What are we feeding our kids?

         

No, I am NOT recommending Pop Tarts!

I saw an ad on television the other day for Kellogg’s Pop Tarts. My mouth dropped open because it was so obviously targeting young children. The ad was animated, whimsical and cute, with mom feeding her children these “wonderful” tasty treats. Now I know basically what the ingredients are in pop tarts, and they are pure white flour and sugars. Absolutely no nutrition and a huge shot of sugar. If that is what Kellogg’s thinks we should be feeding our children for breakfast, I am sadly appalled. 

So I had to look up the nutrition information on a box of Strawberry Pop Tarts, and it was even worse than I imagined.  Here it is:

ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, DEXTROSE, SOYBEAN AND PALM OIL (WITH TBHQ FOR FRESHNESS), SUGAR, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CRACKER MEAL, WHEAT STARCH, SALT, DRIED STRAWBERRIES, DRIED PEARS, DRIED APPLES, CORNSTARCH, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), CITRIC ACID, CORN CEREAL, GELATIN, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL†, CARAMEL COLOR, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SOY LECITHIN, XANTHAN GUM, MODIFIED WHEAT STARCH, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, COLOR ADDED, TURMERIC COLOR, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RED #40, NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), YELLOW #6, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, BLUE #1.†LESS THAN 0.5g TRANS FAT PER SERVING

OMGosh. Where to start! The first ingredient is enriched flour, which sounds good, but is actually wheat with the germ and bran (the good stuff!) stripped away leaving only the starchy center. This acts the same as sugar in the body. Four of the next five ingredients are SUGAR! That means 5 of the first 6 ingredients are sugar/enriched flour. Oh, and the other ingredient in the top six? Soybean and palm oil, probably highly processed GMO. We don’t know because GMO doesn’t have to be labeled. It also includes hydrogenated oils, which everyone knows are unhealthy. One Pop Tart contains a whopping 38 grams of carbohydrates, none of it with any nutritional value. 

And we wonder why we have an obesity and health epidemic. Wow, Kellogg’s. Is this the best you can do?

Here is a great article on enriched white flour if you want to know more about it and why you should stay away from it:     Enriched Flour