Blueberries faked in cereals, muffins, bagels and other food products - Food Investigations

Of course they're fake! How else could they have such a long shelf life? Duh!

RuKiddingMe!! wrote:

exposes the deceptive chemical ingredients and dishonest marketing of "blueberry" products from big-name food and cereal companies.

http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=7EC06D27B1A945BE85E7DA8483025962

You post the stupidest threads. I've been telling you that for almost a year now and they never get any more intelligent. When are you going to start using your brain?

I learned this over a decade ago. Almost all fruit in commercial baked goods is fake. Vanilla in most vanilla ice cream is fake. Even the colors of the foods you eat is fake. etc. Its sickening, and thats why I try to shop at health food stores or places that have natural foods.

haha YO wrote:

You post the stupidest threads. I've been telling you that for almost a year now and they never get any more intelligent. When are you going to start using your brain?

But I never saw your threads. If you honestly care about consumer advocacy and healthy living, you'd be happy this dude posted it. I appreciated the link.

haha YO wrote:

You post the stupidest threads. I've been telling you that for almost a year now and they never get any more intelligent. When are you going to start using your brain?

No, his threads are fantastic... and needed.

You may already know this stuff, but most Americans do not... as they fill their carts with food-like substances at the local Wal-Mart.

It is disgusting.

If you chose to eat this way, fine. That is cool. When you think you are eating blueberries b/c a company pulls the wool down over your eyes... well, that is grotesque. Reminds me of that scene in Titus where Titus serves everyone the pie made of human flesh. They all sit there and eat it, totally unaware.

Are chocolate chip bagels still OK?

bobby e. wrote:

Are chocolate chip bagels still OK?

If you eat chocolate chip bagels, you deserve whatever you get.

Yeah, advertisers are a bunch of liars.

Big Macs are not big. McLiars!

Starbucks tall drinks are short, not tall. Liar Shortbucks!

Please stop buying anything from these, and all, lying companies. We need to get tough on them.

So the Fruit Loops I ate this morning were not actual loops of fruit?

Could you elaborate on this?

I haven't had a chocolate chip bagel in a long time, but I find myself wanting one this morning.

I LOVE chocolate chip bagels. Chocolate chips are great! Bagels are great! What could be better?

OK, besides a bacon AND chocolate chip bagel, smothered in pure maple syrup and topped with whipped cream.

Thank god for that - I hate blueberries

There is plenty of tough to go around.

Same Here wrote:

I LOVE chocolate chip bagels. Chocolate chips are great! Bagels are great! What could be better?

OK, besides a bacon AND chocolate chip bagel, smothered in pure maple syrup and topped with whipped cream.

Swap the whipped cream for peanutbutter and you have a good base to work from.

I'm curious - don't you Americans have any laws about this?

In the UK we have something called the "Trades Description Act" and I am pretty sure this would be illegal. Frequently, when a product has a misleading name, they get slapped publicly and have to change it. Also, every food product must have an ingredients list, with ingredients in order of their proportion. So if something says "Blueberry Pop Tart" and the blueberries were 17th on the ingredients list after the E-numbers, you can tell pretty quickly that they added one token berry to the mixing vat ;-)

What rules are there on food labelling and description in the USA? And why can't people campaign for stronger ones?

Say, does the UK Government have to adhere to the "Trades Description Act" also? What about the BBC?

sanctimonious Brit wrote:

I'm curious - don't you Americans have any laws about this?

In the UK we have something called the "Trades Description Act" and I am pretty sure this would be illegal. Frequently, when a product has a misleading name, they get slapped publicly and have to change it. Also, every food product must have an ingredients list, with ingredients in order of their proportion. So if something says "Blueberry Pop Tart" and the blueberries were 17th on the ingredients list after the E-numbers, you can tell pretty quickly that they added one token berry to the mixing vat ;-)

What rules are there on food labelling and description in the USA? And why can't people campaign for stronger ones?

They are actually pretty strong, but there are Marketing ways around it. For instance, I bet that if you buy Blueberry Waffles for instance, they are actually called BLUEBERRY flavored WAFFLES with FANTASTIC artificial BLUEBERRY FLAVOR. Then, they have pictures of blueberries all over the box, etc.

If you are a savvy shopper, this does not trick you, but most Americans are not savvy shoppers. In fact, most Americans probably do not even care. If you told them, they would call you a pussy and say real blueberries were for pussies.

This isn't news to anyone who actually looks at the ingredient list on these products. This reporter just read the information on the packaging and acts like it's news.

He says--

"When consumers buy blueberry cereals, muffins and mixes, they're under the impression that they're buying real blueberries. No ordinary consumer realizes they're actually buying blue coloring chemicals mixed with hydrogenated oils and liquid sugars."

If that's really true, the question is why is the public so stupid? The truth is right there on the box.

He also says ---

"It's probably because real blueberries are expensive. And artificial blueberry bits, made with sugar, partially hydrogenated oils and artificial colors, are dirt cheap. If these companies can fool consumers into thinking they're buying real blueberries in their products, they can command a price premium that translates into increased profits.

Once again, in the food industry, deception pays off. And it pays big."

The question then is whether companies selling fake blueberry products at the same price as real blueberry products. I expect the answer is usually no.

If you compare Health Valley Low-Fat Blueberry Tarts with Pop-Tarts, Health Valley probably costs more. If you compare Nature's Path Organic Optimum Blueberry-Cinnamon Breakfast Cereal with a Kellogg fake blueberry cereal, the Nature's Path probably costs more. In other words, companies sell ersatz blueberries to be able to sell at a lower price, not to charge a premium for an ersatz product.

The price comparison shows what's really going on. Many consumers want to get something for less and will, for example, buy margarine instead of butter if it's cheaper.

We could make margarine illegal and force everyone to pay more for something to spread on their bread, or ban fake blueberries and make products with blueberries a premium product. But lots of consumers want the choice of buying something cheaper that may taste just as good to them, and many consumers are also indifferent to health issues caused by hydrogentated oils, etc. as the obesity epidemic, smoking rates, etc. clearly demonstrate.