Lawsuit against ConAgra for misleading Spray Butter

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  • ljaroch
    ljaroch Posts: 64
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    The problem here is that people are getting hung up on the stupid person who poured a bottle of the "spray" all over her veggies. Let's just get this out of the way and say that yes, everyone in this conversation agrees that is a very stupid thing to do. That part of the story is clouding the fact that yes, the label is misleading and people shouldn't have to go on blogs and do scientific research to figure out if a label is lying to us.

    I honestly can't believe how rude people are being in this discussion, if you don't do extra research on everything you eat then you are stupid or don't have common sense. Weight loss is difficult and there is SO much data out there to be researched. We are on information overload here - research supports no carbs, some carbs, no fat, some fat, no sugar, fake sugar, tons of protein, vegetarianism, clean eating, green eating, low cal, no cal, fat free, only nuts and veggies, balanced meals, meal replacement shakes, diet pills, hcg, energy supplements, loads of vitamins, vitamin overload, cardio-only, no cardio, low weight high rep, high weight low rep, no rep, etc, etc.

    My point is, I bet we can all say we've done hours upon hours of research surrounding diet and fitness, but now I'm being told I have to distrust labels and investigate every food I eat or I lack common sense? I mean come on, does it really have to be this hard? If there's a label, label it correctly!!!
  • veerichie
    veerichie Posts: 214 Member
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    "Well ... I was also literally taking the top of the 'fat and calorie free butter' spray and pouring it on all my carefully steamed veggies when I found out that a bottle of that stuff is 90 fat grams. I was going through two bottles a week, and working out and getting fat and unhealthy."

    :noway:
  • veerichie
    veerichie Posts: 214 Member
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    "Well ... I was also literally taking the top of the 'fat and calorie free butter' spray and pouring it on all my carefully steamed veggies when I found out that a bottle of that stuff is 90 fat grams. I was going through two bottles a week, and working out and getting fat and unhealthy."

    :noway:
    If it were ME I would not dump that crap on my carefully steamed veggies. It kind of defeats the purpose.

    I did find this a little bit on the extreme side, but I agree that the label is misleading.
  • MrsBioChem
    MrsBioChem Posts: 80 Member
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    Thing is, people need to start taking at least a BIT of responsibility over what goes in their mouths, and not claim to be so naive.
    Doctors and dieticians tell people to eat that stuff, the FDA says they're safe and then they see the label and it reads zero calories. How is that naive?

    So the label says the whole thing is 0 calories? Sorry, not something that would happen here in UK, so i guess I can't comprehend

    No it says there is 0 in 5 sprays.

    But there's not zero calories in 5 sprays or the container wouldn't have 800 plus calories in it. It's deliberately misleading and an absolute joke that our labeling laws allow it.


    It is because they can round down. So five sprays does have some calories, but it is less than one. Therefore, they can technically put zero.
  • ljaroch
    ljaroch Posts: 64
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    "Well ... I was also literally taking the top of the 'fat and calorie free butter' spray and pouring it on all my carefully steamed veggies when I found out that a bottle of that stuff is 90 fat grams. I was going through two bottles a week, and working out and getting fat and unhealthy."

    :noway:
    If it were ME I would not dump that crap on my carefully steamed veggies. It kind of defeats the purpose.

    Your post reminded me that I found that part funny. Don't dump spray butter on CAREFULLY steamed veggies. What happens when you steam your veggies with reckless abandon? You better be careful or calories will sneak their way in? How many ways can you steam vegetables?
  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member
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    I'm on the fence with this one.

    While I agree that this woman needs a good dash of common sense to realize that it's a bottle of oil in her hands and the case should be thrown out, I hope it sparks a change in the FDA rules about package labeling.

    Being able to label anything that has less than five calories per serving is absolutely ridiculous. It's why a packet/serving of Splenda says that it's zero calories but a cup of Splenda is around 190 calories. Because each serving of Splenda is 4 calories, so people bake with it thinking that they are using no calories when they aren't.

    It also encourages stupid serving sizes so that companies can call their product zero calories. Like 3/4 of a pickle spear or 1/10 of a second spray, I've even seen things that were fractions of regular measurements, like 2/3 of a teaspoon.

    So while I think the woman is an idiot, I also think that the FDA label guidelines in regards to zero calories products is a joke and needs to be revised. And if something like this can maybe light some fires to make that happen, then I'd get behind that.

    Well said. :smile:

    Yep. Its the same with pickles or mustard. The label may say zero calories, but it has SUBSTANCE. Anything in a greater quantity then the serving size is obviously going to have a significant amout of calories.
  • ljaroch
    ljaroch Posts: 64
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    Not to out myself as an idiot or anything, but after reading this I thought I'd double check the label of the Starbucks Cool Lime Refresher and found that I was not drinking what I thought I was drinking. I usually read labels (which is why I want to be able to trust them), but for some reason I stupidly believed the Starbucks employee who told me it was made with Stevia and didn't have any sugar in it. The first ingredient is CANE SUGAR. 14 grams per packet. Wow. Okay so in that situation I was not using common sense, but I still maintain trusting a label feels like common sense.
  • RedHeadDevotchka
    RedHeadDevotchka Posts: 1,394 Member
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    The problem here is that people are getting hung up on the stupid person who poured a bottle of the "spray" all over her veggies. Let's just get this out of the way and say that yes, everyone in this conversation agrees that is a very stupid thing to do. That part of the story is clouding the fact that yes, the label is misleading and people shouldn't have to go on blogs and do scientific research to figure out if a label is lying to us.

    I honestly can't believe how rude people are being in this discussion, if you don't do extra research on everything you eat then you are stupid or don't have common sense. Weight loss is difficult and there is SO much data out there to be researched. We are on information overload here - research supports no carbs, some carbs, no fat, some fat, no sugar, fake sugar, tons of protein, vegetarianism, clean eating, green eating, low cal, no cal, fat free, only nuts and veggies, balanced meals, meal replacement shakes, diet pills, hcg, energy supplements, loads of vitamins, vitamin overload, cardio-only, no cardio, low weight high rep, high weight low rep, no rep, etc, etc.

    My point is, I bet we can all say we've done hours upon hours of research surrounding diet and fitness, but now I'm being told I have to distrust labels and investigate every food I eat or I lack common sense? I mean come on, does it really have to be this hard? If there's a label, label it correctly!!!

    Standing ovation. Thank you, thank you, thank you for clearing articulating what myself and others were (obviously) unable to correctly convey. (I mean that with all sincerity and no sarcasm as I can see someone taking it as such and there's already too much hate on this thread). So to you I say :drinker:
  • ljaroch
    ljaroch Posts: 64
    Options
    The problem here is that people are getting hung up on the stupid person who poured a bottle of the "spray" all over her veggies. Let's just get this out of the way and say that yes, everyone in this conversation agrees that is a very stupid thing to do. That part of the story is clouding the fact that yes, the label is misleading and people shouldn't have to go on blogs and do scientific research to figure out if a label is lying to us.

    I honestly can't believe how rude people are being in this discussion, if you don't do extra research on everything you eat then you are stupid or don't have common sense. Weight loss is difficult and there is SO much data out there to be researched. We are on information overload here - research supports no carbs, some carbs, no fat, some fat, no sugar, fake sugar, tons of protein, vegetarianism, clean eating, green eating, low cal, no cal, fat free, only nuts and veggies, balanced meals, meal replacement shakes, diet pills, hcg, energy supplements, loads of vitamins, vitamin overload, cardio-only, no cardio, low weight high rep, high weight low rep, no rep, etc, etc.

    My point is, I bet we can all say we've done hours upon hours of research surrounding diet and fitness, but now I'm being told I have to distrust labels and investigate every food I eat or I lack common sense? I mean come on, does it really have to be this hard? If there's a label, label it correctly!!!

    Standing ovation. Thank you, thank you, thank you for clearing articulating what myself and others were (obviously) unable to correctly convey. (I mean that with all sincerity and no sarcasm as I can see someone taking it as such and there's already too much hate on this thread). So to you I say :drinker:

    I'm happy to help! I think sometimes people just scan and pick out things they want to be up in arms about instead of assessing something as a whole. I felt like there were a lot of people in my boat so I wanted to stress the point!
  • MichelleLaree13
    MichelleLaree13 Posts: 865 Member
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    UMM I don't want to be rude but who unscrews the lid and pours it in their food? It is "SPRAY BUTTER" You are suppose to use a few sprays, not two containers a week!! I can see that maybe they need to put on there the calories for the whole bottle. But come on people!!

    Agreed!
  • MichelleLaree13
    MichelleLaree13 Posts: 865 Member
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    UMM I don't want to be rude but who unscrews the lid and pours it in their food? It is "SPRAY BUTTER" You are suppose to use a few sprays, not two containers a week!! I can see that maybe they need to put on there the calories for the whole bottle. But come on people!!

    I'm with you. If I'm being that careful with my food I intentionally use only 1 or 2 servings.

    Also, in USA if it's under 5 cals per serving it doesn't need to be labeled as having calories. And food labels are allowed to be up to 20% different from the actual food contained.
    But none of this is secret info and anyone being careful would know pouring it over your food isn't going to be good for you.

    Even if it was low calories like Olestra wouldnt you want to know what is in something you eat so much of? Knowing what you are eating is important. I was going to try Pringles with Olestra until someone told me it can cause anal leakage and other GI symptoms. When I think about crapping myself in public, being fat doesnt sound bad at all. :noway:
  • MichelleLaree13
    MichelleLaree13 Posts: 865 Member
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    It's not just one lady.... according to an article on CNN today:

    More than a dozen lawyers who took on the tobacco companies have filed 25 cases against industry players like ConAgra Foods, PepsiCo, Heinz, General Mills and Chobani

    The suits, filed over the last four months, assert that food makers are misleading consumers and violating federal regulations by wrongly labeling products and ingredients.

    The suits, filed over the last four months, assert that food makers are misleading consumers and violating federal regulations by wrongly labeling products and ingredients.


    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/business/lawyers-of-big-tobacco-lawsuits-take-aim-at-food-industry.html?exprod=myyahoo

    I wouldnt be surprised. Even my organic stuff has pesticides, just less. The ingrediant list for processed food is sooooooooo long there has to be weird/bad stuff in it.

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