Parkay 0 calorie butter spray is 832 calories a bottle!

theseus82

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/parkay-spray-lawsuit_n_2956709.html

We've been lied to! Parkey 0 calorie/0 fat alternative butter spray has .8 calories per spray and .085 grams of fat per spray!

A class action lawsuit for false advertising is underway. Here I've been thinking that I had found a way to make my air-popped popcorn taste like movie theatre popcorn! Some 800 calories per bottle and some 93 grams of fat per bottle!

You never get something for nothing! You always pay the piper somehow! Crap! I just bought 4 bottles of the stuff!

JDHINAZ

From the FDA.
N7. When the caloric value for a serving of a food is less than 5 calories, can the actual caloric value be declared?

Answer: The caloric value of a product containing less than 5 calories may be expressed as zero or to the nearest 5 calorie increment (i.e., zero or 5 depending on the level). Foods with less than 5 calories meet the definition of “calorie free” and any differences are dietarily insignificant. 21 CFR 101.9(c)(1)


On a similar note, Vlasic whole dill pickles are listed as zero calories per serving. Of course, a serving is 1 oz of a pickle. Like anyone only eats 1 oz of a pickle. Not THAT is lawsuit worthy!!

theseus82

I believe a whole dill pickle is about 25 calories depending on the size. That's not going to be the food that makes people gain massive weight!

It's like when WeightWatchers decided to change carrots from their zero point status. People were up in arms. My mother-in-law said, "Let's be realistic here, carrots is not the reason we need WW to lose weight!"

However, I do know that some WW members were eating tons of carrots because they had a zero point status. If you sit there all day and eat bags of carrots, at some point you have to start counting calories! But your skin turning orange is probably a good cue that you're overdoing the carrots!

Edit: because I literally just bought 4 bottles of the stuff for the next several weeks, the first thing I did after reading these articles is watered down my bottles with half spray and half water. I used my digital scale. I'll use up my supply, and then try to go to just plain airpopped popcorn. But I usually use less than 1 bottle per week. If I water it down I may just be able to keep using it.

BrianSharpe

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/parkay-spray-lawsuit_n_2956709.html

We've been lied to! Parkey 0 calorie/0 fat alternative butter spray has .8 calories per spray and .085 grams of fat per spray!

A class action lawsuit for false advertising is underway. Here I've been thinking that I had found a way to make my air-popped popcorn taste like movie theatre popcorn! Some 800 calories per bottle and some 93 grams of fat per bottle!

You never get something for nothing! You always pay the piper somehow! Crap! I just bought 4 bottles of the stuff!

Old news but.....how many servings do you get from 1 bottle and how many servings would you put on your popcorn? Does it really add that many calories?

theseus82

A bottle usually last me about 9 days. That's only about 100 calories a day. But they're what I used to call "crypto calories." For a while I never counted things like carrots, celery, or sugar-free jello. Then I realized that that decision led me to eat so much of those foods that the hidden calories were adding up. For a while I tracked all the "crypto calories" in the notes section for all the foods that I previously never counted. The tally reached 200 to 300 per day. Then I stopped keeping the tally in the notes but kept counting them from then on.

I only elected not to count certain low calorie foods because I was adapting the MFP site to how some parts of WeightWatchers worked. WW had zero point foods, so I had done the same here. . .

TribeHokie

Actually this isn't new. This was pointed out to me several years ago when spray butter had just come out.

"Berman also charges that with its Parkay Spray, ConAgra is intentionally targeting a health-conscious portion of the public. "You really wouldn't buy it unless you thought it had zero calories and zero fat," Berman said. "

False. Knowing that it does have calories I still buy it because I use it as intended. 5-10 sprays is all I use at any given time, knowing full well that each spray is just shy of a calorie. Doesn't bother me. And I prefer buying the spray bottle because it is easier to get a bit of butter flavor with the bottle than trying to scrape out ten calories worth of margarine from the tub.

I can go on about how the company is legally allowed to set its own serving size and manipulate this to where they can legally state that the calorie and fat content are both 0 but I won't. Guess what? PAM has calories too. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/9751/2

Edit: Also, I'd much rather have realish butter in spray form with all its calories than some sort of chemically butter flavored water. Though what do I know...that may be what it is anyway. Meh.

theseus82

Actually this isn't new. This was pointed out to me several years ago when spray butter had just come out.

"Berman also charges that with its Parkay Spray, ConAgra is intentionally targeting a health-conscious portion of the public. "You really wouldn't buy it unless you thought it had zero calories and zero fat," Berman said. "

False. Knowing that it does have calories I still buy it because I use it as intended. 5-10 sprays is all I use at any given time, knowing full well that each spray is just shy of a calorie. Doesn't bother me. And I prefer buying the spray bottle because it is easier to get a bit of butter flavor with the bottle than trying to scrape out ten calories worth of margarine from the tub.

I can go on about how the company is legally allowed to set its own serving size and manipulate this to where they can legally state that the calorie and fat content are both 0 but I won't. Guess what? PAM has calories too. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/9751/2

Edit: Also, I'd much rather have realish butter in spray form with all its calories than some sort of chemically butter flavored water. Though what do I know...that may be what it is anyway. Meh.

That's all well and good. I will probably keep using some of this myself. But I do intend to water it down 50%. Manipulating serving size is something that is industry wide. But you have to admit TribeHokie that Parkay has done this specifically to make people think that there are no calories in the spray. It would be more accurate if companies had to say "1 calorie" if it was something like .8.

There are plenty of books and documentaries about how the food industry lets people believe that those zero fat candies or low sugar fattening treats are healthy. A lot of people don't even know what healthy food is, so when a box says "now with real fruit" and it's absolute crap, customers are quite clueless. They think, "if these are healthy snacks, I can eat as much as I want! And they do. We should have a movement for more honest labeling in the food industry, and that includes identifying foods to the nearest calorie in single digits, and not rounding a 4 calorie serving down to zero. Many consumers aren't educated enough to identify that canned spaghettios with meatballs and banana nut cereal isn't actually good for them.

melindasuefritz

how did you think it would be 0 to start with............................
wow

MistyEE

I have used this stuff before....but I never went through a bottle in a week, and there was three of us using it.

Also, it is a really good thing you are using it up fast. I had a bottle that hadn't been used in a couple months, and it wouldn't spray. So I opened it.
YIKES.
Looked like soap scum/hard water build up. Actual deposits of yuck.

evileen99

If you read the ingredients, soybean oil is second on the list. You would know that it really isn't zero calories.

ksuh999

A bottle usually last me about 9 days. That's only about 100 calories a day. But they're what I used to call "crypto calories." For a while I never counted things like carrots, celery, or sugar-free jello. Then I realized that that decision led me to eat so much of those foods that the hidden calories were adding up. For a while I tracked all the "crypto calories" in the notes section for all the foods that I previously never counted. The tally reached 200 to 300 per day. Then I stopped keeping the tally in the notes but kept counting them from then on.

I only elected not to count certain low calorie foods because I was adapting the MFP site to how some parts of WeightWatchers worked. WW had zero point foods, so I had done the same here. . .

200 calories of carrots is around 500 grams, or over a pound.

You ate a pound of carrots a day??

hungryhobbit1

Just eat butter.

Problem solved.

ValerieMartini2Olives

A bottle usually last me about 9 days.

Good lord. How much are you putting on at a time? I bought a bottle like 3 months ago and have barely gotten through a half inch of it. I put 10 sprays on a waffle and that is way more than enough to get that buttery taste.

TrailNurse

Soybean oil (2nd ingredient) is one of the highest genetically modified foods and is not good for you. It's basically crap!

Cbandelier

Zero calorie coffee creamer works the same way. I don't remember the exact numbers but it adds up to a lot more calories than one would think.

TribeHokie

That's all well and good. I will probably keep using some of this myself. But I do intend to water it down 50%. Manipulating serving size is something that is industry wide. But you have to admit TribeHokie that Parkay has done this specifically to make people think that there are no calories in the spray. It would be more accurate if companies had to say "1 calorie" if it was something like .8.

There are plenty of books and documentaries about how the food industry lets people believe that those zero fat candies or low sugar fattening treats are healthy. A lot of people don't even know what healthy food is, so when a box says "now with real fruit" and it's absolute crap, customers are quite clueless. They think, "if these are healthy snacks, I can eat as much as I want! And they do. We should have a movement for more honest labeling in the food industry, and that includes identifying foods to the nearest calorie in single digits, and not rounding a 4 calorie serving down to zero. Many consumers aren't educated enough to identify that canned spaghettios with meatballs and banana nut cereal isn't actually good for them.

Oh yeah, I'm not arguing that point at all. That's advertising. Just saying, they're legally allowed to do what they're doing but if you understand what you're getting in to then it isn't a horrible product.

onwarddownward

I just skip the butter altogether. With butter, there is no such thing as no cal.

Contrarian

Please be kidding.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Actually this isn't new. This was pointed out to me several years ago when spray butter had just come out.

"Berman also charges that with its Parkay Spray, ConAgra is intentionally targeting a health-conscious portion of the public. "You really wouldn't buy it unless you thought it had zero calories and zero fat," Berman said. "

False. Knowing that it does have calories I still buy it because I use it as intended. 5-10 sprays is all I use at any given time, knowing full well that each spray is just shy of a calorie. Doesn't bother me. And I prefer buying the spray bottle because it is easier to get a bit of butter flavor with the bottle than trying to scrape out ten calories worth of margarine from the tub.

I can go on about how the company is legally allowed to set its own serving size and manipulate this to where they can legally state that the calorie and fat content are both 0 but I won't. Guess what? PAM has calories too. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/9751/2

Edit: Also, I'd much rather have realish butter in spray form with all its calories than some sort of chemically butter flavored water. Though what do I know...that may be what it is anyway. Meh.

That's all well and good. I will probably keep using some of this myself. But I do intend to water it down 50%. Manipulating serving size is something that is industry wide. But you have to admit TribeHokie that Parkay has done this specifically to make people think that there are no calories in the spray. It would be more accurate if companies had to say "1 calorie" if it was something like .8.

There are plenty of books and documentaries about how the food industry lets people believe that those zero fat candies or low sugar fattening treats are healthy. A lot of people don't even know what healthy food is, so when a box says "now with real fruit" and it's absolute crap, customers are quite clueless. They think, "if these are healthy snacks, I can eat as much as I want! And they do. We should have a movement for more honest labeling in the food industry, and that includes identifying foods to the nearest calorie in single digits, and not rounding a 4 calorie serving down to zero. Many consumers aren't educated enough to identify that canned spaghettios with meatballs and banana nut cereal isn't actually good for them.

Do you know that the calorie count is allowed to be up to 20% off as well? I'm not sure that putting a precise calorie count is even very feasible. Calorie counting is an estimation. There are things you can do to make it as accurate as possible but it's never going to be completely 100% accurate.

shartran

A bottle usually last me about 9 days.

Good lord. How much are you putting on at a time? I bought a bottle like 3 months ago and have barely gotten through a half inch of it. I put 10 sprays on a waffle and that is way more than enough to get that buttery taste.

It does sound a little excessive! Just think, if you stopped doing this...you'd loose 8 lbs. in one year just by not eating this 'stuff'!

theseus82

A bottle usually last me about 9 days. That's only about 100 calories a day. But they're what I used to call "crypto calories." For a while I never counted things like carrots, celery, or sugar-free jello. Then I realized that that decision led me to eat so much of those foods that the hidden calories were adding up. For a while I tracked all the "crypto calories" in the notes section for all the foods that I previously never counted. The tally reached 200 to 300 per day. Then I stopped keeping the tally in the notes but kept counting them from then on.

I only elected not to count certain low calorie foods because I was adapting the MFP site to how some parts of WeightWatchers worked. WW had zero point foods, so I had done the same here. . .

200 calories of carrots is around 500 grams, or over a pound.

You ate a pound of carrots a day??

I never said that I ate a pound of carrots a day. The story was that people on WeightWatchers would eat tons of carrots but then nearly rioted in the streets when WW announced that carrots were no longer zero calories. Read more closely. . .

What I said was that the "crypto calories" I was tracking would add up to 200 to 300 calories a day. That included carrots, sugar free jellos (made double strength in a container, thus 80 calories a piece sometimes), sometimes apples, etc. . .

theseus82

A bottle usually last me about 9 days.

Good lord. How much are you putting on at a time? I bought a bottle like 3 months ago and have barely gotten through a half inch of it. I put 10 sprays on a waffle and that is way more than enough to get that buttery taste.

It does sound a little excessive! Just think, if you stopped doing this...you'd loose 8 lbs. in one year just by not eating this 'stuff'!

I really don't know what is happening on the MFP community that makes everyone so snarky lately. I have lost 39 pounds since December of last year and 110 pounds since I started my weightloss efforts in earnest in 2006. I have not always had supportive SOs (one who stored twinkies, little debbies, chocolate donuts, and other junkfoods in her closet). My family has not been supportive either. I am relentlessly condescended by my brother for being a vegetarian. He constantly goads me that my lifestyle is unhealthy, all the while he has gained about 40 pounds in the last 2 years. . .

Yes, I use a bottle about every 9 days up to now. I was spraying a **** ton of it on air popped popcorn because the result was popcorn that tasted like movie theatre popcorn with butter. Now I'm watering down the bottles by 50%, and I'll probably taper myself off of them until I can adjust to plain air popped popcorn.

I've been steadily losing all year. Don't assume that "[I'd] lose 9 more pounds a year [if my habits were better]". You don't know me, and you know nothing of my strategies. I really can't believe how much cattiness has invaded the message boards in the brief time I've been away. . .

corgicake

I always thought it hilarious, the audacity of Pam spray to claim 'zero calories!' and 'made with real olive OIL!' on the same label. It's useful for coating pans with a thin layer of fat but being the perpetually broke college kid I am I've hit on a cheaper one: freeze blocks of beef tallow or other renderables and rub the frozen block on the pan. I tested this one out tonight making tomorrow's breakfast (pancakes!) and it seems to work pretty well.

magerum

It's a dosage/serving issue. Not lawsuit worthy.

brower47

One bottle of whatever spay I use, Pam maybe, lasts me about 2.5 months.

You're using it wrong. Anyone that depressed that plunger for a minute or more and is then surprised to find out it isn't 0 calories... well, my sympathy will go to kicked puppies instead. Because the puppies weren't kicked because they were completely clueless. And even if that is why they were kicked, you still shouldn't kick puppies.

Because, puppies.

moxiecowgirl

A bottle usually last me about 9 days.

Good lord. How much are you putting on at a time? I bought a bottle like 3 months ago and have barely gotten through a half inch of it. I put 10 sprays on a waffle and that is way more than enough to get that buttery taste.

It does sound a little excessive! Just think, if you stopped doing this...you'd loose 8 lbs. in one year just by not eating this 'stuff'!

I really don't know what is happening on the MFP community that makes everyone so snarky lately. I have lost 39 pounds since December of last year and 110 pounds since I started my weightloss efforts in earnest in 2006...

I've been steadily losing all year. Don't assume that "[I'd] lose 9 more pounds a year [if my habits were better]". You don't know me, and you know nothing of my strategies. I really can't believe how much cattiness has invaded the message boards in the brief time I've been away. . .

Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't see anything snarky about what that person said. A bottle of spray margarine in 9 days IS excessive. The fact that you're losing steadily is great, but doesn't negate the fact that you probably WOULD lose more if you cut this product out. You weren't criticised, told you were wrong, or called names. On the MFP snark scale, this doesn't even qualify as slow pitch softball. It certainly didn't warrant that outburst. Numbers are numbers, and you're not a special snowflake.

Congratulations on your impressive loss, and I wish you continued success...honestly, no snark intended. :flowerforyou:

rgugs13

How about skipping the chemical laden spray "butter" crap all together and using less of the good stuff. In my experience, the chemical stuff messes with taste. It is distorts it so you get used to everything being so over saturated with one flavor, anything else tastes bland without lots of extra put on. Sodas do the same thing, doesn't matter if it is diet or regular. Stop trying to make movie style popcorn healthy. It just isn't. Instead try using less real butter or some of the toppings in the link below. They have more calories, but will be way more flavorful and satisfying


http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/cooking-ideas/25-easy-delicious-ways-flavor-popcorn-without-salt

ksuh999

A bottle usually last me about 9 days. That's only about 100 calories a day. But they're what I used to call "crypto calories." For a while I never counted things like carrots, celery, or sugar-free jello. Then I realized that that decision led me to eat so much of those foods that the hidden calories were adding up. For a while I tracked all the "crypto calories" in the notes section for all the foods that I previously never counted. The tally reached 200 to 300 per day. Then I stopped keeping the tally in the notes but kept counting them from then on.

I only elected not to count certain low calorie foods because I was adapting the MFP site to how some parts of WeightWatchers worked. WW had zero point foods, so I had done the same here. . .

200 calories of carrots is around 500 grams, or over a pound.

You ate a pound of carrots a day??

I never said that I ate a pound of carrots a day. The story was that people on WeightWatchers would eat tons of carrots but then nearly rioted in the streets when WW announced that carrots were no longer zero calories. Read more closely. . .

What I said was that the "crypto calories" I was tracking would add up to 200 to 300 calories a day. That included carrots, sugar free jellos (made double strength in a container, thus 80 calories a piece sometimes), sometimes apples, etc. . .

I'd hardly call those crypto calories, if you chose to ignore that you ate an entire package of Jello in one sitting. Yikes.

shartran

A bottle usually last me about 9 days.

Good lord. How much are you putting on at a time? I bought a bottle like 3 months ago and have barely gotten through a half inch of it. I put 10 sprays on a waffle and that is way more than enough to get that buttery taste.

It does sound a little excessive! Just think, if you stopped doing this...you'd loose 8 lbs. in one year just by not eating this 'stuff'!

I really don't know what is happening on the MFP community that makes everyone so snarky lately. I have lost 39 pounds since December of last year and 110 pounds since I started my weightloss efforts in earnest in 2006. I have not always had supportive SOs (one who stored twinkies, little debbies, chocolate donuts, and other junkfoods in her closet). My family has not been supportive either. I am relentlessly condescended by my brother for being a vegetarian. He constantly goads me that my lifestyle is unhealthy, all the while he has gained about 40 pounds in the last 2 years. . .

Yes, I use a bottle about every 9 days up to now. I was spraying a **** ton of it on air popped popcorn because the result was popcorn that tasted like movie theatre popcorn with butter. Now I'm watering down the bottles by 50%, and I'll probably taper myself off of them until I can adjust to plain air popped popcorn.

I've been steadily losing all year. Don't assume that "[I'd] lose 9 more pounds a year [if my habits were better]". You don't know me, and you know nothing of my strategies. I really can't believe how much cattiness has invaded the message boards in the brief time I've been away. . .

Just so you know...I never meant any 'snarkyness' your way. I know everyone is on their own journey and you were just commenting on your newly discovered knowledge about the things you were partaking in. I was just sharing my 'two cents' too. You sound determined to 'get there'. Great job on the accomplishments thus far...Keep going:)

bcattoes

I find the fact that there are so many people who actually thought it is calorie free no matter the amount is more disturbing than the fact that the label says fat-free and calorie-free.

Does no one read the ingredient labels? Or do these people actually believe there is fat-free calorie-free oil?

Akimajuktuq

I have used this stuff before....but I never went through a bottle in a week, and there was three of us using it.

Also, it is a really good thing you are using it up fast. I had a bottle that hadn't been used in a couple months, and it wouldn't spray. So I opened it.
YIKES.
Looked like soap scum/hard water build up. Actual deposits of yuck.

^so that wasn't a hint that maybe you shouldn't put it in your body? But instead one should eat more, faster.... Wow.

Another lesson to read ingredients. Please, read ingredients on the stuff you put in your body. Better yet, know what the ingredients are. And consider that there are ingredients that companies don't even have to list.