Nutrition Labeling Truth?

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imp

Assistant Cook
Joined
Nov 15, 2018
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49
Location
Mohave County, Arizona
Awhile back, I found a tub of this stuff tucked back in our fridge; my wife did not recall when or why she bought it, and had not used it. The label was enticing, less than half the calories of typical spreads like margarine or butter.

"I Can't Believe it's Not Butter" was it's actual name. I tried it on my next baked potato, as I always love them slathered with butter! It tasted quite good!

Haven't used or had any in years, looked for it the other day at our big Smith's (Kroger) store. They had only one container type, not spread, but an upright 8-ounce "squeeze" bottle. Checked the label. Calories per serving 0! Serving size: "One Squeeze". No kidding, that's what it said! Number of servings in Container: 1130 (!!). That's crazy, I thought

One "squeeze" equals 8/1130 ounce, or 0.007 ounce. Are they kidding? It turns out to be about THREE DROPS!

So this is how they get away with "No calorie" enticement? Hokum. Bogus. 3 drops on my potato might as well be none! I did not buy it.
 
I don't blame you for leaving it behind. I'm not a fan of fake products in general. I use butter. Tastes great on potato.
 
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I don't blame you for leaving it behind. I'm not a fan of fake products in general. I use butter. Tastes great on potato.

"Oleomargarine" came out when I was very small. Touted as more healthful, much cheaper, of course, than butter. Back then, LARD was a staple, used by all Slavic cook/mothers in the Chicago area. I did not understand then (still don't), what qualities of lard made it superior to, say, butter, which I knew to be universally used. Lard came in big metal buckets. No home was without it.

Lard's popularity evidently became reason for the (then) "big business" brokers to begin demeaning it in favor of "new" "Shortenings", (??), WTH was shorter about them?, one of which was Crisco. The new miracle shortening.

Then, later, Wesson Oil, the newest and best of them all, made from the most healthful oil of all, cottonseed oil. Who amongst our friends and neighbors, immigrants all from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy, could have understood the implications behind being swayed away from the traditional cooking and baking materials which had been used for centuries by their European forebears? They all believed in AMERICA. Bought into it. Bought products that before were foreign to them.

My own Mother hedged. Even though there was a can of the familiar blue-labeled Crisco present in our larder, our daily meals continued to be supported mainly by butter.
 
Try to shoot a blast of PAM into a pan that equals a "serving size." Your finger better be lightning-fast.

CD
 
I agree with the craziness of nutrition labeling, which is something I'm teaching my son because he'll pick up things in the grocery store and say "Wow, mom, look at this. There's only 230 calories in this whole thing."

That's when I tell him to look at the number of servings per container. Disappointment usually comes over his face when he realizes he won't be able to eat the entire package for a measly 230 calories. Granted most of us by now are used to looking at the number of servings per container, but kids and young adults tend to look over that or not pay any attention to it at all. And that's where unwanted calories slip by you.

Serving sizes, in general, are pretty ridiculous when it comes to packaged foods. I'm sure most of us have seen those depictions of "What 100 calories looks like" and it's quite eye-opening, if not a little ludicrous.
 
"Oleomargarine" came out when I was very small. Touted as more healthful, much cheaper, of course, than butter. Back then, LARD was a staple, used by all Slavic cook/mothers in the Chicago area. I did not understand then (still don't), what qualities of lard made it superior to, say, butter, which I knew to be universally used. Lard came in big metal buckets. No home was without it.

Lard's popularity evidently became reason for the (then) "big business" brokers to begin demeaning it in favor of "new" "Shortenings", (??), WTH was shorter about them?, one of which was Crisco. The new miracle shortening.

Then, later, Wesson Oil, the newest and best of them all, made from the most healthful oil of all, cottonseed oil. Who amongst our friends and neighbors, immigrants all from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy, could have understood the implications behind being swayed away from the traditional cooking and baking materials which had been used for centuries by their European forebears? They all believed in AMERICA. Bought into it. Bought products that before were foreign to them.

My own Mother hedged. Even though there was a can of the familiar blue-labeled Crisco present in our larder, our daily meals continued to be supported mainly by butter.

Make a couple of pie crusts, one with lard and one with shortening. Make 2 of your favorite fruit pie using both crusts. Then compare the flakiness of both crusts. Or make masa for tamales with both and check the texture of the finished tamales. Make Carnitas using both. The difference in any of these will be obvious. Although Manteca is more available and less expensive, leaf lard is much superior, IMO.
 
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