Unleash the grains...
Kraft Introduces 2 Somewhat Healthier Cookies Made of Whole Grains
heh...I love the phrase "Somewhat Healther"...translation...NOT HEALTHY AT ALL SUCKAS!
In the efforts of food companies to appease nutrition advocates and serve an increasing number of health-conscious consumers, Kraft Foods has crossed an improbable threshold - a healthier cookie.
Something tells me this is going to go the way of McDonalds Go Active Meal. Never heard of it? Exactly my point.
At a nutrition and obesity conference yesterday in Sacramento, Kraft's chief executive, Roger Deromedi unveiled whole-grain versions of the popular Chips Ahoy and Fig Newton cookies - a first among major food companies.
Am I the only one that sees the pure folly in unveiling a cookie @ an obesity conference?!?!?
The cookies, which start appearing in stores this week, are the latest in the food industry's infatuation with whole grains.
Just as the food industry was infatuated w/low fat then low carb then high protein right? Hey Kraft, a fad is a fad is a fad.
Kraft's announcement was timed to the California conference in an attempt to show that the company is attentive to the health concerns of parents, who are increasingly worried about not just their own weight but that of their children.
See why I'm in such a catty mood. This wasn't a genuine effort by Kraft, it's a public relations stunt. Just like McDonalds hastily crafted Go Active Meal came about to deflect criticism from the movie Supersize Me.
First and foremost, Kraft wants people who are concerned about obesity to keep eating their cookies. Period.
In the last three decades, the overweight rate among teenagers has tripled; in adults, obesity has doubled.In the face of such statistics, many state and local governments have moved to purge soda and unhealthy snacks from schools.
And whaddya know...if their cookies are no longer considered unhealthy, they'll keep them in the vending machines so the kiddies can keep eating them.
But nutrition specialists warn that consumers should not think they are eating a health snack with either of the whole-grain cookies. A three-cookie serving of the new Chips Ahoy has 8 grams of fat and 150 calories, 10 fewer than the original. And there is one additional gram of fiber, two per serving instead of one.
And that's who I'll take my health advice from thankyouverymuch Mr. Kraft. Nutrition specialists. You aren't fooling me w/the piddly single extra gram of fiber. Pffft.
Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University and a frequent critic of food companies, applauded Kraft for making the change, but he worried that consumers might fall into what some call the "Snackwell effect." When these low-fat cookies were introduced in 1992, many consumers used the low-fat billing to give themselves license to eat unmodest amounts. Like whole-grain Chips Ahoy and Fig Newtons, Snackwells are not low in calories."The population certainly needs more whole grains, but the optimum delivery vehicle is not cookies," Dr. Brownell said.
Bold text is my emphasis [source Registration may be required make use of
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Comments: 3
09.19.05 | Bec commented: My dad bought a pack of these yesterday, They tasted the same as the originals and I can't complain about it having less calories, not like I'm going to go out and buy them all the time now because they are whole wheat or anything though.
09.22.05 | catherine commented: My concern about products touting "whole grain" is that they may only contain some whole grain mixed in with the refined. For example, only bread labeled "100% whole wheat" is made using soley whole wheat flour. Bread simply labeled "whole wheat" uses both whole and refined grain. You end up consuming calories without all the nutrition. I noticed cerial companies are crowing about their whole grain without mentioning all the sugar.
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I've seen these cookies elsewhere on the internet and was wondering about the fat and calories. 10 calories fewer??