Monday, February 08, 2010

A pea sized bite of salmon has 3x the DHA of Dairyland's Li'L Ones yogurt with DHA!



"A Li'L Story
by Li'L Ones

Once upon a time there were Big Ones who had Little Ones. The Big Ones wanted the Little Ones to be healthy and strong, so they said to the Little Ones, "You must always eat all your meat and all your vegetables."

The Little Ones wanted to be healthy and strong too, so they told the Big Ones, "We won't always eat all our meat and all our vegetables, but we'll always eat all our Li'L Ones yogurt."

So the Big Ones read the label on the Li'L Ones yogurt, and they saw that the Little Ones were very smart indeed, which wasn't surprising because Li'L Ones has DHA. Plus it's made with whole milk to keep them healthy and strong.

So the Big Ones bought their Little Ones lots of Li'L Ones yogurt and they all lived happily every always."
Hmmmmmm.

So this Big One decided to read the label on the Li'L Ones yogurt, and this Big One decided to read the whole label, not just the front of the package, or the cute storybook on their website (as seen below).





Want to know what this Big One found?

This Big One found that the nutrition facts panel on Li'L Ones yogurt, the one the Little Ones "will always eat", the one whose website states was developed with the help of dietitians and shouts is,
"FORTIFIED WITH DHA FOR HEALTHY BRAINS, EYES AND NERVES"
Well that very same yogurt's nutrition facts panel reports that while there are nearly 4 teaspoons of sugar per serving of Li'L Ones, there are 0g of Omega-3 Polyunsaturates.


Wait a sec', isn't DHA an Omega-3 polyunsaturated fat?

So this Big One called up Dairyland customer service to ask about DHA and was told that the amount of DHA that's added to Li'L Ones yogurt is so low that labeling laws in Canada forbid them from reporting any! All told per serving there's only 25mg of DHA, an amount so small that were your toddler to eat a single pea sized serving of salmon they'd be eating the equivalent nearly 3 Li'L Ones worth of DHA! And if you managed to convince your toddler to eat a small 2.5 ounce serving of salmon they'd be getting the DHA equivalent of 64.4 Li'L Ones.

So what does Dairyland's RD have to say about her company's incredibly sugary product, that as far as Health Canada's concerned has 0g of DHA yet markets itself as brain, eye and nerve food for toddlers?
"Toddlers need sufficient intake of the omega-3 fat called DHA, which supports the normal development of the brain, eyes and nerves. It can be found in salmon, trout, enriched eggs and Dairy-Oh! Milk and Li’L Ones yogurt."
Gee thanks - great job promoting your company's product at the expense of properly interpreting a nutrition facts panel for the public.