5 Reasons To Avoid Eating Maraschino Cherries
Created using a combination of bleaching brine, red food dye and additional preservatives,
maraschino cherries are distinct for their bright red colour as well as their incredibly
sweet taste.
It may interest you to know that maraschino cherries were actually created as an imitation
of another type of cherry-based delicacy known as Marasca cherries due to the latter not
being widely available in some parts of the world.
Since maraschino cherries are made with ordinary cherries as a primary ingredient, that means
that as far as desserts go this should be a fairly healthy option, right?
Unfortunately, while they are technically made from a fruit, the process in which maraschino
cherries are prepared strips them of much of their nutritional value and in fact, makes
them rather unhealthy as a result.
Let’s break down some of the reasons why.
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Empty Calories As a direct result of the bleaching and brining
process that gives them their distinctive red colour and sweet taste, maraschino cherries
end up being stripped of many of the more beneficial and healthy vitamins and minerals
that we usually associate with cherries, which leads to a significant decrease in overall
nutritional value.
Compared to ordinary cherries, maraschino cherries also contain nearly three times as
many calories per serving, and the sugary solution used to create the cherries means
that they also contain significantly more sugar as well.
The process of turning regular cherries into maraschino cherries also causes many of the
cherry’s micronutrients to be either greatly reduced or completely removed altogether:
some of the nutrients that are watered down or lost in this process include protein, vitamin
C, vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.
As a result, maraschino cherries, for the most part, can be seen as simply small bundles
of empty calories, dense with sugar and lacking many of the important nutrients that make
ordinary cherries a healthy food in the first place.
In fact, the only advantage maraschino cherries can claim over their non-maraschino cousins
is their calcium content; maraschino cherries contain 6 percent more calcium when compared
to regular cherries due to the fact that the brining solution used to make them contains
calcium chloride.
However, looking at the other nutrients that are diminished or lost in the brining process,
it seems safe to say that nutritionally speaking, maraschino cherries are a net loss.
2.
Lots of Added Sugar If you’ve been following our channel for
a while, you probably know that here at Bestie, nothing grinds our gears quite like foods
that are bogged down with added sugar as part of the manufacturing process.
And boy howdy, maraschino cherries have extra sugar in spades.
As a reference: your regular, garden variety cherry contains about 1 gram of natural sugar.
By contrast, a single maraschino cherry contains literally twice that amount of sugar.
This is due to the fact that these cherries are soaked in a high-sugar solution as part
of the preparation process.
This is further compounded by the fact that maraschino cherries are traditionally used
as a garnish to place on top of fancy desserts and sugary drinks, such as cocktails, milkshakes,
black forest cake and ice cream sundaes, meaning that they only serve to make sugary foods
even more full of added sugar.
To make matters worse, maraschino cherries are usually stored in a solution made from
high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener made from fructose and glucose that has been linked
to a variety of health complications such as obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Because high fructose corn syrup is typically the first ingredient listed on the packaging
for maraschino cherries, that also tells us that they contain more of this sweetener than
any other ingredient, seeing as food ingredients are listed in descending order by weight.
If your recipe for maraschino cherries contains more sugar than it does, well, cherries, then
chances are they’re not going to be all that good for you.
3.
Loss of Antioxidants In addition to having a large amount of their
vitamins and minerals removed as part of the bleaching and brining process, maraschino
cherries also lose out on antioxidants as well.
In particular, ordinary cherries contain anthocyanins, which are beneficial due to their ability
to help protect your body against illnesses such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and
certain types of cancers.
Like other types of antioxidants, these anthocyanins are also helpful due to their ability to reduce
inflammation and prevent oxidative damage to your cells as a result of free radicals.
Maraschino cherries, on the other hand, do not contain these helpful antioxidants; the
process through which regular cherries are turned into maraschino cherries deprives them
of these healthy anthocyanins, and in the process removes much of the original cherry’s
nutritional value.
As another side effect, the removal of anthocyanins causes the colour of the cherries to change
from red to yellow.
That is, before they’re dyed red again, of course.
Speaking of colours...
4.
Allergic Reactions In addition to everything we’ve already
mentioned, the additives that go into maraschino cherries can also potentially trigger allergic
reactions or behavioural changes in certain individuals.
One potential trigger for allergic reactions is Red 40, also known as Allura Red.
This is the type of food dye most commonly used to give maraschino cherries their iconic
red colour.
For people with sensitivities to food dye, Red 40 has been shown to cause allergic reactions
as well as cases of hyperactivity.
However, most cases of Red 40 sensitivity tend to be based on anecdotal evidence, though
some studies have indicated that removing artificial colours from foods may help to
prevent hyperactive symptoms in children.
It’s for this reason that the Red 40 food dye is actually banned in many countries,
though it still remains legal in the United States.
5.
Bladder Cancer In addition to the risk of allergic reactions
and unwanted hyperactive behaviour, the Red 40 food dye has a darker secret; it may also
be a potential carcinogen.
This is because the Red 40 dye contains trace amounts of what’s known as benzidine, which
has been linked in observational studies to an increased risk of bladder cancer.
However, many of these observational studies come from subjects who have been exposed to
benzidine as an occupational hazard, as the carcinogen is also found in materials and
products such as paint, hair dye, plastics, car exhaust and certain types of metal.
You know, in addition to being an ingredient used in the food that we eat.
Yikes.
No wonder that food dye is banned in so many countries…
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the carcinogen benzidine is technically
no longer produced within the United States.
However, that hasn’t stopped it from finding its way into a variety of different foods
sold on US store shelves, such as jams, cereals, candies, yogurt, and several types of beverages.
Fortunately, some varieties of maraschino cherries do away with the Red 40 dye and derive
their vibrant red colour from beet juice instead.
While technically free of carcinogens, this “natural” alternative is still high in
sugar, so buyer beware and all that.
While the fact that they’re made from a fruit may lead you to believe they’re healthy,
the process in which maraschino cherries are created means that they bring much less to
the table in terms of their nutritional value when compared to their regular cherry counterparts.
In addition to a diminished amount of nutrients, some of the ingredients used in the creation
of maraschino cherries, such as high fructose corn syrup, Red 40 food dye, and a heaping
helping of added sugar, only serve to make the nutritional value of these cherries plummet
even further, especially when you consider the fact that they’re typically paired with
other unhealthy and sugary foods to begin with.
So what’s our verdict?
Well, given the body of evidence, you might want to start topping your sundaes with regular
cherries instead.
Sure, you’ll have to be careful not to crack your teeth on the pit, but on the plus side
you’ll also be doing yourself a favour by reaping the benefits that regular old cherries
have to offer in the form of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and more.
You know what?
While we’re at it, go ahead and add a banana to that sundae, too.
Banana splits are still a thing, right?
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