Fruity Phonies

It’s a generally accepted rule that a snack that contains some fruit is better than one that contains no fruit. But according to the Food Commission in Britain, many so-called “fruit-flavored” snacks don’t even contain a trace of fruit at all. And of those that do carry fruit, they carry just that – a trace amount.

You know the fruit-flavored snacks I’m talking about. The Fruit Roll-Ups, the fruity juice box drinks, the gummy fruit-flavored snacks, the Sunny Delights and the fruit-filled pastries. With labels like “real fruit” and “loaded with vitamin C” these snacks certainly make it appear as though they’re nutritious. But as the saying goes, looks can deceive. And that’s exactly what these snack packages are doing – deceiving.

Researchers from the aforementioned Food Commission – a nonprofit organization – looked at 28 different children snacks, all of them strawberry flavored. Of the 28 they looked at, only 11 of them had any actual fruit in them.

But don’t go thinking that the 11 that did contain fruit were nutrition-packed. Why? Because five of the 11 contained LESS than one percent fruit! LESS than one percent!

The “best” source of fruit – if it can even be called that – was a fruit-flavored juice box drink, containing approximately 6 percent real fruit. And the pittance that 6 percent amounts to is essentially cancelled out by the sugar it contains – about 32 grams of it in a single juice box!

Snacks and juices that label themselves as containing “fruit juice” aren’t lying necessarily, but they are definitely stretching the truth. You’ll notice, for instance, that snack packages often picture plump, luscious strawberries, oranges and grapes as a way to entice taste. But when one actually picks up and reads the fine print, the packaging will read “fruit-flavored.” On a separate side of the packaging will list just how much fruit is actually in the product itself (it’s no coincidence that this listing is on the back or side of virtually every snack packaging, not to mention in teeny-tiny print).

One can’t even trust the “no artificial flavors or preservatives” claims. Because while they may not technically contain artificial flavorings, that doesn’t mean they have 100 percent real fruit and it certainly doesn’t mean they don’t have high fructose corn syrup (virtually every juice geared toward children has high fructose corn syrup).

Given the “truthiness” of these and other fruit snacks, what’s a parent to do when selecting snacks for their kids? Avoid them! Don’t bother with these and other fruit-flavored snacks. That’s all they are – fruit flavored. While your son or daughter may like them, they do nothing for them nutritionally.

For juicing, purchase yourself a juicer and juice the fruits naturally. For fruit snacks, nothing’s better – or sweeter, for that matter – than dehydrated fruits, like naturally dried apricots, for instance.

Granted, juicing and dehydrating fruits is more time consuming, but when it comes to you and your family, the best time you’ll ever spend is in making sure the nutrition they get is from quality, organic sources. Unlike “fruit” snacks, they’re guaranteed 100 percent natural.