Ingredient(s) vs. Ingredients

Do you know the difference between ingredient(s) and ingredients?

This past holiday season I saw a TV commercial where a “sugar cookie” company was claiming you could make these beautiful Christmas Cookies with only 3 ingredients, of course the sugar-cookie dough being one of those ingredients.

That beautiful, little sugar cookie they made had 3 ingredients, but NOT 3 ingredient(s).

Picture provided by Melissa Wiese

Let’s take a look at this analogy using “adjectives” and “nouns.”

To me, ingredients are “adjectives” to the “noun,” if you will. They describe the various components that make up a single food item.

Ex. Ingredients = (___) + (___) + (___) = Food Item

Ingredient(s), though, are just simple “nouns” in this analogy. Each food item is a noun and since nouns don’t describe other nouns, these items are in and of themselves. They are the pure, untouched foods.

Ex. Ingredient(s) = (Romaine Lettuce) + (Baby Cherry Tomatoes) + (Olive Oil) + (Raw Almonds) + (Broccoli) + (Cauliflower) = Salad (Food Item)

Now, I’m not saying that ingredient(s) are better than ingredients by any means. What I am saying is that we need to understand that when a company touts “only 1, 2 or 3 ingredients,” that may not mean what you think it does. I believe that the food industry needs to be regulated on this more because if a label has – GASP – 20, 30 or 40 ingredients, the average consumer doesn’t have the time, energy or “care” to think of these analogies. Just make note:

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