The Girl Scouts of the USA tried hard to squeeze some actual healthy stuff into their new cookie. And now they're trying just as hard to defend themselves against criticism that the Mango Cr?me is nothing but a sugary sham.
The Scouts raised eyebrows last month when they began selling the cookie, touting the partnership with a company called NutriFusion. The South Carolina-based company makes GrandFusion, a product made by grinding freeze-dried fruits and veggies into a powder and adding it to various foods.
The new Mango Creme cookie.
ADVERTISEMENT
NutriFusion says its product "supercharges" the nutritional value of food without altering its taste. "GrandFusion is a blend of fruits and/or vegetables that can significantly increase the nutritional profile, and therefore the marketability, of food, beverage and snack products," the company says on its website.
ABC Bakers, one of two national suppliers of Girl Scout cookies, went a step further by stating that the new cookie contains "all the nutrient benefits of eating cranberries, pomegranates, oranges, grapes, and strawberries!"
ABC adds: "Try some today and enjoy a delicious new way to get your vitamins!"
That claim, including the exclamation points, must have been a bridge too far for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the public-health advocate group out of Washington. The group's CEO, Anna Maria Chavez, sent a letter to the Girl Scouts, urging them to stop promoting the cookie as a healthy product.
"Unfortunately that cookie does not have the 'nutrient benefits' of eating fruit, but does have 4 grams of heart-disease-promoting saturated fat and 11 grams of tooth-decaying sugars per three-cookie serving," the letter says. "We are concerned that by marketing these cookies as a 'delicious new way to get your vitamins,' the Girl Scouts is misleading its members and supporters and undermining their health."
The center points out that 98 percent of the crisp, coconut-flavored Mango Cr?me consists of enriched flour, dextrose (a form of sugar) and palm oil. Among the ingredients in the other 2 percent are soy lecithin, citric acid, malic acid and annatto (a natural dye that comes from the achiote tree in Latin and South America). It has "nutrients from natural whole food concentrate," including cranberry, pomegranate, orange, grape, strawberry and even shiitake mushrooms, added for their vitamin D content.
Are the cookies horrible for you? Not if you don't eat a whole box at a time, probably. According to the label, each three-cookie serving (36 grams) has 15 percent of the daily recommended intake of vitamin B1, and 6 percent each of A, C, D, E and B6. A serving also has 180 calories and 8 grams of fat. By comparison, a two-cookie serving of the popular Caramel deLites has 130 calories, 6 grams of fat (5g saturated) and 12 grams of sugar.
The Girl Scouts of the USA responded to the letter with a statement defending the besieged cookie.
"This variety was inspired by consumer research that points to a preference for sandwich cr?me cookies, and a resurgent interest in adding vitamins and nutrients to snack foods in North America. The Mango Cr?me is not the first Girl Scout Cookie produced that includes a benefit associated with an added ingredient, or a benefit associated with a reduced or removed ingredient.
"All Girl Scout cookies should be considered an occasional treat and eaten in moderation."
Cookie season ends March 10.
Contact the writer: lhall@ocregister.com or 714-796-2221
-
National Girl Scout Cookie Day
Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/cookie-495879-girl-grams.html
Chris Brown Tattoo Innocence of Muslims Clara Schumann Jael Strauss Alison Pill Sam Bacile sprint
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.