Slightly Healthier Junk Food
Thanks to Mom Central, last week I received a couple of boxes of the new Whole Grain Pop Tarts for review. We tried the cinnamon and the strawberry.
The good: The first ingredient is whole wheat flour. Everyone should be eating more whole grains so this is awesome. I’m glad to see there are more and more alternatives containing whole grains. And damned if these don’t actually taste good! They’re reminiscent of the crappy for you but tasty processed foods from my childhood that I’d eat at the homes of my friends whose parents weren’t as health conscious as my mom. The Big Guy, after eating two with his lunch and hearing me talk about the ingredients, said I must mention that “…The first ingredient is taste, because these are awesome.”
The bad: The second ingredient is enriched flour. Why? These could have so much more than the one serving of grains that they provide. As someone who doesn’t ever buy white flour, I know it doesn’t affect the taste much at all and 99% of the time it’s for the better.
The ugly: That darn ingredient list again. Enriched flour is followed by corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup (hfcs) which are horrible for you. They’re also full of hydrogenated oil and artificial colours and flavours. I know it’s a processed food and all, but if you’re going to try to make it healthier, I’d like to see you do a little more than add a little whole grain flour to the mix.
The bottom line: Though these taste good and are slightly better than the non-whole grain alternative, I’d never buy them or feed them to my family because of the reasons mentioned above. I let Primo have half of one and told him it was dessert junk food and he could have just a little bit. He, of course, loved it and wanted more. However, it’s my job to keep my family healthy and we’ll never have these again. If you’re someone who buys pop tarts anyway, though, then these would be the better of the two evils. But please remember - these are not breakfast. They’re dessert.
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
But, but, but … they have STRAWberries in them!!! That’s fruit, right???
Pop Tarts are treats. So are Fruit Roll Ups (My sister-in-law thinks those are a substitute for fruit).
March 4th, 2008 at 5:27 am
hahaha your reviews make me giggle … so it sucks and please do not buy it not even for your dogs. hahaha!!!!
March 4th, 2008 at 7:10 am
With as much processed foods as I’ve eaten in my life, I’m surprised that I’ve never eaten a Pop Tart. By the sounds of your review I’m not missing anything, eh?
March 4th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
You read labels to! I am the same way when I grocery shop. Actually, I can honestly say no soda or junk food has even enter my child’s body. My husband and I do not allow junk food into our house. It takes me a long time to grocery shop and it is a little more expensive to shop healthy but in my book so worth it. I am long time reader but never posted until now. I enjoy your blog a lot.
March 4th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Yeah, if I am going to indulge in something like a Pop Tart, I just go for it and don’t worry too much. As long as I don’t eat those ingredients all the time, and eat more fresh foods I think it’s okay. I would rather have a Toaster Strudel though, haha.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Amen sister, you are totally right. I adore pop tarts - and I make them even worse for me by drowning them in butter. Yum.
Off to dream about pop tarts (cuz they certainly aren’t in my house)
March 9th, 2008 at 11:36 am
“Slightly Healthier Junk Food” Ha!!! I’ll have to make sure my kids don’t see this new option for Pop Tarts, lest they try to convince me it’s OK to buy.
I’ll bet they wish I didn’t read the ingredients either…
Thanks for the review.
Karen - Surviving Motherhood’s last blog post..Not an Inconvenience