Marketing genius or smoke and mirrors? Triscuits, those slightly salty wheat thins,  are being sold with a small surprise inside. No, not a toy from China, rather a small bag filled with … seeds!

Kraft is encouraging its customers to connect with real, natural, local food by no less than growing it at home or at a community garden. Their  “Home Farming” website invites people to join the movement and plant herbs and veggies.

While cynical observers may play this down as a marketing trick by a company famous for processed foods (cheese “products“, anyone?), we think this is a great idea. Getting people to connect to the soil and appreciate the hard work it takes to bring forth food from the land is a wonderful idea, even if the instigator has additional motives.

As for Triscuits themselves, they’re for the most part a better than average snack option in the savory category. Take for example the BAKED WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT ORIGINAL, which has only 3 ingredients – whole wheat flour, vegetable oil, and salt. A serving is only 120 calories, with 1 gram of saturated fat (relatively low) , 3 grams of fiber (very good), and 180mg of sodium (8% of the daily max).

The problem is that a serving size is defined as 28g (one ounce), but people don’t know how many Triscuits that works out to. So how will they know when to stop?

The number, after counting, is 7 Triscuits per serving. SEVEN. That’s a mighty tiny serving, don’t you think?

This before we dress up the Triscuit, for example with some cheese (more saturated fat and calories), as shown in the product package.

What to do at the supermarket:

When looking for savory snacks, check the side panel for important information:

1. How big or tiny is the serving size? Does it represent what you’d normally consume in an “eating event”.
2. Look at the ingredient list to see that it does not contain any surprises such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (trans fat) or “flavorings”.
3. Read the nutrition facts panel to understand how many calories you’re getting and their breakdown protein/fat/carbs.

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate

New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

1. Potato Chips date back to 1853. An unhappy customer at a restaurant in Saratoga Springs, NY kept returning his fried potatoes to the chef, requesting they be prepared much thinner. The chef sliced them so thin that they could not be eaten with a fork, and thus was born the potato chip.

2. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that potato chips expanded from restaurant food and started selling in bags.

3. Flavored chips were born in the 1950’s by a small independent manufacturer who then sold the concept to the larger corporations.

4. As junk food goes, potato chips contain only 3 ingredients (potatoes, oil, salt) and are considered by some nutritionists the lesser of savory evils.

5. Potato chips were sold for over $15B (!!!) last year worldwide. They tally up about one third of all savory snacks.

6. While we call them potato chips, our overseas friends use the word crisps.

7. A single serving of potato chips, 1 ounce, contains only 150 calories, 10 grams of fat and 180mg of salt. That’s less than 10% of the daily calories of most people, about 15% of the fat, and 8% of the maximum sodium intake.

8. Problem is that most people don’t stop at one serving. Honestly, are 11 chips enough for you? People can wolf down 5 times that amount in sitting, dip not included…

9. One of the most popular flavored potato chip varieties is Sour Cream and Onion. Compared to just 3 ingredients in the original version, this one has 20 ingredients including MSG, Palm oil, and artificial colorings.

10. Just in case you were wondering, this national holiday does not appear in congressional records. It’s just another made up holiday by snack food industry marketing geniuses.

What to do at the supermarket:

Potato chips don’t have to be a daily ritual with your lunch sandwich. However, if you do buy them, choose potato chips that have been minimally processed -  Stay with the plain, unflavored chips as they have no additives and colorings. Buy single serve 1 oz. bags of chips so that you won’t be tempted to eat more than one serving at a time.

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate

New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

In a blow to consumer in the UK, and possibly in the US, The Food Standards Agency (same as our FDA) has decided to back off their proposed traffic light nutrition labeling on the front of food packages. According to the Daily Mail:

The FSA board yesterday supported a plan that will allow food companies to decide for themselves whether they want to use the colour-based system or a number of alternatives.

The net effect is that families will continue to be confronted by a range of confusing nutrition labelling schemes that are difficult to decipher.

Tesco and other leading industry figures have spent millions of pounds trying to kill off traffic light labelling.They have developed alternative schemes which critics insist only serve to confuse customers.

The decision by the FSA is a major climb down by the Government watchdog. Its support for traffic light labels was central to a wider policy to tackle the problem of rising obesity and ill-health. Read more…

What you need to know:

This is an unfortunate happening that is bound to have a ripple effect on our labeling regulations as well. The FDA is getting more aggressive with the food industry’s misleading health claims. The next step would be to create a standard front of pack labeling system that would serve consumers by not only embellishing positive traits of a product, but also warn about high levels of negative nutrients such as sodium, sugar, and saturated fat.

The “problem” with the traffic lights is that they were scaring off customers. People would see one or two reds and decide not to buy a product. That’s why the industry came up with various multicolor solutions where the color itself is meaningless, for example GDA (guideline daily amount).

What to do at the supermarket:

Until the government regulatory bodies figure out how to save us, let’s help ourselves by learning to read nutrition labels and ingredient lists.

(Thanks Greg Miller for the hat tip)

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate

New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

A recent survey by Foodminds, a PR firm working with food companies, provides some interesting  stats on the triangular relationship consumer-brand-regulator. Americans clearly welcome increased government involvement in food and nutrition issues, particularly when it comes to labeling. Among the interesting findings:

93% of shoppers ranked the Nutrition Facts panel as a very or somewhat useful tool, followed by front-of-pack information (low fat, high in fiber, etc.) at 88%.

86% of consumers are interested in the government implementing objective  front-of-pack labeling. This includes information about calories and beneficial nutrients.

58% support  government bans of junk food advertising to kids.65% of shoppers reject proposed taxes on junk food and beverages.

64% said if their favorite food had a warning label on it, they would either eat less or stop buying the product entirely.

Wow. That last stat is amazing – almost two thirds of Americans would cut down on their FAVORITE food? And all it needs is a warning label? Seems like wishful thinking, although some will say that severe warnings on Cigarette packs have reduced smoking.

What to do at the supermarket:

You don’t nee warnings on products to know what to stay away from. A quick glance at the ingredient list can tell a lot – the longer it is, the more processed the product and the less nutritiously worthwhile it is. A look at the nutrition facts panel gives you the whole picture. A product may be low-fat but very high in sugar. Now that won’t help you very much will it?

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate

New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

Yoplait has a new Greek style yogurt out. There’s a massive marketing campaign tie in to the new Clash of the Titans movie and Athena portraying actress Izabella Miko. Strong woman eats good yogurt. Greek gods, Greek Yogurt, Yadda yadda…

The yogurt pack prominently displays “2X Protein..of the leading yogurt”. Wonder what that means. We decided to take a look inside the nutrition label and ingredient list to see if this yogurt is really healthy or just some more mythology…

What you need to know:

A serving is 6 ounces (170 grams) and will set you back 130 calories, none from fat. The sugar count is 18 grams, much lower than a standard Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt (27 grams). Of the 18 grams, 9 are naturally present in yogurt in the form of lactose. So the added sugar count is 9 grams or just over 2 teaspoons.

There’s no fiber, though you’d expect some from the fruit. There’s 12 grams of protein here, much more than in the standard Yoplait (5 grams). But protein is not an ingredient most people lack in the US. We get plenty of protein from other sources during the day. And the claim that it’s twice the protein as other leading brands is misleading, because Chobani Greek yogurt has 14g.

Here’s the ingredient list:

CULTURED PASTEURIZED GRADE A NONFAT MILK, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SUGAR, STRAWBERRY PUREE, KOSHER GELATIN, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, COLORED WITH BEET JUICE CONCENTRATE, CALCIUM CHLORIDE, , VITAMIN A ACETATE, VITAMIN D₃.

The first and obvious ingredient is milk. Non-fat milk in this case. The second is an ingredient called milk protein concentrate, made by ultra filtering milk to take out the lactose and then dry it up into a powder. There’s a lot of controversy around this ingredient as it is mostly imported from countries with dubious food safety records, and may not even be from cows (think yak and water buffalo). So why add protein in this manner to the yogurt, when in any case it’s not something consumers really need?

Ingredient number 3 and 4 are sugar. Well actually number 4 is strawberry puree, but it’s lost all its fiber and vitamin C, so all you’re getting is a bit of strawberry flavor and a lot of sugar. By the way, the strawberry puree is not red enough, so there is added coloring from the beet juice concentrate. That’s fine, at least it is a natural colorant, and not some artificial dye or bug juice.

The gelatin adds a thickness or consistency that would not have been required from a full fat yogurt. It’s kosher, which means it was not derived from animal sources.[UPDATE: see comment below]

The last three ingredients are fortifications of calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin D. Always better to get them directly from food in which they are naturally present, not from add-on.

Summary: This yogurt is a better choice than the standard Yoplait option.

What to do at the supermarket:

As far as yogurts go, choose plain. It has less ingredients and less sugar. It lets you add fresh nutrient rich fruit of your choice giving you the added benefit of fiber and vitamins directly from the source, no fortifications.

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate

New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

Last year it was peanut butter. Before that – tomatoes. It seems like every year there’s one major food recall that really shakes the system. Last week the FDA notified the public about another recall hurricane, this time for various products containing Hydrolized Vegetable Protein, an ingredient used in many processed foods:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to protect the public following the early identification of Salmonella Tennessee in one company’s supply of hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP). This is a common ingredient used most frequently as a flavor enhancer in many processed foods, including soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips and dressings.

The manufacturer of the affected product is Basic Food Flavors Inc in Las Vegas, Nevada. Only HVP manufactured by Basic Food Flavors is involved in this recall. read more…

What you need to know:

HVP is a flavor enhancer used in a wide variety of processed food products, such as soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips, and dressings. It is often blended with other spices to make seasonings that are used in or on foods.

As of late Saturday night, 92 products are on the recall list, including bouillon, dips, dip mixes, dressings, and snacks. Unfortunately the list will keep growing.

Fortunately, most of the products that use the tainted HVP have a “kill step” which requires heating them up, thus killing off the salmonella. So far, nobody has reported any illness as a result of the contamination.

Theoretically the shelves should be free of recalled products, but as each day passes new products are added to the list. Since many of them are non-perishable, there is a good chance you may already have them stocked in your pantry. To be on the safe side, check the ingredient list for Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein and then consult with the FDA website to see if the product is on the recall list.

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate

New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

Big news in nutrition labeling!

The FDA has sent  a WARNING LETTER to 17 food manufacturers notifying them that 22 of their food products violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. From yesterday’s FDA press release:

The violations cited in the warning letters include unauthorized health claims, unauthorized nutrient content claims, and the unauthorized use of terms such as “healthy,” and others that have strict, regulatory definitions.

Some prominent examples (see all here):

POM Wonderful – The product makes claims that it will treat, prevent, or cure diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. These types of claims are not allowed on food products.

Juicy Juice All-Natural 100% Juice Orange Tangerine and Juicy Juice All-Natural 100% Juice Grape – The product labels imply that the products are 100% juice when they are actuallyjuice blends with added flavors.

Nature’s Path Organic Flax Plus Multibran Cereal – The product label includes the nutrient claim, “excellent source of Omega-3+,” which has not been approved for use on food products.

The warning letters follow an October 2009 statement by Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret Hamburg, M.D., encouraging companies to review their labeling to ensure that they were in compliance with FDA regulations, and were truthful and not misleading. Kudos to Dr. Hamburg, who, unlike her predecessors, is unafraid to take on the food industry, just as a strong regulatory body should.

Here’s why these letters are a monumental turning point:

1. They indicate that food labeling truly is a high priority for the FDA
2. They show, by example, that there is no wiggle room for creative health claims (ie – health claims are not supposed to be marketing claims)
3. They warn the entire industry that companies not in compliance need to shape up or else…
4. Going forward, the FDA will be much more proactive in determining the best way to provide front-of-pack nutrition information to consumers.

While some detractors may pull out their “nanny-state” claims, it is our position that the free markets have failed the US consumer, who is today fatter and sicker as a result of too much bad food peddled by manufacturers. A strong regulatory body stands not to interfere with competition, but to make sure the rules of the game are being observed and that profits are not at the expense of public health.

What to do at the supermarket:

While all this is great news, your local supermarket is still choc full of misleading products and health claims. Our suggestion is to invest the time in reading the nutrition fact labels and ingredient lists, skipping the front of pack claims altogether.

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate

New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

Here’s an interesting piece from Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert:

Adolescents and young adults are not consuming enough whole grains, say researchers at the University of Minnesota. Their study, which looked at survey data from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), found that daily intake of whole grains fell below the recommended levels to prevent chronic diseases and maintain a healthy weight.

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that at least half of grain servings should come from whole grains, but national survey data say that young people are only consuming 10% of total grains as whole grains.

“This study and others suggest common barriers to whole grain consumption include difficulty with identifying these foods, dislike for their taste, texture, or appearance, a limited availability of whole-grain products in restaurants and at school, and the higher cost for some products compared to refined grains.”

read more…

Why isn’t this surprising?

Young people tend not to think about nutrition as much as adults do. Generally speaking, they care more about good taste and ease of eating. It’s much easier to enjoy sandwich on refined wheat bread than it is on a whole wheat option. In many cases, it’s cheaper too. The texture is softer and we need to chew less, meaning it’s easier to eat more.

This is unfortunate because the earlier in life good habits are formed, the easier it is to live by them as an adult.

According to the study,

Eating breakfast and helping with food shopping and meal preparation increased whole grain consumption in both males and females.

What to do at the supermarket:

If the study’s findings are correct, having your kids come along with you to the supermarket may be a solution. So challenge junior to help you buy healthier foods prepared with whole grains.

In some aisles, it’s not so easy. Some manufacturers call their breads “multi-grain” or state that “made with whole grains”. While this sounds healthy, the breads may in fact contain only a small percentage of whole grain content. Best to find products that are labeled “100% whole wheat”.

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate

New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

Dannon, the yogurt maker, has reached a settlement in a class action suit brought against it for falsely representing the health benefits of its products. The company will pay up to $100 to individual consumers who have been misled by its “health claims”. Check if you are eligible here.

According to a report on ABC news:

Dannon must remove the words “clinically” and “scientifically proven” from product labels and advertisements of Activia yogurt in reference to claims the product helps to regulate the digestive system.

Dannon also must note that Activia and DanActive yogurts are food, not treatments or cures for any medical disorder or disease.

Also, Dannon must remove the word “immunity” from DanActive labels and ads, as well as include a qualifier to the claim the yogurt “helps strengthen your body’s defenses” or “helps support the immune system.” read more…

This is a perfect example why NOT to trust what you read on front of package labels.

What you need to know:

Yogurt is very healthy, and was even selected as food of the decade last month. All yogurts have healthy probiotics, it’s just that some get better marketed than others. Since scientists have yet to show how one strain is significantly healthier than another, there is strong reason to believe Dannon was misleading consumers into paying 30% more for its products.

According to the terms of the settlement, Dannon does not have to admit to any wrongdoing. In fact, the company

stands by its advertising and denies it did anything wrong. However, Dannon has settled to avoid the cost and distraction of litigation.

Hmmm, if Dannon truly stood behind its product, it would not have opted to pay $45,000,000 in settlement. It would have gone to court to clear its name. But the company did not want to get distracted….or get too much bad press over the lengthy duration of the trial. Faster to pay up and move on. Especially if you know there are slim chances you’ll win.

Too bad, now we won’t have the opportunity to dig down deep into the science and know once and for all what led the company to behave the way that it did.

Wait. Maybe we do know – more money.

Incidentally, the main issue with most yogurts today is not their bacteria type, but rather their high sugar count and additives that make them more appealing to sweet craving taste buds. Plain yogurt naturally contains 12 grams of sugar in the form of lactose. But on top of that you’ll find 1-4 added teaspoons of sugar depending on the brand and specific flavor. See here and here for an ingredient analysis of popular products.

What to do at the supermarket:

You can do better than buying expensive sugar filled yogurt. Buy plain yogurt, and if you can, choose a large bulk container which is much cheaper. Hardcore yogurt lovers prepare their own at home.

With minimal effort you can upgrade the plain  yogurt into a a truly healthy breakfast or snack. Choose either one or all of the ideas below:

1. toss in diced bananas, strawberries, raisins, nuts, or whatever.

2. stir in a teaspoon of honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup.

3. sprinkle flax seeds into the mix.

Enjoy!

Get Fooducated: RSS Subscription or Email Subscription

Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/fooducate

New! Choose a better breakfast with CerealScan™ by Fooducate

image from the Gothamist

It’s Saturday morning, you’re locked in after a blizzard dumped 16 inches of snow at your doorsteps. Your three little ones are demanding their morning cup of hot milk / cocoa. Groggy eyed and still half asleep, you open the fridge and pull out the last carton of milk. As you’re about to open it, you discover that its “use by” date expired 2 days ago.

What do you do?

A. Take a sniff of the milk, if it smells OK, no problem.

B. The kids will drink tea this morning.

C. Get the snow shovel and ice scraper and drive to the nearest convenience store.

D. Go back to bed and let your spouse deal with the situation.

Here’s some good news. Read more…