Fruit Products That Contain Little Fruit
Don't you love fruit tarts? Not pop tarts, fruit tarts. The dessert that has clear shiny sugar coating over actual fruit. Sure there's added sugar, but the fruit, for the most part is intact, edible, and recognizable. If you're looking for the fruit tart experience elsewhere, you may be disappointed. You might see a strawberry on a package, but expecting one in the food itself maybe asking too much of food manufacturers. Considering their products could never make it into the produce aisle, we uncover marketing claims that tout “real fruit,” put colorful fruit graphics on packaging and even go so far as listing the number of servings of fruit in their products only to let you down. For those of us who take the 5-a-day challenge seriously, it’s high time to expose the truth about fruit in processed food. With deceptive smoothie bars and fast food restaurants serving oatmeal with added fruit, we have to stay informed about what we’re really being served.
Real Fruit from Concentrate?
General Mills is in some hot water about their Fruit Roll-up and Fruit by the Foot snacks. With the help of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a California woman sued the Golden Valley-based packaged foods giant for misleading consumers about their products’ healthiness. According to the lawsuit, their “made with real fruit” claim incorrectly describes the fruit snacks’ ingredients, which, in spite of the flavor of the product, only contain pears from concentrate. One Fruit Roll-Up contains 50 calories. The products remaining ingredients, which include dried corn syrup, sugar and cottonseed oil. Stretch Island Fruit Co. makes “fruit leather” and while its ingredient list contains no sweeteners, its strawberry fruit strip’s first listed ingredient is apple puree concentrate. While strawberry puree is an ingredient, it’s third behind, wait for it, pear puree concentrate. Fig Newtons are now known as just Newtons, but at least they really do contain figs, in addition to sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and regular corn syrup of course. A similar product that makes the “made with real fruit” claim, NutriGrain bars, only contain strawberry puree from concentrate as well. What’s real about concentrated fruit?
Fake Fruit and Little Fruit
Most of us know that Froot Loops and Fruity Pebbles have no real cherries floating around in the box, but a blueberry cereal should, right? Not so much. Special K’s blueberry cereal has blueberries in its ingredient list, but I’m unsure why it’s listed after “contains 2% or less of.” In that same area 6 artificial colors are also listed. Surprisingly sugar is the third listed ingredient behind rice and whole grain wheat. It’s safe to say the whole blueberries on the front of the box didn’t make it into the bag. We previously reported on foods with fake blueberries, and just wanted to remind you the blueberry deception is still in full effect.
Sugary Yogurt with a Little Fruit
I like yogurt, but I buy it plain in a half gallon tub for a reason. I read the ingredient list of a couple of the major brands of yogurt and found that sugar is listed before fruit most of the time. Both Dannon and Yoplait include sugar, corn starch and high fructose corn syrup, sandwiching the strawberries listed in their yogurt’s ingredients. The Ricera, Silk and Whole Soy &Co. brands of yogurt list evaporated cane juice, a product that originates from sugar cane just as white sugar, before their blueberry, raspberry and Apricot Mango fruit inclusions. Chobani’s Stawberry Greek Yogurt and Breyers’ Yo Crunch Bluberry Fruit Parfait both list their fruit contents before sweetener, but alas, there’s still sweetener. Even the Stonyfield Farm YoBaby yogurt has more sugar than sweet potatoes in it. Forgo the flavored yogurt if you can and you’ll bypass additional preservatives as well. Plain yogurt generally has a simple ingredient list of milk and yogurt cultures.
Your thoughts…
What fruit-flavored processed products have you eaten lately? Where does fruit rank in the ingredient list?
Comments
Concentrated fruit is processed and dried fruit and is about as real as any processed product including cut and dried fruit and juices. Have you even eaten freeze dried strawberries? If so, then you'd realize how strong they taste. Apples and pears are far milder and are also still fruit. How is this any less "real fruit" than a strawberry processed the same way? And if you really think that a product that's processed and dried fruit is going to have chunks of non processed fruit in the middle of it, you're painfully naive.
And fruit is high in sugar. Preserved fruit, aka, jelly, is even more so. Why are you at all surprised that anything with fruit has more sugar in it than a sweet potato? This article is written like pulp journalism shock reporting trying to mix in the somewhat healthier alternatives to main stream chemical laden foods in with said foods to try and shame them.
Common sense and label reading is your friend, as always.
Original Post by: fluffydragonAlso, a few flavored yogurts also contain red food coloring made from crushed bugs. Yuck.
Ha, it comes from the cochineal bug and is in basically every processed food with a red coloring. They hide it as "natural coloring". So gross. Put me off jellybeans for life. There's another bug they use to put shine on apples, too, but I can't remember the name of it. I always buy non shiny apples now.
Original Post by: rrrrssssOriginal Post by: fluffydragonAlso, a few flavored yogurts also contain red food coloring made from crushed bugs. Yuck.
Ha, it comes from the cochineal bug and is in basically every processed food with a red coloring. They hide it as "natural coloring". So gross. Put me off jellybeans for life. There's another bug they use to put shine on apples, too, but I can't remember the name of it. I always buy non shiny apples now.
Nope, fortunately, it cannot be hidden as a 'natural color' - it has to be listed separately if used. Thankfully,
"Carmine is approved as dye for foodstuffs. In January 2009, FDA passed a new regulation[10] requiring carmine and cochineal to be listed by name on the label."
So how about helping your readers out....listing brands that actually have fruit.
Original Post by: lottafussSo how about helping your readers out....listing brands that actually have fruit.
Here's a quick and easy way to eat healthier... have a flippin' apple! (or an orange, banana, cup of frozen berries, sliced mangos) ... leave the packaged, processed stuff for someone else. It'll last on the shelves for 14 years...
I recently discovered that Craisins have no nutritional value AT ALL. They are just sugar!
Original Post by: fluffydragonAlso, a few flavored yogurts also contain red food coloring made from crushed bugs. Yuck.
Why is it 'yuck' to eat red food coloring made from crushed bugs, but it's fine to eat meat which is dead animals?
I would say that's pretty 'yuck' too!
Original Post by: fluffydragonOriginal Post by: rrrrssssOriginal Post by: fluffydragonAlso, a few flavored yogurts also contain red food coloring made from crushed bugs. Yuck.
Ha, it comes from the cochineal bug and is in basically every processed food with a red coloring. They hide it as "natural coloring". So gross. Put me off jellybeans for life. There's another bug they use to put shine on apples, too, but I can't remember the name of it. I always buy non shiny apples now.Nope, fortunately, it cannot be hidden as a 'natural color' - it has to be listed separately if used. Thankfully,
"Carmine is approved as dye for foodstuffs. In January 2009, FDA passed a new regulation[10] requiring carmine and cochineal to be listed by name on the label."
Thank god they changed that!
Original Post by: brittey86I recently discovered that Craisins have no nutritional value AT ALL. They are just sugar!
Actually, they have about 3 grams of dietary fiber per 1/3 cup serving. Other than that, though, they're none too spectacular. But, that doesn't stop me from putting a few into a handful of almonds ;D
Original Post by: lottafussSo how about helping your readers out....listing brands that actually have fruit.
Products that contain real fruit?
Apples, bananas, pears, mangoes, watermelons, melons, oranges, shall i go on?
rikosmom is right. if you want fruit buy fruit. if you want junk box a box with a pretty picture of a fruit on it ;-)
Original Post by: melizabethOriginal Post by: lottafussSo how about helping your readers out....listing brands that actually have fruit.
Products that contain real fruit?
Apples, bananas, pears, mangoes, watermelons, melons, oranges, shall i go on?
rikosmom is right. if you want fruit buy fruit. if you want junk box a box with a pretty picture of a fruit on it ;-)
f you want junk buy a box with a pretty picture of a fruit on it ;-)
I thought that the ingrediants are listed in from most to least. How are craisins not Cranberrys when there are only two ingrediants listed. Cranberrys and Sugar. ???
Original Post by: frannyanConcentrated fruit is processed and dried fruit and is about as real as any processed product including cut and dried fruit and juices. Have you even eaten freeze dried strawberries? If so, then you'd realize how strong they taste. Apples and pears are far milder and are also still fruit. How is this any less "real fruit" than a strawberry processed the same way? And if you really think that a product that's processed and dried fruit is going to have chunks of non processed fruit in the middle of it, you're painfully naive.
And fruit is high in sugar. Preserved fruit, aka, jelly, is even more so. Why are you at all surprised that anything with fruit has more sugar in it than a sweet potato? This article is written like pulp journalism shock reporting trying to mix in the somewhat healthier alternatives to main stream chemical laden foods in with said foods to try and shame them.
Common sense and label reading is your friend, as always.
I agree. There was nothing shocking in this article. I did not see any relevance in their articles about a lack of fruit. All products had fruit-just not much of it. I am surprised that people are surprised at high amounts of sugar. I imagine many of us are not that naive. An article on how to read the ingredient list and what certain ingredients actually are would be much more empowering for consumers. I choose not to eat processed foods - I don't choose to sue companies (how can anyone think a rollup is healthy is beyond me!!!)
When my son want a fruit roll up we usually get a bunch of fruit and make fruit leather with my food dehydrator.
Original Post by: karone04When my son want a fruit roll up we usually get a bunch of fruit and make fruit leather with my food dehydrator.
That should say When my son wants.*
I think it may be hard to avoid all "junk" food. But you should choose wisely.
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Also, a few flavored yogurts also contain red food coloring made from crushed bugs. Yuck.