For over 40 years, Pop-Tarts have been a part of American breakfast tradition. A thin pastry surrounding a sweetened jelly, wrapped in space age foil to preserve freshness. No need to refrigerate. Ready to eat or quickly heated in a toaster. A marvel of food ingenuity.

America has handsomely rewarded Kellogg’s, the manufacturer, for its ingenuity (even though Kellogg’s got the idea from Quaker). By 2006, Kellogg’s was selling over $400 Million worth of Pop-Tart products a year. To this day, Pop-Tarts account for 80% of the “toaster-pastry” segment.

Great, right?

Well, we beg to differ. We believe that Pop-Tarts are an unfortunate tradition that needs to be stopped. Immediately.

Here’s why…

What you need to know:

Let’s begin with the Pop-Tarts packaging. It  is deceiving at best – the image of fresh real blueberries surrounding a pastry rich in blueberry filling does not match the reality of less than 2% blueberry content in the product. And to add to the disgrace there’s a large font “made with real fruit” on the front panel.
A look at the nutrition label does not add joy to our life.
A single pastry is 200 calories, 150 of which are from carbohydrates. The 17 grams of sugar are equivalent to over 4 teaspoons worth. A pop tart is one third sugar by weight. There is less than 1 gram of fiber, and despite the labeling saying Trans Fat are 0, there is a certain amount present due to the use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

A serving size is defined as one pastry, but since they are packed 2 per foil, people can just as easily double the amount of calories.

The ingredient list is as long as the backup on highway 101 on Monday morning:

Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], Folic Acid), Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Soybean And Palm Oil (With Tbhq For Freshness), Sugar, Cracker Meal, Contains Two Percent Or Less Of Wheat Starch, Salt, Dried Blueberries, Dried Grapes, Dried Apples, Cornstarch, Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Corn Cereal, Citric Acid, Gelatin, Modified Wheat Starch, Soy Lecithin, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean And/Or Cottonseed Oil?, Modified Corn Starch, Xanthan Gum, Caramel Color, Red #40, Vitamin A Palmitate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Color Added, Niacinamide, Reduced Iron, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Blue #2, Blue #1, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Thiamin Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Turmeric Color, Folic Acid.

Here’s a brief explanation of what’s inside – (note all the variations of sugar in here)

Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour…) – All flour is enriched in the US, by law. Don’t be fooled by “Wheat Flour” either, as most flour is from Wheat. If the ingredient list does not state “100% whole wheat flour”, you are missing out on the fiber your body needs.
Corn Syrup – a syrup made from cornstarch. Used as a sweetener due to its high glucose content. Prevents crystallization and can help increase shelf life in baked goods.
High Fructose Corn Syrup – corn syrup where some of the glucose has been converted to fructose.
Dextrose – a term for glucose. glucose and fructose together make sucrose, which is commonly known as table sugar.
Soybean And Palm Oil – Canola oil would have been a healthier alternative because of its high unsaturated fat content.
TBHQ (E319) – tert-Butylhydroquinone – a preservative for oils. May be carcinogenic in high doses.
Sugar – well, the product is still not sweet enough is it?
Wheat Starch – A powdery substance obtained from wheat kernels. Used as a thickener for sauces, gravies, and puddings.
Dried Blueberries, Dried Grapes, Dried Apples – there’s less than 2% of each in the product. Yet on the product image you see much much more than 2% blueberry.
Cornstarch – a powdery substance used as a thickener.
Citric Acid – a natural preservative that is used in beverages to add an acidic, sour taste. Although it is naturally found in citrus fruit (oranges, lemons), industry has a found a cheaper way to manufacture it. This is through a fermentation process in which a mold called Aspergillus Niger is used to ferment a carbohydrate such as molasses. sounds grosser than it really is.
Gelatin  (E441) – a translucent, colorless, brittle, nearly tasteless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals’ skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent.
Modified Wheat Starch – same as the wheat starch above but modified not to loose its thickening properties when heated.
Soy Lecithin (E322) – an oily substance derived from soybeans. Used as an emulsifier and to keep the dough from sticking
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean And/Or Cottonseed Oil – this is the source of trans-fat, folks.
Modified Corn Starch – a common additive used as a thickener. Corn starches are modified so they won’t lose their thickening properties when heated.
Xanthan Gum (E415) – a common emulsifier and thickener made from reaction between glucose and Xanthomonas campestris bacteria.
Caramel Color (E150) – a natural food coloring.
Red #40 (Allura Red / E129) – an artificial food coloring that is being phased out in Europe due to concerns about it causing child hyperactivity.
Tricalcium Phosphate (E341) – used as a raising agent.
Color Added – on top of the artificial colors stated by name we get this mystery color.
Niacinamide – This is vitamin B3.
Natural And Artificial Flavors – with all the crap in this product, no wonder it needs to be enhanced by some proprietary and secret formulas.
Blue #2 – artificial color
Blue #1 (Brilliant Blue FCF / E133) – a synthetic dye derived from coal tar! Was previously banned in Europe but now is allowed. May cause hyperactivity in children.
Turmeric Color – a yellow/orange powder from the turmeric spice.

Conclusion: this product should not exist in Obese America 2009. The light fortification with various vitamins and minerals cannot compensate for the sugar overdose, lack of fiber, and overwhelming use of additives, preservatives, and artificial food coloring.

Pop-tarts are no-starts. They are a terrible product to start your kids’ day.

What to do at the supermarket:

Stay away from Pop-tarts. In the time it takes to heat them, you can spread peanut butter on a slice of whole wheat bread and top it with sliced bananas and a teaspoonful of honey.

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Happy 4th of July everyone. We’d rather it be called Independence Day, because that is what we have been celebrating for the past 200 years, not a date 7/04.

As we head to cookouts, picnics, bar-b-ques and other food related festivities, we should consider ourselves the luckiest people in the world. Democracy is not the default state of rule in many places around the world. Many countries are art war, some with neighbors, some with themselves. Our nation’s wealth has enabled many of us to lead very comfortable lives, beyond comprehension to many of the world’s denizens, who survive on but a few dollars a day.

Is it any wonder that the number one country people dream of immigrating to is the United States of America?

But we shouldn’t rest on our laurels. Our country isn’t perfect, and neither are we. Although we live in a free country, our choices are often limited. Without even thinking about it, we are steered in ways that are hard for us to resist. Say What?

We’ll take food as an example (surprising, heh?)

1. If you want to eat healthfully at a rest stop along an interstate highway, you can’t, because it’s all fast food. How much of a difference is there between Wendy’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut? They’re all different flavors of obesity-to-arrive-soon and heart-disease-right-after. And they all serve either Coke or Pepsi.

2. How free are families to choose the food they put on the table? With supermarkets stocking 45,000 items, most people would say very free. But a close look reveals that in each aisle there are a few dominant companies, or a few dominant types of food. In breakfast cereals, most of the 400+ boxes are manufactured by just a handful of corporations (General Mills, Quaker, Kellogg’s). Sure, you could buy that healthier brand but

a) it costs 30% more,

b) your kids won’t eat it because there’s no superhero endorsement on the package.

3. You’re at the ballpark, 4th inning, getting hungry. What about some food and drinks? No problem. That is if food=hot dogs, drinks=Coke or Pepsi. If you want to choose freshly squeezed juice, you can’t. A salad? Who are you kidding.

OK, these are just a few example of the limited choices we have.

Limited, unless we decide to swim against the current. We urge you to try, just so you can feel what it’s like to be truly independent. And if enough of us swim against the current, soon the current will follow us. (And that’s what makes this country great).

God bless America!

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Add this to the ever growing list of ridiculous health claims from food manufacturers. General Mills, one of the breakfast cereal quartet (Post, Quaker, and Kellogg’s are the other 3), has published a press release:

Research presented today [...] revealed Cheerios can help lower cholesterol by 10 percent in one month.

The study, which was conducted and presented by Provident Clinical Research, found that eating two 1 1/2 cup servings of Cheerios daily, as part of a reduced calorie diet low in fat, lowered LDL or “bad” cholesterol about 10 percent in one month. Cheerios is the only leading ready-to-eat cereal clinically proven to lower cholesterol.

“We monitored the diets of study participants for 12 weeks, and a clinical evaluation of their cholesterol levels showed coupling Cheerios with a reduced calorie diet significantly helps lower LDL cholesterol levels,” said Kevin C. Maki, Ph.D. of Provident Clinical Research. “We were impressed with how effectively eating Cheerios daily as part of a reduced calorie diet lowered bad cholesterol. These are simple changes that are easy for most people to make.”

Read the entire propaganda…

What you need to know:

Cheerios is definitely one of the better choices in the breakfast cereal category, as it is made from whole wheat and is very low in sugar.

But don’t buy into the marketing claims disguised as scientific research. Here is why:

1. The research was conducted by Provident Clinical Research, a for-profit institute that gets paid by General Mills and other manufacturers to design, implement, and analyze tests that will always shine a bright light on the product in question.

2. There is no mention of how the test was conducted, on whom, was there a control group, etc… How scientific could this test be if the information is not disclosed.

3. The subjects tested changed their diets not only by eating Cheerios twice a day, but by switching to a reduced calorie low fat diet. No doubt, dietitians helped these people make smart choices over the 12 week test period so that cholesterol would shoot down. But just how much did the Cheerios themselves contribute to the cholesterol reduction?

What to do at the supermarket:

Don’t base your purchasing choice on marketing hype and health claims that are worthless. In the cereal aisle, look for cereals made with whole grains and low amounts of sugar (less than 6 grams per serving). Cheerios definitely makes the grade, but not because of the silly paid-for science report they have brought to the public’s attention.

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