Here you are. And they're gross.
Posted on 07/01/2003 10:20:02 AM PDT by L.N. Smithee
By Deborah Cohen
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. maker of processed foods, on Tuesday said it would cap portion sizes, eliminate marketing in schools and reformulate some products as the food industry faces increasing legal blame for obesity and unhealthy eating trends.
The maker of Oreo cookies and Velveeta cheese spreads said this year it will develop a range of standards to improve the overall nutritional content of its products and the way it sells them. It will begin making changes to the way it manufactures and markets foods beginning next year.
The cost of the measures, which are sweeping, could not be estimated, according to a spokesman for the company, based in the Chicago suburb of Northfield, Illinois.
Critics are quick to point out that Kraft may be on the defensive at a time of heightened criticism over the role big food companies play in contributing to growing health problems in the United States. No. 1 fast-food chain McDonald's Corp. has already been the target of a highly publicized lawsuit linking its burgers to obesity in children.
"This is sort of a preemptive move to stave off the lawyers and the critics," said Henry Anhalt, an endocrinologist and director of the "Kids Weight Down" program at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.
"What I think is going on is that the soothsayers are saying that coming down the pike are going to be large lawsuits, class action suits looking at cardiovascular disease, premature death, diabetes, and they're going to turn to the food industry and lay it on their feet," he said.
Still, he applauded Kraft for making changes that he believes will make a difference. Kraft could set standards that other major food companies could follow.
Obesity among adults in the United States has doubled since 1980, and tripled among adolescents, according to the U.S. surgeon general.
Kraft acknowledged that the moves may in part help indemnify the company against potential lawsuits.
"We're making these commitments first and foremost because we think it is the right thing to do for the people who use our products and for our business, but if it also discourages a plaintiff's attorney or unfair legislation, that's fine with us." said Michael Mudd, a Kraft spokesman.
GLOBAL EFFORTS
Kraft said its efforts would be global, focusing on product nutrition, marketing practices, information for consumers and public advocacy. It is forming an advisory council to help develop standards for the company's approach to health issues.
Marketing fatty and sugar-laden foods to children has been a hot-button in the news. Last week, New York City's school system decided to remove candy, soda and sweet snacks from school vending machines.
Last month, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) said that agency plans to push for expanded nutritional labeling on food products.
Kraft said the changes it will make will include advertising and marketing to children to encourage appropriate eating behaviors and active lifestyles.
The company, which used to promote its products on Channel One, a news channel played in secondary schools, will now cease all in-school marketing.
Other big food industry players are also taking defensive measures. McDonald's in March announced worldwide initiatives to help promote healthy lifestyles and provide consumers with expanded product information. It has also assembled an advisory council.
"This is an ongoing battle," said Keith Patriquin, a buy-side analyst with Loomis Sayles, which holds shares of Kraft and other big food names. "Trial lawyers ... are looking for the next big thing."
Earlier this year, a lawsuit was filed in California seeking to ban Kraft's Oreo cookies. The suit, which drew criticism in legal circles for potentially abusing the U.S. court system, was withdrawn less than two weeks later.
Shares of Kraft, which is majority owned by tobacco giant Altria Group Inc., were off 25 cents at $34.30 in mid-morning New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) trading. (With reporting by Brad Dorfman in Chicago)
You're not. You're going to be suffering because of greedy trial lawyers who want to become billionaires, nothing more. (And you will suffer; there is no way they will be able to make these "reformulated" products taste as good as the current ones.) Kraft is owned by Philip Morris, which is already a financial basket case because the trial lawyers went after Big Tobacco. They can't survive a second wave of trial lawyer attacks on Big Food, so they're making a preemptive move to save themselves. Which is pretty funny, IMHO, since a) It won't work because anyone currently walking the planet is a potential plaintiff already; and b) the "reformulations" will just end up either causing people to stop buying their products at all because they taste like crap, or causing them to keep buying and gain MORE weight as a result. (Reduced fat content = increased carbs = more pounds going straight to the waistline and increased hunger.)
Having good points is one thing. Suing to have sale of the cookies banned for children is another.
I didn't see the O'Reilly show on this, because basic cable customers in San Francisco are denied Fox News Channel. Are you sure the guy that you saw was a doctor? The dude with the English accent who filed the lawsuit and created the anti-transfat website is a lawyer.
Which is exactly why obesity in the Western World (it's hardly a problem specific to the US) is skyrocketing. People have been taught that the only evil is "fatty foods," when it's not even an evil at all. So they pig out on "low-fat" foods that are filled to the brim with sugars and carbohydrates, causing them to gain weight, and be even more hungry!
There's only one certainty that's going to come out of this Kraft "reformulation" plan: It will cause consumers to be fatter, not thinner. But it will probably provide them some legal protection, since the trial lawyers and the jury pools are too stupid to realize that "fatty foods" aren't the problem.
You really do get used to the taste; after about a week it does start to taste somewhat normal. But I agree that in general, Diet Pepsi has it all over Diet Coke on taste. Diet Coke has always tasted like pure chemicals, whereas Diet Pepsi manages to attain some small shred of cola-like essence right from the first sip.
But then, there was a period back in the '80s when they were completely reformulating Diet Pepsi every six months or so trying to "get it right," while I don't think Diet Coke has ever been changed one bit from the day it launched, except for the switch from saccharin to aspartame.
(This is probably due to Coca-Cola's long-entrenched corporate cultural Prime Directive that sales of the flagship product was to be protected at all costs, and no product was to ever be produced that might cannibalize Classic Coke sales - and end up making Pepsi "number one" in sales by default. This is why Coke came up with TaB in the early 1960s, but never marketed it to anyone but extremely weight-conscious women who they knew would never buy a real can of Coke in a million years. It wasn't until Robert Goizueta was made chairman in 1980 that he finally was able to drag the company into the 20th century and get them to release Diet Coke at all. (A lot of people have always believed Diet Coke actually is TaB, but you can still buy TaB and they do taste different, IMHO.) And he was right; overall Coke sales kept going up, not down, and Coke remains #1 to this day. But I still think the company intentionally keeps Diet Coke tasting more like chemicals than Classic Coke in order to absolutely insure the flagship brand reigns supreme over their arch-enemy Pepsi.)
Along the same lines, I wonder why Pepsi One never really took off. It does taste more like regular Pepsi, though still not quite right.
For my money though, the diet soft drink that tastes most like the original is Diet Dr. Pepper.
Sadly, for the Atkins dieter, all of this is moot because you're not supposed to drink anything with caffiene, saccharin or aspartame in them, because it supposedly slows down weight loss in some people. You can get caffeine-free Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, of course, but not aspartame/saccharin-free versions. You've only got one choice for that: Diet Rite cola. (There's a name I bet most people haven't heard for a long time!) They use Splenda® (sucralose) instead, which is Atkins-approved. Of course, most Atkins dieters just go for aspartame/saccharin soft drinks a lot anyway, especially since Diet Rite can be a bitch to track down in some areas, but technically, you're supposed to avoid aspartame and saccharin entirely.
Here you are. And they're gross.
I can't eat more than that dry, but give me a glass of milk to dunk them in (sometimes two or three at a time) and a whole bag might just about be enough :)
>>Actually, people kill people who take away their cookies!
Funny, thanks.
One member of my heart therapy class is fond of saying, if it tastes good, spit it out.
I'm starting a diet, and it's ok because I actually like the taste of veggies. If I pop some frozen brussel sprouts into a plastic bowl, turn on the microwave, wait 5-7 minutes, then splash on some soy sauce, it tastes pretty good to me (brocolli & cauli mix works, too).
Onion, squash, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, cukes, lettuce, green peppers, mushrooms, corn (CORN!), potatoes... need I go on? Veggies rule, dudes.
I ain't be no vegetarian, but when dieting, a good book I can recommend is "Laurel's Kitchen", which I bought a really long time ago and has served me well in preparing healthy food.
Of course, the only reason to diet is to lose enough weight to start ordering pizza's again - but I digress.
Anyone still here?
Shoot, closing out another thread.
Anyone, Beuller, anyone?
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