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Thu Jun 04, 2009 at 15:43:06 PM PDT
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| A friend sent me an article called "The Worst Packaged Food Lies." I wasn't that impressed over #!. Organic Kraft Mac 'n Cheese isn't actually healthy. Umm... duh. But then I got to #2 and that stopped me cold. You know the reduced fat peanut butter? I grew up eating that stuff! I ate it for years! According to the article Smucker's reduced fat peanut butter makes up for the missing fat with corn maltodextrin. End result: reduced fat peanut butter has 10 calories less than the full fat version. And yet, buying the reduced fat version was so important to my mother that once when Dad bought the full fat kind she sent him back to the store to return it.
Another good catch in the article? Nutri-Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars. I used to eat those too. And this is just sick.
The claim: "Naturally and artificially flavored"
The truth: While the FDA requires manufacturers to disclose the use of artificial flavoring on the front of the box, the requirements for what is considered "natural" and "real" are not strict: Even trace amounts of the essence or extract of fruit counts as natural. So yes, there is fruit in this bar, but it falls third in the ingredients list, behind HFCS and corn syrup.
What the article should say but doesn't is that packaged foods in general aren't a good idea. Sure you can swap out a Larabar for that Nutrigrain bar, but why not eat an apple instead? |
| Jill Richardson :: Corn in Peanut Butter |
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