings’ that are all too common in the Standard American Diet and completely unnecessary on Paleo!