Coke Classic, Arizona Green Tea with Honey
Boy, am I MAD. And misleading marketing labels are the reason.
On my trip to the beach, I stopped at a roadside market advertising Amish Food. I bought some wonderful produce, eggs for provisioning for the week. Because I was thirsty, I searched the cooler unit for something to drink on the road. The healthiest option among the sodas appeared to be Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey by Arizona. the front of the label also advertised Antiox-Natural Antioxidant and 100% Natural.
When I got back on the road, I took a swig, “YIKES, is this ever sweet!” I thought to myself.
So, then, I did what I should have done in the first place, which is to read the fine print on the back of the label.
Much to my dismay, the second ingredient after green tea, was high fructose corn syrup. Hardly, a natural ingredient. HFSC is a highly processed product made from corn.
Honey was third on the list, which means there is way more HFCS than honey in this product.
Now, if Arizona had said on the front of their label, Green Tea with HFCS, how many people would have bought it?
A big fat goose egg. NONE.
Then, when my mother and grandmother arrived at the beach, she asked me to go buy Caffeine Free Coke Classic for her and Nana. So, I bought a carton. Just out of curiousity, I looked at the ingredients list. I assumed that the word Classic meant it was the traditional formula from my childhood, and that it contained real sugar cane as the sweetener. Alas, and alack, this drink is also sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup. Bleahhhh!
So, how do I feel about being suckered by marketing labels? Lousy. And, it only happened because I was in a rush, and my options were limited. Do I have a good feeling about these companies that took advantage of me by aggressively misrepresenting their product. Absolutely NOT. Would I ever recommend their drinks to anyone? NO.
I took Arizona at their word, that honey was the sweetening agent for their green tea. Perhaps they have other products that really are natural, but chances are I will not find out. Once burned, twice shy.
If a saavy consumer like myself can still end up tricked into buying something that I would never freely choose to consume, just think of all those who unwittingly are indulging in products full of harmful ingredients and have no clue.
By the way, if you are looking for a beach rental this summer, check out our Awesome Beach Vacations website! There is also a link there to our Awesome Mountain Vacations site.
Thank you for your amazing work!!
11 Comments
It’s just like those new “olive oil” mayos you see in the store. They’re all soy and canola oils, but with a little olive oil thrown in so they can call it “olive oil” mayo and make you think it’s healthier for you.
Pretty much all labels lie. It’s why I work hard to avoid buying foods with labels! LOL.
Cheers,
KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
FoodRenegade’s last blog post..Meet A Grass-fed Beef And Pastured Pork Farmer
YUCK!
Haha it’s kind of funny though — I can just imagine you doing a spit take in your car when you read the label and saw the words HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP.
BLECCCCCHHHH!!!!
Honestly I have an easier time with labels than I do at restaurants. At least with labels I can read them. At restaurants, I come off like a lunatic grilling the waiter about the food.
“Do you cook your eggs with butter?”
“Yes.”
“I mean, is it REAL butter? Or is it one of those mixes, you know, half butter, half oil or margarine?”
But see, I used to not ask this second question — I used to only ask the first question about butter. And then I found out that even when they say it’s real butter, it’s often some kind of mix.
CHEESESLAVE’s last blog post..My Plans for the Summer
Ditto to both comments above! I usually pack everything on trips, even drinks, because you can’t leave it to chance. If I ever do, like as in this post, I live to regret it.
Isn’t it embarrassing to give waiters the third degree? I do it anyway, but it is unpleasant, at best.
Kimberly
I can’t believe the labelling loop holes that must exist. I have seen countless products on shelves in supermarkets such as buns, cakes, cookies, sweets etc that say ‘no artificial flavours’. its mad. it suckers people into thinking they are buying something healthy! grrrr!
The funny thing is how unsurprising this all is, at least, to the people likely to be reading this blog. If you look carefully, HFCS is in so many things, even things that you didn’t even think had sugar! I saw tortillas with it today. Ridiculous. But it’s cheap to use, has a long shelf life, and most people are totally oblivious, so it will continue until there’s a major change in our awareness.
Matt (NoMeatAthlete)’s last blog post..Couscous Cakes– Not as Lame as They Sound!
I am begining to see some mainstream products proudly stating ‘No High Fructose Corn Syrup’ on their products. Our voices are being heard, change is coming.
It makes me angry too … not necessarily for my own regard, but for how misleading it is to people who don’t know any better.
This is why everyone should follow the 10,000 year rule. If it wasn’t here back then, don’t eat it.
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Kim,
A good rule of thumb is this, if it is a soda, juice or tea beverage, it is most likely to contain HFCS. But mostly all products in the typical grocery store have it., even bread If you have a Trader Joe’s it is a good place to shop to avoid HFCS- but you still gotta look.
And one more point, if it is a beverage, it is probably made with fluoridated water.. The latest research out of China shows that children drinking fluoridated water have up to a 10 point lower IQ compared to children who dont drink it And dental fluorosis, the white to brown spots on the teeth caused by too much fluoride, is increasing yearly.
Why HFCS is so bad is that is does not enter into the Krebs Cycle, thus it cannot be used to make energy as typical carbohydrates do. It goes directly to adipose tissue to storage as FAT (from a great piece on HFCS in Wise Traditions), thus the Obesity Epidemic
In January 2009, a research report was released documenting the presence of mercury in products made with HFCS- some much more than others. And big brand names like Welch and items which kids would be likely to consume. If you would like the citation, I would be glad to share it.
Best regards, Sylvia
Anote on soda. Assume all soda has HFCS in it, no matter what its called. Currently the only commercial sodas I’m aware of that have real cane sugar are Passover Coke, Mexican coke, Pepsi throwback (summer of 09 only), and Mountain Dew throwback (summer of 09 only).
And as a side note. The “classic” in Coca-Cola classic is a holdover from the whole “New Coke ” fiasco in the eighties.
This is a great article. I’m new to blogging but still learning. Thanks for the great resource.
Weelll… pretty much assume all the same things about table sugar that we do about HFCS. The glucose/fructose proportion is not exactly the same but it’s very close; both sweeteners are just to one side or the other of fifty/fifty. The glucose raises your insulin, the fructose gets converted to glycerol phosphate, the glycerol phosphate picks up a few fatty acids and the raised insulin socks it away into fat cells and presto, weight gain.
One thing about low-carbers, even though I do well on that way of eating, is that they’re convinced all digestible carbs are equally fattening. Well, we were eating starchy stuff for a while longer than we had refined sugar. And people still got fat, but not in as great of numbers. Somewhere along the way sugar got cheap, and I think the obesity rate started climbing then. But other factors are in play too–trans fats, phytates in all this faddy “whole grain” stuff and in the soy we increasingly consume (often without our knowledge), etc. Mind you, I like whole grain stuff, but we don’t know how to prepare it safely anymore, and you know how that goes, you’re affiliated with WAPF.