Thursday, July 05, 2012

Badvertising: Sweetwashing Products Made Entirely of Sugar


Ever come across the term, "Unsweetened" on the front of a package?  How about, "No Sugar Added"?

They're there to make you feel that the product inside the box is a healthy one.

A quick peek at the back of the box is probably in order.

Take Mott's Fruitsations Unsweetened Strawberry Fruit Rockets for instance. Reading the ingredients you'll find that they include both, "Concentrated Strawberry Puree", and, "Concentrated Fruit Juices".

And what are concentrated purees and juices?

Sugar.  Plain old sugar.

So how much extra sugar is this sweet-washed "unsweetened" strawberry flavoured red goo packing?

Double what you'd find in an equivalent weight of actual strawberries.

Think that's bad?

Check out all of these:

3 teaspoons of sugar per 18g serving (66% sugar by weight  responsible for 80% of calories) coming from  concentrated apple purees and juices.  10X the sugar of 18g of actual apples.

2.75 teaspoons of sugar per 14g serving (79% sugar by weight  responsible for 98% of calories) coming from concentrated apple, pear, strawberry and grape purees and juices.  15.7X the sugar of 14g of actual strawberries.

9.25 teaspoons of sugar per 250mL serving (sugar responsible for 99% of calories) coming from concentrated grape, apple and raspberry juices.  One cup of this juice contains the equivalent amount of sugar as would 6.9 cups of actual raspberries.

9.5 teaspoons of sugar per 250mL serving (sugar responsible for 101% of calories?) coming from concentrated grape, cranberry and apple juices.  One cup of this juice contains the equivalent amount of sugar as would 9.5 cups of actual cranberries.
And who's right there helping with the sweetwashing by providing their seal of approval to products that are almost literally pure sugar?  Why the Heart and Stroke Foundation as its Health Check logo is on each and every one, which in case you weren't aware is meant to signify,
"The Health Check logo tells you the food or menu item has been reviewed by the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s registered dietitians and can contribute to an overall healthy diet"
Is there really a dietitian on the planet that would recommend the consumption of products made virtually entirely out of sugar?

Produce NOT products!