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Spotted in a Shopping Cart – A Big Fat Lie

14 Replies

We received this picture from Fooducate community member Tamar. The shopping carts are plastered with an advertisement. We can live with that, its a way for the grocer to make a few extra bucks. And if a snack is advertised, or a soda, so be it. It’s the American way.

Bur what we really, absolutely, can’t stand, is being conned, lied to, or otherwise manipulated into thinking that a sugary kids cereal is a healthy choice to put on the table in the morning.

Froot Loops and Apple Jacks are a “good source of fiber” and “made with whole grain”.

What you need to know:

Apple Jacks and Froot Loops are the poster children of all that is wrong in the cereal category.

  • Both have 3 teaspoons of sugar per serving. Most kids consume more than one serving. That’s quite a sugar rush at 7am.
  • The first ingredient in both products is SUGAR!
  • Each uses controversial artificial colors such as red #40. In the UK, these are being phased out because they lead to hyperactivity in kids.
  • Froot Loops uses partially hydrogenated oils, aka trans-fat. Yes, it is in a small quantity, but the World Health Organization recommends ZERO daily consumption.
  • A controversial preservative, BHT. Butylated hydroxytoluene, is an antioxidant preservative that can lengthen the shelf life of a product. There is some controversy around its safety, with reports of hyperactivity and carcinogenic properties.
  • All the vitamins and minerals are sprayed onto the product, and not naturally present in the ingredients.
  • Oh, in case you were wondering, there’s no fruit all in Froot Loops, and virtually no apple in Apple Jacks

To Kellogg’s credit, over the last 10 years, the sugar count has been reduced from 4 tsp to 3 tsp, but that is still crazy high. The manufacturers have also switched from refined flour to whole grain. But it’s not 100% whole grain.

What to do at the supermarket:

Read the nutrition label and ingredient list, not the ads.

Choose cereals with at least 3 grams of fiber and no more than 6 grams of sugar (1.5 tsp). Make sure there are no artificial colors and no partially hydrogenated oils.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/bill.back Bill Back

    Honestly there is no good reason to eat packaged cereal. There are many better breakfast alternatives that are healthier and no more difficult to prepare.

  • Kitten-ninja

    Not to mention that Kellogs uses genetically modified ingredients.

  • http://www.buyitright.us Andy

    Thanks for continuing to bring us great information about packaged foods. There’s so much deception and misinformation out there!

  • Kate

    Choose no cereal. The grains become toxic when turned into the puffs that we are so used to. Eggs, whole grain bread (homemade), fruit with cheese or peanut butter, smoothies — these are good breakfast choices.

  • Mamasimpson

    BHT makes my son CRAZY!

  • http://www.UrbanOrganicGardener.com Mike Lieberman

    We are taught from the time that we are young that it’s not ok to lie. Yet all these big corporations do is lie to us and to our kids.

  • http://www.foodieformerlyfat.com Foodie, Formerly Fat

    “Whole grain”, “fiber”, “no trans-fat”, “low-carb”, etc. are all just buzz words of the industry and mean next to nothing. Not only should consumers know to avoid foods that make health claims but instead read the ingredient list, but they should also know that the best foods are one’s that don’t have an ingredient list at all. Apples, spinach, sweet potatoes, avocados, tomatoes, and oranges are all high in fiber and have no trans-fats. Quinoa, barley, farro, and oatmeal are whole grains.

    The real bottle neck here isn’t lack of information on the food itself, it’s a lack of information and experience with preparing whole foods at home to be tasty. If people know how to prepare whole foods in ways that are simple, easy, low cost, quick, and taste good no one would need to turn to this highly processed products that have to resort to making false claims.

  • http://twitter.com/ThinNSweet Andrea

    Great post and all so true! I had a similar encounter recently with a box of Post’s Fruity Pebbles. I babysit for a 5-year-old and his mom, bless her heart, always leaves “healthy” frozen meals and diet coke for me. I just don’t have the heart to tell her I wouldn’t be caught dead consuming those things, so I decided to opt for a bowl of cereal and picked up the box of Fruity Pebbles since it had a huge “Great Source of Vitamin D!” label on it. After reading the ingredients (full of partially hydrogenated oils, sugar, and artificial coloring and flavors) I quickly changed my mind and moved on to Raisin Bran which I thought surely would be better…not so much. While I liked that it was made of whole grains, it contained HFCS amongst several other atrocities. I finally found peace with a box of plain old store brand cheerios, whose ingredients at least somewhat passed the test.

  • http://twitter.com/lauren_015 Lauren Smith

    I agree with the other posters that say no packaged cereal is a good breakfast. Oatmeal FTW! :) It never gets old because you can be creative and create a billion different concoctions. And the best part…it’s CHEAP!

  • Nomale12

    thanks for the information!

  • http://www.meyouhealth.com/ Alicia B.

    Stuff like this irks me! How can people get away with false advertising like this and thus misinforming people who think “Time to get healthy. Oh, look, Fruit Loops have fiber…”

  • NormaIrisVidal

    Marketers get to me, they think they can trick us with good sounding words at front of packaging. Ignore packaging and pay attention to first 3 ingredients since that’s usually the majority of ingredients.

  • NormaIrisVidal

    Marketers get to me, they think they can trick us with good sounding words at front of packaging. Ignore packaging and pay attention to first 3 ingredients since that’s usually the majority of ingredients.

  • Robynfr2002

    I can verify this. I saw the same claim/fib on a big stack of Froot Loops at the front of my local San Diego grocery store today. I don’t usually browse the breakfast cereal section, so I hadn’t seen it before. Isn’t there ANY accountability for these pirates?