Chutzpah.
Kraft's got that in spades for trying to pass off Kraft Dinner as healthy by grinding in a smidgen of cauliflower.
And so how much cauliflower is in a serving of Kraft Dinner Smart?
Well I did my own quick analysis.
I based it off the fact that Kraft Dinner Smart contains 10% of the %DV of Vitamin C whereas Kraft Dinner Original has zero.
One ounce of cauliflower contains 22% of the %DV of Vitamin C so by my calculations that'd mean that per serving of Kraft Dinner Smart you're getting a grand total of 12.6 grams or just under half an ounce of cauliflower.
Now the ad says I'll get half a serving of vegetables per serving of Kraft Dinner Smart. The thing is, a "serving" of cauliflower would be 1/2 a cup of cauliflower and therefore I ought to have 1/4 cup per serving.
My calculations peg 1/4 cup of cauliflower as providing 19.25% of the %DV of Vitamin C. Therefore it'd be more accurate to suggest that you'd get 1/4 of a serving of vegetables per serving of Kraft Dinner Smart - two whole tablespoons worth.
So what miraculous product comes from the combination of white flour and two whole tablespoons of cauliflower?
Well if you compare nutrition facts panels (which is tricky because the Kraft Dinner Smart says a serving is 50g while the KD Original says it's 56g) you'll find that Kraft Dinner Smart has:
12% more saturated fat
9% more sodium
12% more sugar
4% less protein
You'll also find that you're getting ripped off in that Kraft Dinner Smart, which I'd be willing to wager is markedly more expensive than Kraft Dinner Original, has 33% less KD per box.
So if you think it's KD Smart to pay more for a refined flour product with markedly more saturated fat, sodium and sugar than its already nutritionally atrocious counterpart but is made with two whole tablespoons of cauliflower per serving, then Kraft's done their job by using deceptive badvertising to render you KD Stupid.
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Wow! this add makes me laugh. Ridiculous. Isn't funny Friday only tomorrow?
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see you post on this. I had noticed the ad for this product in a magazine earlier this week and wondered how long it would take for you to put some nice holes in their advertising campaign.
ReplyDeleteWhen I do make KD for my kids (which is not often - they don't like it much), I have always thrown a bunch of frozen peas or broccoli in with the water in the last minute or so of boiling the noodles. Nice try Kraft, but we're not fooled...
ReplyDeleteJill
I used to love KD when I was younger (because my parents rarely gave it to me!) but now it freaks me out. I'm not going to eat a neon-orange (literally, that stuff glows so brightly that it reflects off the sides of the pot) product because of a slight serving of cauliflower. And look at onion rings - processed vegetables shouldn't always be assumed "healthy".
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree with the post, I have to say that SOME cauliflower is better than NO cauliflower...? *grins*
ReplyDeleteIt's not like the shreddies people who tried to sell you the "NEW" Diamond shaped cereal LMAO
Anonymous, the new diamond shreddies was meant to be ironic, later they even advertized 'combo packs' of both original and diamond shreddies.
ReplyDeleteI thought the whole thing was brilliant.
I wanted to do a search for this as I just cooked my kids - 4 & 6 a box of this for lunch. It STINKS! My whole house smells like cauliflower... it is gross. I tried a spoonful and it tastes terrible & I am a fan of regular KD. And yes, they cleaned out the pot between the two of them so the serving is way smaller than the regular. Although they doused it in ketchup, with my permission as I thougth it was gross, they said it was good.... but again, they are 4 & 6 :)
ReplyDeleteIt tastes nasty too. I HAD to give it a shot, take my advice; curiosity will not pay off in this case!
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying any type of KD is healthy but your calculations are going to be a bit off because processing removes most of the vitamins and minerals in vegetables, and I'm assuming that Kraft would have processed the hell out of them and then some to get them to look identical to pasta.
ReplyDeleteGreat article. Thanks so much. Kraft's badvertising is truly ridiculous. The sad part is that so many people would just pick this up off the shelf and think to themselves that it's a great way to get kids to eat their vegetables :/
ReplyDeleteI am diabetic and I am fed up with companies that don't care that the products they make are leading to overweight kids,teens, and young adults. We feed our kids unhealthy food because they ask or have a tantrum and we give in . WHY???? When I was a kid my mom made home cooked meals (meatloaf,pot roast) and on the weekend IF we were good then we got to have pizza or chicken . I have a real issue when companies don't care enough about the consumer to make things healthy. Look at a can of soup the next time your out shopping (tomato soup) it has like 22 grams of sugar!!!! that's healthy??? ON WHAT PLANET??
ReplyDeleteI don't know of one Kraft product that I would actually eat. Their "food" is disgusting.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right that the amount of cauliflower involved is miniscule and thank you for pointing out this ludicrous advertising but I am not sure Vitamin C is a good metric. My understanding is that it is the vitamin that degrades fastest in storage so the 10% in there is more likely to have been added as citric acid than to actually come from the cauliflower itself. I could be wrong though and, as I say, I think your point stands either way!
ReplyDeleteJust sampled some "Smart" KD. Taste was awful. I wouldn't feed that stuff to my dog.
ReplyDeleteHey! and let's not forget KD uses "Tartrazine yellow" artificial food colour too!
ReplyDeleteCheck out on the internet what Tartrazine is made from folks, YUK!!!!??!!
Who cares? It's a tasty, every now and then treat. I actually prefer it to the original.
ReplyDeleteI tried it the other day... there is less in the box, but have to say, I preferred it to the regular kind, nice flavour (but it does smell a bit of cauliflower when you cook it!)
ReplyDeleteFINALLY!!! ( someone writes the truth about this crap)
ReplyDeleteI think it's a complete rip off (1.5 serving of veggies in an entire box IF that's accurate and less in a box). I use it as post-bar or hangover food and I found the taste almost identical to the regular KD. I did find that it gets more clumpy in the microwave compared to the original though.
ReplyDeleteHow dare u microwave it lol.
ReplyDeleteI use kd as hangover food too.
I actually like the taste of the smart kd :)
I actually quite like the taste... Not as stinky as the original. But to be fair, if I were looking to eat vegetables and eat healthy, processed pasta/cheese from a box would never be my choice lol.
ReplyDeleteServings of vegetables are based by weight, not size. It also says 1/3 of a box provides 1/2 serving, not 1/4 of a box as you stated. So your calculations are severely flawed.
ReplyDelete