Archive: Is That Right?
Is That Right? Cranberry Raisinets rich with antioxidants?
Those new Cranberry Raisinets sure sound as though they'd be good for you. Nestle's press release announcing the new product's launch this summer called the chocolate-covered cranberries a "better-for-you indulgence rich with natural fruit antioxidants." "Cranberries," the press release continues, are "the most popular of the superfruits" and "combine exceptional...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | November 6, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (6)
Is That Right? Pistachios are lowest-calorie, lowest-fat nut?
You can't blame the folks who sell pistachios for trying hard to boost the nuts' image. The recalls of pistachios potentially contaminated with salmonella earlier this year surely put a big dent in both sales and the nuts' reputation. But the new ad campaign for Wonderful Pistachios may be relying...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | October 30, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Is That Right? French's mustard shares just one ingredient with mayo, ketchup?
The interactive graphic allowing consumers to compare French's yellow mustard with fellow condiments mayonnaise and ketchup would be kind of cool -- if it weren't so misleading. French's really shouldn't have to work too hard to establish that's it's pretty healthful, as far as sandwich-toppers go. After all, it's extremely...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | October 23, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Is That Right? Bologna Beats PB&J
In response to my Tuesday blog about donating healthful food to shelters for the homeless, a reader reported feeling ill at ease with his or her church's long-standing practice of donating bologna sandwiches to the homeless. That got me wondering about bologna's nutrition profile. (It also got me craving a...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | October 9, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (17)
Is That Right? 7-Up "Antioxidant"
The copy advertising new Cherry 7-Up Antioxidant says, "There's never been a more delicious way to cherry pick your antioxidant." That's antioxidant, singular. The drink's Web site calls the product a "healthy boost" whose "splash of antioxidant" will "help you through your day." The antioxidant at hand is Vitamin E,...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | October 2, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (8)
Is That Right? Goldfish Crackers Provide 1/3 Serving of Real Vegetables
Let me be clear: I have nothing against Goldfish crackers. I agree with Cristin Dillon-Jones, Self magazine's "Eat Like Me" blogger, who wrote in a guest blog for The Checkup this summer that occasional treats such as Goldfish can be part of a healthful diet. Not every food we put...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | September 25, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (5)
Is That Right? High-Fiber Cereals Taste Better These Days
Want a fiber-filled breakfast cereal that also happens to taste delicious? Get thee to Costco for a box of Kirkland Signature Spiced Pecan cereal. That's the only one of 18 high-fiber cereals evaluated by Consumer Reports to earn the rank of "Excellent" from the magazine's team of tasters. The Spiced...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | September 18, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Is That Right? New Lunchables Are 'Wholesome'
You've got to hand it to the folks at Kraft. They are pretty darned crafty. The company's recently added a new line of Lunchables to its repertoire. Earlier incarnations of the packaged-lunch products have often been cited as poor choices for kids' lunches because of all the calories, fat and...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | September 11, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (13)
Is That Right? Alli Weight-Loss Drug is Safe
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced August 24 that it's reviewing cases of liver injury among people using the weight-loss drug orlistat, found in the prescription drug Xenical and the over-the-counter product Alli. The FDA says it received 32 reports of serious liver injury among patients using those drugs...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | September 4, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Is That Right? Rice Krispies Boost Immunity
They snap. They crackle. They pop. But do they support immunity? Kellogg's has reformulated its Rice Krispies and Cocoa Krispies cereals, fortifying them with vitamins A, C, and E and a bunch of B vitamins. The boxes and ads now tout that "each and every box" of Krispies has ingredients...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | August 21, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)
Is That Right? Cancer Society Birthday Cake
What to make of the American Cancer Society's new birthday cake recipe? The ACS had a nice, though kind of unsettling, idea with its campaign to celebrate birthdays as a remarkable achievement for cancer survivors. As part of that campaign, the organization sponsored a competition for students at the Culinary...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | August 14, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (11)
Is That Right? Vinegar Can Come From Petroleum
Lending new meaning to the concept of oil and vinegar, print ads for Heinz Distilled White Vinegar ("the all natural choice for food") raise the alarming-sounding notion that vinegar "can come from petroleum." Disgusting, right? The ad features a brown-shaded image of oil derricks alongside a bright and cheery photo...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | August 7, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Is That Right? "Eating organic food just makes sense."
"Eating organic food just makes sense." That's what Safeway says in the section of its Web site devoted to the grocery chain's "O" line of organic foods. But new research casts doubt on that assertion. A study in the September issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reviewed all...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | July 31, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (26)
Is That Right? Crystal Light Makes Women Drink More Water
Ads for Crystal Light low-calorie powdered drink mixes say that "Women who use Crystal Light drink 20 percent more water." (They don't say more than whom, but we're to understand they mean more than women who don't use the product.) But what else are you getting with that water? Some...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | July 24, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (23)
Is That Right? Evian Water "Supports Your Body's Youth"
I love Evian water's new on-line ad: Love it? Yes. Understand it? Not quite. Evian reportedly chose to feature skating, break-dancing babies for its new Live Young campaign to represent purity, health and youth, attributes long used to promote the brand. The ad follows (by 11 years) another Evian ad...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | July 17, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (6)
Is That Right? Fruit2day: A New Way to Eat Fruit
Is downing a Fruit2day fruit drink really the same as eating two servings of fruit? Close, but not quite. Four flavors of Fruit2day were introduced in the U.S. in May after having gained a following in Europe. The bottles, shaped like two round pieces of fruit stacked one atop the...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | July 10, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Is That Right? A Full Serving of Vegetables in Chef Boyardee
The current ad for Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli shows a kid eating a bowl of the stuff while his mom tries to prevent his dad from saying what the voice-over eventually announces: "There's a full serving of vegetables in every bowl of Chef Boyardee. Just don't tell them." The first...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | June 26, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (10)
Is That Right? One A Day with Selenium and Prostate Cancer
(Photo by Jeff Cronin, Courtesy of CSPI) The food-industry watchdog organization Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has set its sights -- not in a good way -- on Bayer One A Day Men's vitamins for the company's claim that the selenium in those supplements helps protect...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | June 19, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Is That Right? "Real Sugar" is Everywhere. But is it Better for You?
If, say, five years ago you had tried to sell a product by announcing it was made with "real sugar," everyone would have called you crazy. But "real sugar" and its cousin "natural sugar" have become selling points for many products these days, from Snapple to Starbucks. Snapple now offers...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | June 12, 2009; 07:15 AM ET | Comments (20)
Is That Right? Jell-O with Antioxidants
I'm increasingly skeptical of packaged products that trumpet their antioxidant content. As I wrote in this week's "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy" column, while much remains unknown about antioxidants and the role they may play in keeping us healthy, the term "antioxidant" appears on more food packages all the time....
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | June 5, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (8)
Is That Right? Frosted Mini-Wheats Keep Kids "Full and Focused"
(Reuters/Rick Wilking) Ads for Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats promise that kids who tank up on these fiber-rich cereals will be "full and focused" in preparation for the school day. Turns out that "full and focused" claim is what's left after the Federal Trade Commission in April made Kellogg stop saying...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | May 29, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (5)
Is That Right? Silk Soy Product Lowers Cholesterol
Silk Soymilk is in the process of launching a new product called Silk Heart Health; you can read about it on the Silk Web site. The beverage carton notes that the product is "Clinically shown to reduce cholesterol 7%." Hmmm. That sounds like a drug claim to me -- the...
By Jennifer LaRue Huget | May 22, 2009; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (4)
