I'll admit it - I was recently bamboozled. Even though, I am fairly educated about nutrition, I still fell for one of the oldest food marketing scams in the business -- label manipulation.
Hot cocoa is one of my vices. Sweet, chocolaty and warm with minimal calories - how can you go wrong? So when I was recently grocery shopping, I figured I'd just go with the lowest calorie option to satisfy my cravings. A brand snob, I prefer Swiss Miss. I diligently read the labels and went with their Diet version because it only had 26 calories per packet compared to 120 for regular hot cocoa.
A few days later after drinking a few of the Diet cocoa packets and feeling dissatisfied, a light bulb went off. As I poured the packet into the cup, I realized there wasn't as much IN the packet. It was lighter and there was definitely less powder than the traditional packets. The next time I was in the grocery store, I again read the labels and compared the varieties...and guess what? The Diet packets contain only 1/3 (actually less than 1/3) of the original by weight! No wonder it is "diet," there is only 30% of the quantity.
Hot cocoa is one of my vices. Sweet, chocolaty and warm with minimal calories - how can you go wrong? So when I was recently grocery shopping, I figured I'd just go with the lowest calorie option to satisfy my cravings. A brand snob, I prefer Swiss Miss. I diligently read the labels and went with their Diet version because it only had 26 calories per packet compared to 120 for regular hot cocoa.
A few days later after drinking a few of the Diet cocoa packets and feeling dissatisfied, a light bulb went off. As I poured the packet into the cup, I realized there wasn't as much IN the packet. It was lighter and there was definitely less powder than the traditional packets. The next time I was in the grocery store, I again read the labels and compared the varieties...and guess what? The Diet packets contain only 1/3 (actually less than 1/3) of the original by weight! No wonder it is "diet," there is only 30% of the quantity.
Check out the label information for Swiss Miss' offerings:
Regular -- 120 calories, (1g protein, 23g carbs, 2g fat), serving size 28g
Diet -- 25 calories (2g protein, 4g carbs, 0g fat), serving size 8g
No sugar added -- 60 calories, (1g protein, 10g carbs, 1g fat) serving size 16g
Fat Free -- 50 calories (3g protein, 10g carbs, 0 fat), serving size not listed online
The Diet, No Sugar Added and Fat Free varieties are all essentially the same product nutritionally.
Swiss Miss is playing with the consumers fears and limited diet knowledge. Consumers who think fat is bad and low fat/fat free foods are the way to go will buy the Fat Free version, while those who are carb conscious and following the low carb craze will buy No Sugar Added. Note, the No Sugar Added still has 10g of carbs, just like the Fat Free version.
Companies use this trick to try to market products that are essentially identical as completely different products, thus upping sales. Some reduce quantity, some change packaging. The hot cocoa is just one example that reinforces why it is critical to read nutrition labels (especially serving sizes) so that you know exactly what you are getting.
Companies use this trick to try to market products that are essentially identical as completely different products, thus upping sales. Some reduce quantity, some change packaging. The hot cocoa is just one example that reinforces why it is critical to read nutrition labels (especially serving sizes) so that you know exactly what you are getting.
Thats a load of crap. I hate when companies do that. Thanks for letting me know. I will send Swiss Miss a little note on how that makes me feel...
ReplyDeletesteph h
www.livefitandsore.com