Share - some of the crazy, underhanded, or bizarre food labeling and packaging you've come across

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Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Heh, a product for the super lazy.
  • Dana_E
    Dana_E Posts: 158 Member
    EmbeeKay wrote: »
    Drives me NUTS (ha) when I see a commercial for Nutella that says it's a great, healthy spread for everyone because it's made from "ground hazelnuts, skin milk, and a hint of cocoa"... When SUGAR is the first listed ingredient and palm oil is the second! That stuff is frosting, people!
    Mm...frosting! Actually, that's what we'd use it for--frosting brownies and filling chocolate layer cakes. Also great spread on the inside of a crescent roll before rolling and baking.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    edited May 2016
    I just saw this one today. Yoplait is now selling whipped Greek yogurt - at only 100 kcal per tub. How can they do this, when comparable non-whipped yogurts have 140 kcal? You're getting less yogurt!

    Yoplait Blueberry Nonfat Whipped: 113 g, 100 kcal
    Yoplait Blueberry Nonfat "Standard": 150 g, 140 kcal

    It's not necessarily underhanded or crazy -- it just struck me as amusing. I'm willing to guess that the price will be the same.
  • JaneSnowe
    JaneSnowe Posts: 1,283 Member
    pic272-500x330.jpg

    I think this one beats diet water.
  • JaneSnowe
    JaneSnowe Posts: 1,283 Member
    edited May 2016
    I'd say it qualifies as bizarre and/or crazy packaging :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    EmbeeKay wrote: »
    Drives me NUTS (ha) when I see a commercial for Nutella that says it's a great, healthy spread for everyone because it's made from "ground hazelnuts, skin milk, and a hint of cocoa"... When SUGAR is the first listed ingredient and palm oil is the second! That stuff is frosting, people!

    But such tasty frosting... LOL.
    Jruzer wrote: »
    I just saw this one today. Yoplait is now selling whipped Greek yogurt - at only 100 kcal per tub. How can they do this, when comparable non-whipped yogurts have 140 kcal? You're getting less yogurt!

    Yoplait Blueberry Nonfat Whipped: 113 g, 100 kcal
    Yoplait Blueberry Nonfat "Standard": 150 g, 140 kcal

    It's not necessarily underhanded or crazy -- it just struck me as amusing. I'm willing to guess that the price will be the same.


    Whipped yogurt is pretty different from regular yogurt though, it's whipped so it's lighter... in volume it's probably similar... but not the same texture so I don't think you can really compare. It it was exactly the same thing in smaller packaging though, yeah, I'd totally get it (and I'm sure it's happened, honestly).

    What gets to me is the 'low fat' stuff that ends up being 70 calories instead of 80 or something. Seriously, that low fat craze needs to go away, it's just ridiculous, nobody in their right mind who would actually read the labels would go for the subpar taste just to save 10 calories.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Jruzer wrote: »
    I just saw this one today. Yoplait is now selling whipped Greek yogurt - at only 100 kcal per tub. How can they do this, when comparable non-whipped yogurts have 140 kcal? You're getting less yogurt!

    Yoplait Blueberry Nonfat Whipped: 113 g, 100 kcal
    Yoplait Blueberry Nonfat "Standard": 150 g, 140 kcal

    It's not necessarily underhanded or crazy -- it just struck me as amusing. I'm willing to guess that the price will be the same.


    Whipped yogurt is pretty different from regular yogurt though, it's whipped so it's lighter... in volume it's probably similar... but not the same texture so I don't think you can really compare. It it was exactly the same thing in smaller packaging though, yeah, I'd totally get it (and I'm sure it's happened, honestly).

    My impression is that you're just getting more air in the packaging. I'm actually OK with this - I kind of like the whipped yogurts.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,647 Member
    pic272-500x330.jpg

    $5.99? I'm in the wrong business...
  • JaneSnowe
    JaneSnowe Posts: 1,283 Member
    The asparagus water reminded me of this:

    270732-4449647929927-791396043-n-jpg_184208.jpg

    Doesn't help you eat a banana any faster, increases the risk of contamination, and creates extra garbage.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    The asparagus water reminded me of this:

    270732-4449647929927-791396043-n-jpg_184208.jpg

    Doesn't help you eat a banana any faster, increases the risk of contamination, and creates extra garbage.
    You know, the packaging it's in is extremely wasteful, but I don't think the prepeeled oranges are that bad of an idea.

    Peeled bananas on the other hand are just dumb.
  • mpat81
    mpat81 Posts: 353 Member
    Asparagus water?!?!? Eeewwwww. And they are charging 5.99. THat must be some great jar they put it in.
  • skinnyforhi
    skinnyforhi Posts: 340 Member
    Do any of you remember Olestra? Give it a google.
  • RosieRose7673
    RosieRose7673 Posts: 438 Member
    About 5 years ago, my boyfriend bought a bottle of Sriracha. Later when I looked at the nutrition label, it said something like 100 calories per teaspoon. I made fun of him the entire night telling him he was going to gain so much weight because he literally used gobs upon gobs of Sriracha on everything.

    Obviously that was a freak typo! Went back to the grocery store less than a week later (yes, that quickly) and the nutrition labels were normal for the other bottles.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    The asparagus just wants to take a nice bath. Why do they have to be so cruel. :'(
  • Canuckgirl77
    Canuckgirl77 Posts: 123 Member
    Diet Mountain Dew.

    A 20 oz bottle is labeled 20 calories. That would make it 0.5 calories per oz. So, a 12 oz can should be 6 calories, but it's listed as zero. Not that I'm sweating the calories in diet soda, but seriously

    Aaaand it's too late to edit. A 20 oz diet dew is 10 calories.

    I believe the FDA regulations state than anything less than 10 calories is allowed to be labeled as 0. 10 cals is negligible but for people who drink this by the gallon, it can add up to 100 or 200 cals a day!
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    ubermofish wrote: »
    Serving sizes for chips of all kinds, like you're going to just eat 14 doritos once the bag is open.

    That's what I do...
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    Jruzer wrote: »
    ubermofish wrote: »
    Serving sizes for chips of all kinds, like you're going to just eat 14 doritos once the bag is open.

    That's what I do...
    I can usually eat more, but yeah, I usually don't have any sort of problem putting the chips into a Tupperware for later.

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    ubermofish wrote: »
    Cooking spray being "0 calories" because the serving size is "1/4sec spray", it's still oil, and you have to use more than that.

    "low calorie" bread that is just a thinner slice of depressing, tough, flavorless bread.

    Serving sizes for chips of all kinds, like you're going to just eat 14 doritos once the bag is open.

    AMEN on low calorie bread!
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,647 Member
    Diet Mountain Dew.

    A 20 oz bottle is labeled 20 calories. That would make it 0.5 calories per oz. So, a 12 oz can should be 6 calories, but it's listed as zero. Not that I'm sweating the calories in diet soda, but seriously

    Aaaand it's too late to edit. A 20 oz diet dew is 10 calories.

    I believe the FDA regulations state than anything less than 10 calories is allowed to be labeled as 0. 10 cals is negligible but for people who drink this by the gallon, it can add up to 100 or 200 cals a day!

    Less than 5 calories per serving can be labeled as zero.
  • sylkates
    sylkates Posts: 173 Member
    edited May 2016
    [During the whole 'low fat' craze of the 90's and early 2000s, "low fat" was listed on many gummy and hard candies. *facepalm* I also remember an ad in Australia for a brand of gummy candies, and the ladies smile at the camera and exclaim that the candies are 100% FAT FREE!!!!!!! I think it was the 'Natural confectionery co'.
    Kraft 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese.
    Has 10% wood pulp in it, which is ok, but is it still 100% cheese?
    Yeah, cellulose...but woodpulp is stretching it, considering cellulose is the structural component of green plant cell walls (can be used to make paper and cardboard). Cellulose is also used as a filler for many medications, and is a thickener for many foods. Hmm.

    Lots of dietary cellulose DOES come from the lumber industry. Not just alarmist nonsense. Now whether or not that's bad, meh, it's generally recognized as safe. I was certainly surprised to find it out, too . I don't normally think of "trees" as "edible" but I guess I was wrong.
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    ...
    270732-4449647929927-791396043-n-jpg_184208.jpg

    I honestly couldn't see a use in either peeled oranges or this product, then I realized I'm not the target audience. I found out that a lot of elderly and those with physical disabilities that impact their ability to use their hands LOVE things like this. I never thought of it before then, but seriously, peeling a banana without smashing it into oblivion would be pretty tough if you lack the physical dexterity or strength, yeah?

    Kraft 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese.
    Has 10% wood pulp in it, which is ok, but is it still 100% cheese?
    Yeah, cellulose...but woodpulp is stretching it, considering cellulose is the structural component of green plant cell walls (can be used to make paper and cardboard). Cellulose is also used as a filler for many medications, and is a thickener for many foods. Hmm.

    Admittedly, the cellulose is not quite woodpulp. It's plant matter OR woodpulp that has been processed a little more, is all. As I understand it, cellulose in the USA is often made from corn. But quite frequently, the pulp in question originates from the Brazilian pine, for medication (I react to some of the original sources for cellulose, so I always have to find out what the cellulose was made from, if I ever got meds. :-P ).

    In a lot of foods, the purpose, from what I've read, is to keep foods from clumping on the machinery line. Bleh.
  • JaneSnowe
    JaneSnowe Posts: 1,283 Member
    shaumom wrote: »
    ...
    270732-4449647929927-791396043-n-jpg_184208.jpg

    I honestly couldn't see a use in either peeled oranges or this product, then I realized I'm not the target audience. I found out that a lot of elderly and those with physical disabilities that impact their ability to use their hands LOVE things like this. I never thought of it before then, but seriously, peeling a banana without smashing it into oblivion would be pretty tough if you lack the physical dexterity or strength, yeah?

    I've heard that argument before and I see its merits. Unfortunately, Billa, the Austrian grocery store where these were being sold, pulled them after their customers expressed displeasure to the point that Billa even had to shut down their Facebook page (temporarily, I'm assuming).
  • Amerane
    Amerane Posts: 136 Member
    CooCooPuff wrote: »
    The asparagus water reminded me of this:

    270732-4449647929927-791396043-n-jpg_184208.jpg

    Doesn't help you eat a banana any faster, increases the risk of contamination, and creates extra garbage.
    You know, the packaging it's in is extremely wasteful, but I don't think the prepeeled oranges are that bad of an idea.

    Peeled bananas on the other hand are just dumb.

    As someone who is allergic to the white fleshy parts of citrus peel, prepeeled oranges sound great. No problem with eating the peeled fruit, just have to use gloves to peel the darn things.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    shaumom wrote: »
    ...
    270732-4449647929927-791396043-n-jpg_184208.jpg

    I honestly couldn't see a use in either peeled oranges or this product, then I realized I'm not the target audience. I found out that a lot of elderly and those with physical disabilities that impact their ability to use their hands LOVE things like this. I never thought of it before then, but seriously, peeling a banana without smashing it into oblivion would be pretty tough if you lack the physical dexterity or strength, yeah?

    I've heard that argument before and I see its merits. Unfortunately, Billa, the Austrian grocery store where these were being sold, pulled them after their customers expressed displeasure to the point that Billa even had to shut down their Facebook page (temporarily, I'm assuming).
    I heard this argument on another website yesterday, along with a picture of prehalved avocados. My only real issue with bananas and avocados is that it both would spoil much more quickly. The bananas pictured already look pretty iffy to me. I'd rather suggest frozen bananas for someone that needed it.
    Amerane wrote: »
    CooCooPuff wrote: »
    The asparagus water reminded me of this:

    270732-4449647929927-791396043-n-jpg_184208.jpg

    Doesn't help you eat a banana any faster, increases the risk of contamination, and creates extra garbage.
    You know, the packaging it's in is extremely wasteful, but I don't think the prepeeled oranges are that bad of an idea.

    Peeled bananas on the other hand are just dumb.

    As someone who is allergic to the white fleshy parts of citrus peel, prepeeled oranges sound great. No problem with eating the peeled fruit, just have to use gloves to peel the darn things.
    I really don't understand why there was so much outrage over the oranges.

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