Monday, December 31, 2007

Crazy nutrition label

I was making a cake for my grandson the other day and I turned the box on its side to read the nutrition label because my husband is a diabetic. He likes to have a small treat now and then and I was wanting to see how much he could have and the amount of carbs in that serving. I have glanced at nutrition labels but never really took the time to read them before except to get serving size and carb amount.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that the serving size was listed as "1/12 package(43g mix) and that there were 12 servings per container. Reading it the way it was written, it made it sound like you were suppose to eat just the mix, not a cooked cake. And then it goes on to list calories, total fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbs, and protein not only for the baked cake but also for the mix. Now come on, who in the world cares about how much of that stuff is just in the mix. I do not know of anyone who is going to sit down and measure out 43 g of mix in a bowl, grab a spoon and sit down in front of the television and eat it. YUK!

Yeah, I admit that I like to lick the bowl but that is after the cake is mixed up. I cannot imagine sitting down and eating just the cake mix straight from the box. So tell me, why list all that information and say that a serving is 43 g mix. A person who is watching their carbs, sodium, fat intake, etc only cares about what is in the finished product and the size they can have for that amount.

I believe that these companies should sit down and rewrite their nutrition labels because right now they are really silly sounding. Next time you make a cake, pancakes, or whatever, check out the nutrition label. They provide valuable information but in the same sense, they are good for a laugh because the image of someone sitting in front of the television eating a bowl of dry cake mix is kind of funny.

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