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Dr. Mercola

January 25, 2007
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Don't Feed Your Kids Carbonated Fruit to Fight Childhood Obesity

There are countless things you can do to stop the epidemic of childhood obesity in your own home, but feeding them a snack of carbonated fruit isn't one of them.

Wal-Mart, that unholy bastion of inferior organic food standards, and 7-Eleven stores across the Southern United States are now selling Fizzy Fruit, a not-cheap fruit cup filled with whole grapes or slices of pineapple or apples exposed to the very same carbon dioxide that makes useless and unnatural sugary sweet soft drinks pop.

An interesting factoid: Just to complete the connection between soft drinks and Fizzy Fruit, the company's current president and marketing chief are both former Coca-Cola executives. So, that may explain why Fizzy Fruit has infiltrated the marketplace so quickly and, perhaps, captured your child's attention with all the kid-friendly imagery on their Web site.

Like other critics, I'm appalled, but not surprised, food manufacturers are stooping so low as to offer fruit in such an unnatural state. That said, if Cadbury Schwepps can get away with calling 7-Up "100 percent natural," no matter how unnatural it really is, anything is possible...

USA Today January 17, 2007

Market Wire January 2, 2007

Nutra Ingredients USA.com January 16, 2007
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Article's Comment     ( 7 Comments )
 
 
 +2 Points           
 
Author of the Article
BY Russ Bianchi   
Savvy User
  
[ Joined on 09/06 ]
[ Posted on January 25, 2007 ]
Post Reply

So Former Soda Executives...what to play a little hardball?

Welcome to The Big Leagues...

Carbonation increases the absorption of REFINED AND/OR STRIPPED saccharides into the blood stream at a faster osmic rate.  This is scientifically and medically PROVEN, and not refuttable, even by your hired PR or spin artists.

Translated to simpler language...this product, just like higher carbonated beer, or sparking wines, gets absorbed FASTER (in these examples you get drunk faster from alcohol absorption even if it's alcohol content is lower than still hard beverages).

The naturally occuring sugars (23 grams of 100 grams per serving, or just under one ounce of sugars, to about 50 grams of water, and the rest perhaps other solids, but only 1 gram of fiber, that is in this refigerated product) claimed on this product's Nutritional Facts panel, means this product is adding to hyper and hypo glycemic (up and down) rapid blood glucose reaction in ANY ingestee.

By the way, guys, 100 grams for a serving size seems to me a very HIGH OR SANDBAGGED, LEGALLY NONCOMPLIANT & DECEPTIVE SERVING SIZE, to make the product's amount of sugars look smaller. 

100 grams is 3.53 ounces of this fizzy product...a larger portion size than one sees on any other manufactured or altered fruit related products, like jams, jellies, preserves, fruit leather, fruit syrups, fruit cocktails, prepared fruit, etc.

Yes, folks, this fruit is manipulated with chemistry and altered, and not natural in carbonation, otherwise it would ferment into bubbly fruit wine. 

Rapid hypo glycemic (down, or crash) reactions are known, and scientifically linked, to hyper-activity in pre-pubescent children (ask any teacher or mother about the day after HALLOWEEN PER CANDY INGESTION the evening before).

This product will most definitely contribute to childhood insulin resitance, hypoglycemia, and diabetes, at a minimum.

Additionally, this product will perhaps contribute to obesity and cardio vascalar disease, in combination with the sodas, which these former soda paycheckers were part of, with stripped and nutrient VOID High Fructose Corn Syrup laden products.

HFCS is the single largest contributor in the America food chain to obesity, diabetes, and cardio vascular disease (Greg Critser, Fat Land: How America Became The Most Obese Nation).

Do Tigers change their stripes? NO.

Does the world need fizzy so-called 'fruit'?  NO.
 
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 +4 Points           
 
Author of the Article
BY veggienut   
Savvy User
  
[ Joined on 09/06 ]
Author of the Article [ Posted on January 27, 2007 ]
 
I was unaware of this monstrosity, but I haven't darkened the door of a 7-Eleven or Walmart in ages.  It's good to know so I can tell me clients to avoid.  Btw, has anyone visited the Fizzy Fruit website?  Going into the kid zone of the site made me feel like I was watching some creepy pedo gawking at kids on a playground.

 +1 Points           
 
Author of the Article
BY Mary Malott, D.C.,DACBN   
Novice User
  
[ Joined on 02/07 ]
Author of the Article [ Posted on February 04, 2007 ]
 
I am a board certified nutrionist and I disagree with your view on Fizzy Fruit for the following reasons:
 1. Your comment that carbonation increases absorption of refined sacchrides....(grapes are not refined and are on the low end of the glycemic index -43 and adding CO2 does not make them refined) is not entirely true. There are several research articles that refute this claim.
2.Fizzy Fruit is a better choice of snacks than candy bars, chips, cookies, etc. which seems to be the snack of choice of most children.
3. If a bottled water company or organic food company hired an executive from Coca-Cola to help with marketing is that a conspiracy...who you hire does not make the food bad or water tainted it just means you are a smart business person and hired someone with great experience.    
4. I have tried Fizzy Fruit and the serving size is within the average serving size and it has a resealable cap to help with freshness. The fruit tastes great and is a fun way to get a child that won't eat fruit to give it a try.
5. This product in no way has HFCS in it. I think the comparison with jams, jellies etc is unfair. Check the label again. I certainly do not see it increasing diabetes or obesity. 

My vote is for Fizzy Fruit...a refreshing new snack that is healthy.

Mary Malott, D.C., DACBN

            
 
Author of the Article
BY nadie   
Novice User
  
[ Joined on 01/08 ]
Author of the Article [ Posted on January 24, 2008 ]
 
Calling this "unnatural" is just silly. It's fruit with extra CO2, no more, no less healthy than any other cut fruit. I think Russ' mind is stuck on the (not unreasonable) association of "carbonation=soda=big soulless corporation."

If you're worried about your blood sugar so much, don't eat so much fruit. 100 grams is perfectly in line with the USDA definition of 1/2 cup=1serving. And I don't know what "stripped" sugar is supposed to mean, but fruit has natural sugar and this is no different. The claim about "osm[ot]ic rate" and sugars and looks a bit dubious as well, since osmosis is just the movement of water from where it's more pure across a membrane to a place where it has more things dissolved in it. The product in question has no added or removed sugar of any kind.

As far as the claim that the carbonation being unnatural goes, a similar technique has long been used in winemaking. The difference is that the CO2 here is just the pure gas and not produced by fermenting yeasts like in  Beaujolais nouveau .

All that said, I would rather just make my own carbonated fruit  rather than buy some overpriced wasteful packaging.

 
            
 
Author of the Article
BY APhotoWizard   
Novice User
  
[ Joined on 06/06 ]
[ Posted on January 27, 2007 ]
Post Reply
Atlanta Journal-Constitution article Jan 26,2007 reported on a study by the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Foods and Active Environments where 37 widely advertised children's snacks with fruit emblazoned on the package were examined for fruit content. More than 1/2 had no fruit at all. The quote from one of the researchers was priceless:" I have eaten Dannon yogurt for years and I know in the adult form there are pieces of fruit. It would never have occurred to me that in the children's version there wouldn't be fruit"

So it is not just the fizzy drinks, but snacks and other items as well. If we could find a way to eliminate High-Fructose corn syrup and transfats our children would be much better off.

In the conclusion of the article they note: "...it's best to buy whole or cut fruit in the produce department... Don' be fooled by fruit juice concentrate. ... it's added sweetener without the nutrients of whole fruit."

My sentiments exactly!

 
            
 
Author of the Article
BY mmc88121