"Cheese and Crackers" Is Much More Complicated Than We Initially Thought

This post is all about illuminating corporate marketing strategies which in some circumstances may interfere with a shopper's ability to make an informed choice. Time for a field trip to the grocery store.

Let's look at some cheese packages:

Black Diamond Cheestrings, Kraft LiveActive, Kraft Amooza SPORT & Babybel Light

Well, well, well. What do we have here?
 Before reading on, take a moment to look at these cheeses and think about which one you think is "healthiest".

 ***SPOILER ALERT***

What we have here are two cheeses which appeal to the parental desire for children to be active, one cheese which appeals to the desire to be healthy, and one cheese which rests solely upon the sense of tradition which it represents. What with cheeses now promoting social values and such how is one to determine which cheeses are telling the truth and which cheeses are spreading sweet creamy lies?

Labels, that's how:


Okay, let's start by comparing the two cheeses on top. Cheestrings vs. LiveActive.

Note that the serving size is the same, making comparison really easy.

Nutritional Red Flags are circled.

Here are some questions that come to mind when I compare these labels:

• Why does the healthy cheese have more calories?
• Why does the healthy cheese have twice as much fat?
• Why do both the healthy cheese and the sporty cheese have high levels of sodium?
• Why do both cheeses contain trans fat? Trans fats in any amount increase risk of heart disease and stroke.

Both products implicitly and explicitly claim to be healthy.
The Cheestrings have the sporty cartoon character coupled with the Heart & Stroke Health Check Logo (seen below).

The presence of trans fat suggests that the integrity of this label is compromised. 

The LiveActive cheese appeals to the hippie in all of us with all of it's green, greeny, active probiotic, healthy, active, green activeness! Don't forget... it's green. Containing more trans fat than most cheese on the market, Kraft doesn't have the audacity to make any explicit health claims in this case, resorting to an eye-catching "90 Calories!" label, which we already know is higher than other cheeses on the shelf.

No cheese in history has ever been more obnoxiously green.

Let's briefly compare the other two cheeses. Kraft Amooza vs. Babybel Light.

Again we find some red flags. The sporty cheese is packed with sodium, contains a nonzero amount of trans fat, and is trying to present itself as the healthier option. Salty salty lies - and Babybel isn't even making any implicit health claims.

As you can see, there is power in comparing labels as opposed to reading them in isolation from each other.

What else can we take away from this? Quality cheeses do not come in shiny and colourful plastic packages.

Enough about cheese.

Let's move on and talk about crackers.

Ritz, Kashi & Vegetable Thins

Before we look at the labels, I want you to take note of this:

found on the Ritz and Vegetable Thins boxes.

 Other than the fact that the Ritz and Vegetable Thins brands are both owned by Christie™ (which is in turn owned by Kraft), what else do both of these Sensible Solutions have in common?

Let's consult the labels to find out:

Allow me to draw your attention immediately to the Sodium Content.

Now this is really interesting. We have the healthy Kashi crackers on the left, and Ritz on the right.

If we just look at the sodium content, we see that both are unacceptable, but Kashi has lower sodium, so the healthy brand does appear to be healthier.

But it's not. Why?

Although Kashi has less sodium it still has a substantial amount, and on top of that it has a whopping 160mg of potassium (an equally problematic sodium substitute) ultimately making it a much saltier cracker. I'm missing a photo of the Wheat Thins label, which, as another designated Sensible Solution should live up to its promise, but doesn't with a sodium content of 200mg per serving.

That Sensible Solutions label... where else have I seen that before...

bullseye.

Also owned by Christie™. Hmm...

After all of this analysis, I think I'll still be able to sleep at night if I say that cheese n' crackers is best designated as a Sometimes Food.

Don't trust packaging.

     -Nicholas

References:

Molseed, L. (2004). Tracking trans fats: cutting down on trans fat may help cut down on heart disease. Diabetes Forecast, 57(6), 52-55. Retrieved from CINAHL database.