Our Golden Standards – Real Food is Good Food!
These standards have been the cornerstone of our business since 1981. We are committed to maintaining these stringent ingredient standards through critical review of all the products that hit our shelves. For us, it’s natural. It’s what we’ve been doing for over 30 years.
Free of High Fructose Corn Syrup
We do not consider high fructose corn syrup to be a natural substance. It is a highly processed sweetener created by converting corn starch into glucose and fructose. And, genetically modified corn may be used as the source of the corn starch. We choose to not carry products with this controversial sweetener.
Free of Artificial Flavors & Coloring
You’ll only find food with absolutely no artificial flavoring or coloring. If we can’t provide you with the real thing, we know that you won’t want a harmful artificial substitute.
Free from Harmful Chemicals & Preservatives
Chemicals may preserve food that would otherwise spoil, but they also deplete the essential nutritional benefits inherent in certain foods. Not to mention, these chemicals may be carcinogenic! There are a couple of solutions here: either shop for fresh food every day, or purchase foods that are preserved naturally! And we’ll make it easy for you, we don’t carry any food preserved with harmful chemicals. It’s a natural choice.
Cruelty Free Cosmetics
The products we carry are never tested on animals and always cruelty-free. These high standards apply to all health and beauty care products in our stores. We believe that what you put in your body is just as what you put on your body—and cruelty-free products are generally healthier overall. When you opt for products not tested on animals, you’re also ditching bad chemicals like parabens, sulfates, and synthetic dyes. These cleaner cosmetics are better for your skin, which means there is less of a chance for breakouts, allergies, and inflammation.
Free of Saccharin & Aspartame
The development of artificial sweeteners provided the sweetness needed as a sugar substitute, with a fraction of the calories. But these same artificial sweeteners may also explain otherwise unexplainable headaches, depression, dizziness, and vision changes. The call for processed low-calorie products has increased the demand for artificial sweeteners. Aspartame has been linked to neurological disorders and saccharine has been said to be carcinogenic, but some manufacturers continue to use them. We won’t carry products with saccharin or aspartame—we’re too busy cheering on monk fruit, stevia, and other responsible sweeteners.
Hormone/Routine Antibiotic-Free Meat
Our cows are raised with no growth hormones and no indiscriminate antibiotic use. Our chickens receive no routine antibiotics. Drugs aren’t supposed to be involved in the development of animals, but in many cases they are. Why? Because some farmers have found that antibiotics cause water retention, raising the weight of the animal and cutting 15% off of their growing time. Antibiotics also weaken the animals’ natural ability to fight off antibiotic-resistant bacteria like salmonella. Eating naturally raised meat means avoiding hormones and antibiotics passed on from the animals into your body.
Free of Partially Hydrogenated Oils
Simply put, partially hydrogenated oils are bad for your heart health because they contain trans fat, created during the process of adding hydrogen to vegetable oil. Trans fat raises LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and lowers HDL (good) cholesterol levels, increases triglycerides, and may increase inflammation.
Free of Bleached or Bromated Flour
Flour producers often use chemicals as a shortcut to speed up the process of whitening the flour, which will happen naturally over a month or two of aging due to oxidation. They also add potassium bromate—a known carcinogen that has been banned in other countries—to help “improve” the flour by strengthening the dough. At Mustard Seed Market, we only carry naturally aged white flour that has not been bromated. The aged flour provides for a naturally stronger and more elastic dough.
Free from Irradiation
A door opens and food enters. The door closes behind it. A shutter opens and the food is exposed to a radioactive dose from nuclear waste. The door opens and the food leaves. Now it is ready for you to eat! This is a description of food processing called irradiation. Designed to extend the shelf-life of food, and approved by our government, irradiation was originally was used on wheat, but is now used on herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables, beef, and pork. Irradiation may preserve food, but it also depletes vital vitamins and enzymes. We have never carried irradiated foods.