Walden Farms

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zezelryck
zezelryck Posts: 251 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Anyone got any info on these products. Can they truly be zero calories? From the few people that I have spoken to about them who have tried them, the general consensus seems to be pretty negative. Discuss.
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  • amblight
    amblight Posts: 350 Member
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    I tried the chocolate sauce, as that seemed to have less negative feedback than their other products...

    It tasted AWFUL! I never, ever, ever, throw food out, even if it's really badly tasting, I'll just keep addig a tea spoon to all things until it's gone, but this sauce was just so awful I had to throw it out. And I'm not picky either, I don't mind the flavour of "mockoclate" in other products, but YUCK!

    It's pretty close to zero calories, as it's mostly water and flavourings, and I suppose it can be pretty good for diet, as you will have to throw away your food if you use it on any :laugh:
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,514 Member
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    i tried the caramel sauce which had a weird chemical taste and the pancake syrup which made my throat feel like i had swallowed fire. needless to say it found its way into my bin
  • wolfsbayne
    wolfsbayne Posts: 3,116 Member
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    I've had the honey mustard dressing, the chocolate sauce and the thousand island dressing. I didn't find any of these to be off putting. I actually liked the thousand island dressing. I could take or leave the chocolate sauce.
  • shaynepoole
    shaynepoole Posts: 493 Member
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    I actually like them - as with any product, I'm sure there will be people on both sides of the fence. The jams I'm not overly crazy about, but the chocolate, caramel syrups work for me as do most of the salad dressings

    while I am sure there is a great taste variation from the full flavored chocolate syrups, etc -- as a diabetic, I hadn't eaten that stuff in years so I am sure that if I every tried a full sugar variation, I would go ... "so that's what I have been missing" but as I am recently off meds, I prefer to get my carbs and sugar from foods with substance as opposed to the syrups and salad dressings I do use.
    the peanut spread is pretty meh also, but I generally just add it for flavoring when I am cooking as opposed to using it as an actual peanut butter substitute

    in my opinion a pb&j sandwich using the walden farms product would be kind of awful, but what I use them for works for me
  • NaurielR
    NaurielR Posts: 429 Member
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    They fit the usda guideline of calorie free; for a serving size, they have less than 5 calories. Are they truly "calorie free"? No. If you look at the ingredients list youll see an asterisk that says "contains trace calories". There are calories in the products. However, these are still very low calorie products; you'd have to eat a large quantity for the calories to matter

    And therein lies the problem. I do not have a refined palate by anyone's standards, but the vast majority of Waldens products are unpalatable (and that's putting it lightly. Very lightly).

    The only products that I like are the pancake syrup and Asian salad dressing. Honestly, I'm very impressed by the syrup. Occasionally I'm tempted to sip it straight from the bottle.

    The salad dressings are pretty bad. They have a horrible aftertaste (and I'm usually someone who doesn't notice an "aftertaste" in diet foods). And it's not just a slight aftertaste either. It's downright offensive.

    The sundried tomato Italian dressing and raspberry vinegrette are not bad, but they're also not good. If you're desperate for something very low calorie, they are passable.

    Their caramel syrup tastes like butterscotch, not caramel. I don't like butterscotch all that much, so I can't truly judge it, but I think someone that does enjoy butterscotch would like it.

    I tried the apple jelly, and it was okay. The taste wasn't offensive, but the texture was off putting. Sorta like really firm jello without the bounce.

    Just stay away from the peanut butter. The stuff in that jar comes straight from the radioactive sludge that mutates the creature from a B monster movie.

    Long story short I would spend money on the pancake syrup and Asian dressing, but nothing else.
  • venus_blue
    venus_blue Posts: 103 Member
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    About a year ago when I was still trying to find ways to cheat my taste-buds and avoid "evil" junk food, I bought the chocolate peanut butter spread (I think that's what it was) and the barbecue sauce (though the bbq sauce was mainly for my diabetic friend) . They were both horrible. The chocolate spread tasted (if you can even call what was happening on my tongue "tasting") like bland chocolate pudding made with super synthetic sweeteners. The barbecue sauce was only slightly better, but tasted slightly medicinal and sweet, like liquid smoke mixed with cough syrup and the water from the ketchup bottle thrown in for good measure.

    I also have a hard time ever throwing food away, even if it's not great I'll find some way to use it. The chocolate stuff went right in the bin. Even my teenage son, who will eat anything not running from him, wouldn't touch it. He did eat some chicken wings I made with the barbecue sauce, after I mixed in some spices and a little actual barbecue sauce to help the taste.

    They have a display of Walden Farms products in my local grocery store - I cringe every time I walk past it. Now I just eat the real deal and work it into my daily calorie goal.
  • amberj32
    amberj32 Posts: 663 Member
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    I recently purchased three kinds - chocolate dip, strawberry spread and marshmallow dip. Some girls at work swear by Walden Farms, that's why I tried them. I was diagnosed with diabetes a couple months ago and the zero calorie and zero carb was tempting. Chocolate dip is pudding like consistency and not that good tasting. Strawberry spread doesn't spread and is like a thick jello. Not very tasty. Marshmallow dip is a pudding like consistency and a little weird tasting but it was the best of the bunch. I definitely won't waste my money on these again! They were $4.99 each.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,280 Member
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    They are disgusting, horrible, terrible, junk. Save your money and run far far away from this mess.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    I do not believe people need to only follow clean eating, I eat artificial sweeteners, processed food, all kinds of stuff people say will kill you. I am not willing to eat whatever chemical madness is in this frankenfood to make zero calorie ranch dressing, maple syrup and what not...
  • MarshallLuke
    MarshallLuke Posts: 177 Member
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    But... but.... but calories are ultimately energy. Your body breaks down foodstuffs and turns it to energy. I just looked at Walden Farms and saw everything is 0 calories. Therefore, not foodstuff. I guess what I am trying to say is WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT!
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    I do not believe people need to only follow clean eating, I eat artificial sweeteners, processed food, all kinds of stuff people say will kill you. I am not willing to eat whatever chemical madness is in this frankenfood to make zero calorie ranch dressing, maple syrup and what not...

    ^This. I love my Diet Pepsi and Splenda and aspartame in my coffee, but the Walden Farms "shenanigans" and "wizardry" is just TOO much for me. I don't care what it takes; I WILL fit butter and olive oil and peanut butter and sour cream (well, Greek yogurt for a tasty sub) and occasionally REAL ranch and mayo into my calorie goal. Just not worth it, taste wise.
  • zezelryck
    zezelryck Posts: 251 Member
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    I have never eaten them myself, I have seen them in some of my MFP friends food diaries. I live in the UK and the only place I have seen them is in a couple of "sports nutrition" stores. If everybody was raving about them I would have tried them but from these responses I think I will save my money. :-)
  • BunBun85
    BunBun85 Posts: 246 Member
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    I love the pancake syrup, super tasty. I haven't tried any of the other products.
  • 2BeHappy2
    2BeHappy2 Posts: 811 Member
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    I bought Walden Farms Calorie Free - Whipped Peanut Spread about 6 wks ago because 2 months ago I was surprised at how many calories were in my Jif.
    I made my 1st PB & sugar free jam sandwich and didn't hardly care for it (its still in my fridge after only using it 1 time).
    I haven't been able to bring myself to eating more of it yet I hate the thought of throwing it away because it actually cost me more than the real PB!
    Ive heard of PB2 but I cant say I relish the thought of using that either...something about it coming in powder form & having to use water to make it into a paste?
    Anyways, the Walden PB said no calories so I was pretty excited (regardless of the bland taste) but then this is what it showed as:
    Walden Farms Calorie Free - Whipped Peanut Spread, 1 Tablespoons 2 0 0 0 0 0 (2 calories, everything else was zero's)
    BTW....great before/after pics, good job!!
  • DellaWiedel
    DellaWiedel Posts: 125 Member
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    But... but.... but calories are ultimately energy. Your body breaks down foodstuffs and turns it to energy. I just looked at Walden Farms and saw everything is 0 calories. Therefore, not foodstuff. I guess what I am trying to say is WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT!

    LOL YES. I saw some Walden Farms Ketchup in the discount bin at the grocery store the other day, and when I saw it had zero calories, I was all freaked out. I can imagine LOW calorie ketchup, but NO calorie? What in the world is this stuff?!
  • crepes_
    crepes_ Posts: 583 Member
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    I think they're just barely allowed to market it as zero calorie. I log everything as having 10 cals per serving and use Walden Farms products in small amounts when I eat them. If you look at the nutritional info, it's mostly made of water and flavorings.

    I really like their strawberry and raspberry jelly. I've used their honey mustard, which is great when mixed with regular yellow mustard. I've also used their thousand island dressing, which tastes just like any other thousand island dressing. Their raspberry salad dressing is unbelievably sweet, so I thin it out with other things. The chocolate sauce tastes like a shoe and is even worse when cold.
  • DellaWiedel
    DellaWiedel Posts: 125 Member
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    I think they're just barely allowed to market it as zero calorie. I log everything as having 10 cals per serving and use Walden Farms products in small amounts when I eat them. If you look at the nutritional info, it's mostly made of water and flavorings.

    I really like their strawberry and raspberry jelly. I've used their honey mustard, which is great when mixed with regular yellow mustard. I've also used their thousand island dressing, which tastes just like any other thousand island dressing. Their raspberry salad dressing is unbelievably sweet, so I thin it out with other things. The chocolate sauce tastes like a shoe and is even worse when cold.

    I had wondered if the "zero calorie" thing was some sort of marketing ploy. That seems deceptive to me though. I'm sure people read "zero calorie" so they use lots of it, but they might actually be getting hidden calories, especially if they use the products a lot.
  • VitaminAmy
    VitaminAmy Posts: 130 Member
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    I try to eat as natural as possible whenever I can... but I'll have to admit the salad dressings are tempting. :embarassed:
  • Naley2322
    Naley2322 Posts: 181 Member
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    I actually like a few of the dressings like the thousand island for dips, balsamic, Asian, and the raspberry vinaigrette and I love the spicy BBQ sauce.... However I log them as 4 calories per serving not 0
  • VitaminAmy
    VitaminAmy Posts: 130 Member
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    I actually like a few of the dressings like the thousand island for dips, balsamic, Asian, and the raspberry vinaigrette and I love the spicy BBQ sauce.... However I log them as 4 calories per serving not 0

    Logging as 4 calories is a good idea.
    I looked up the Thousand Island on fooducate and it got a B- rating, which isn't so terrible, lol.

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