Grocery Store Scams
January 9, 2009 | 22 Comments
Grocery shopping can be overwhelming. There are thousands of products jammed in the shelves all designed by marketing masterminds working to get you to forget what is on your shopping list and buy their stuff.
Each week there are more and more products comings out claiming to be ‘healthy’ because they have added probiotics, fiber, omega-3s, etc. It can be really hard to sift through what is good for you and your diet vs. what is just marketing.
For example, at one of my local grocery stores there is a yogurt (”Super Yogurt” or something like that) that advertises 43mg of the Omega-3 fats EPA & DHA per serving (fish oil in yogurt…yum). This is a perfect example of just marketing. Those 43mg aren’t really going to do too much for you (unless you eat a container of that yogurt per day) but Omega-3s, EPA, and & DHA are food buzz words. What companies will do is put in just enough of a certain ingredient (in this case EPA/DHA) so that they can advertise it on the label and catch people’s attention.
So look out for this stuff.
But….not all of this food engineering is necessarily bad. I have found several different products that have added components of great nutritional (and health) value, in amounts that actually make a difference.
I’ve written previously about two of my favorite low carb foods. Today I wanted to highlight another one that Emily and I have been using lately – Splenda with Fiber. This is a pretty cool product. Basically one packet has a serving of splenda and 1 gram of fiber (as you know I think we all could use more fiber). Many people use splenda in their coffee (like my wife Emily) and I use it on grapefruits. Using the splenda with fiber gives a nice little punch of fiber (with no change in taste or viscosity) to help us meet our daily needs. So when you go grocery shopping this weekend instead of getting regular splenda check out the splenda with fiber.
Let me know if you like it.
-Mike
P.S. If you want to learn how to quickly and easily navigate the grocery store buying healhty foods and not getting sucked in by marketing traps check out the Grocery Shopping Made Easy DVD put together by my buddy nutritionist Chris Mohr and his wife Kara Mohr (at only $34 it is a steal).
22 Responses to “Grocery Store Scams”
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As a fitness trainer whose clients are women ONLY, one of the main topics seems to be is Splenda okay. Personally, I don't like sugar or any of it's substitutes. Many of the ladies that come to me are obviously looking for weight loss of kind. I do tell them that Splenda is better than sugar but I'd like to know what you would consider "Moderate Use" so that I can relay some more information to them from a trusted expert in nutrition.
Thanks Mike. I look forward to your reply.
Donovan "DFitnessguy" Owens
Hey Mike,
Appreciate the info. I get the same questions and concerns with my clients as Donovan has described above. What are your thoughts on using Stevia instead of Spenda?
Thanks Mike.
=VF
Isn't Splenda considered "bad" for you since it is something not in it's natural form and is chemically created? I've always heard to avoid Splenda….
I've heard that only natural sweeteners should be used such as agave syrup, maple syrup, and stevia. I personally use Stevia, as a little goes a long way!
There is no definitive answer but we only use 1 packet a day. I would limit it to 3 packets per day (3 servings). Splenda advertises that you can use it for baking instead of sugar but I don't think I've ever done that.
Stevia is fine. It has gotten a big marketing push lately. I don't think that it is better than splenda because it is from a plant. Cocaine is from a plant too
There is really no scientific evidence in humans to suggest that spenda in moderation is bad. the research regarding artificial sweeteners in animals that show detrimental effects uses insanely high doses so I don't think it is really valid.
Hi Paula. How have you been?
As I noted above – stevia is fine. Agave syrup is good too. My wife will sometimes use maple syrup in her coffee so they are all good options. At some level it comes not to calories (if you are concerned about controlling them) and preference. If you like stevia then use that.
-Mike
I have started using Xylitol. It's a totally natural replacement for sugar – looks like sugar tastes like sugar but is naturally made. Works for me and I feel better about eating it.
Dr Mercola of http://www.mercola.comhas written a book about the various sweeteners and he has found that splenda is bad for you.
I understand that to create Splenda, natural sugar is cut with chlorine. Who wants chlorine in their body? I used to use Splenda in my oatmeal and tea about 2 years ago. Then I went on a detox diet that asked to not use and sugar substitutes or sweeteners. It was just a natural food diet, and I actually have a really good diet and the only thing I needed to eliminate was Splenda. I had a headache for two weeks coming off the Splenda, worse than any other "cleanse" I have done. So, after that, no more Splenda. I got used to unsweetened tea and now when I cook my oatmeal, I cut up an apple, and put in some pure vanilla extract and cinnamon, and it's a bit sweet. I don't miss the Splenda at all, and won't risk two weeks of headaches to put it back.
Splenda is not "cut" with Chlorine (Cl), it has had some of its -OH (hydroxyl) groups replaced with Cl (google the structure of sucrose and sucralose). The body does not really absorb this altered molecule and the vast majority passes through. For the stuff that is absorbed there have been multi-generation studies done with VERY high doses without adverse affects.
Its water soluble (polar) so by definition it does not accumulate in your fat stores either. Fat is non-polar. Think of polar and non-polar as oil and water.
EVERYONE NEEDS chlorine in their body. You would die without it. Its naturally present in many foods – probably all fruits and veggies.
Also, sugar is not really all that "natural". It is a HIGHLY processed food. There are a LOT of processing steps that are needed to go from the sugar cane to the table sugar. The "raw" sugar is only one step less processed.
If you're looking for more you can read the Federal Register on Sucralose (Splenda). Its not exactly exciting, but it summarizes 2 decades of Splenda safety research in 30 or so dry pages.
YEAH it's happening witha well known brand of fish fingers here in Ireland and the UK. With Omega 3 being such a BUZZ word, they now advertise RICH in omega 3 on the box label. Think they charge more for it too.lol
My wife has used splenda (one for one) when baking with no noticeable problems. If you're afraid of using Splenda, I also found Stevia w/fiber (like above) at my local ShopRite. You use less Stevia than Splenda.
The Omega-3 scam in bad foods is amazing! I was just talking to my girlfriend about the yogurt yesterday. There's also a canola/soybean oil mayo that claims a day's helping of omega-3 per serving, too. Unfortunately, it also has 700 million servings of omega-6.
The worst offender is Smart Balance, which is supposed to be the perfect balance of all the fats, yet lists hardly any omega-3s and uses soybean oil as ingredient #1. Plus, at least until recently used partially hydrogenated oils to keep them solid. Just not enough to not be able to say "transfat free." bad…
I think for those who can have no sugar at all, or for those dieters who crave sugar, then a little artificial sweeteners can be helpful. My diabetic brother uses them with great results. I personally do not find they add anything, but except for Dots I am not really a sugar fanatic. No self-control when it comes to Dots; still looking for a Dots-Anon group…..
Mercola has found that just about anything he doesn't sell is "bad for you". Be careful about many of his overly dramatic scare stories: They are based on outdated information and improper conclusions.
I use stevia, too, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that it is "natural". It may come from a plant, but so does high fructose corn syrup. All of these nonsugar sweeteners—stevia, sucralose, xylitol, erythritol, etc—are highly processed.
Stevia with Fiber…that’s pretty cool.
I picked up on some recommendation to keep the svgs. of sucralose to no more than 3 packs per day—I don’t use actual packets of any sweetener or stevia or agave at all— BUT, and we all do it, there is the daily Metabolic drive or other brand (anywhere from a half scoop to 2 1/2 scoops per day), there’s the Kroger brand Carb Masters yogurt with splenda, there’s a very occational Diet Rite made with splenda, and now your saying to check out the carb one katsup which I am all over that since I’ve had a hard time switching to salsa and siracha for burgers…let’s tally that up, um, a lot of sucralose!! We’re still really just taking our chances cuz”No one really knows!!
On pastaqueen’s blog a month or two ago, which is mostly women readers, they had a discussion about eating spoonfuls of splenda right out of the packaging.
When I bake, I use cane sugar. I do not think there are enough studies on these fake sugars for me to feel comfortable with using them on a regular basis.
DO NOT use the new sweetener made from stevia! Like SPLENDA, it was tinkered with in a labratory. Don’t trust it. Use only PURE stevia, which is available in most grocery stores. Also, do NOT use the stevia that comes in those “convenient” little packets. It contains maltodextrin, which is nothing more than simple sugar. Maltodextrin actually has a higher glycemic index than sugar.