Fruit Doesn’t Need Fizz!
I wasn’t happy when I found this story in my local newspaper.
Carbonation Gives Fruit A Fizz
Twenty Connecticut school districts (where I happen to live) are pushing a new Fizzy Fruit product to our children. As stated within the story above, Fizzy Fruit are pieces of apples, oranges, and grapes that have been pumped with carbonation to give them a soda taste. The food management contractor (Sodexho) who added these snacks to the menu hopes that “it will turn kids on to fruit.”
How did kids ever become turned off to fruit in the first place? My son is 2 years old. If you lined up 10 different foods, he’ll go for the fresh fruit every time. In his eyes, fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and grapes are treats. There is no need to add carbonation to a fruit that is already a treat.
Go look at the junk food at your local grocery store. Many of the sweets are fruit flavored. Why do you think the food manufacturers choose fruit flavors? Simple answer, fruit tastes good (so the kids will like it) and seeing fruit in the label fools many parents into believing the snacks are healthy. Unfortunately, most of these fruit snacks are everything but healthy. Need an example? No problem…
Let’s look at the ingredients:
CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, APPLE PUREE CONCENTRATE, WATER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, GELATIN, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CITRIC ACID, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, COLOR ADDED, COCONUT OIL, CARNAUBA WAX, YELLOW #5, RED #40, SODIUM CITRATE, BLUE #1.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that this snack is everything but natural.
Where do our kids go wrong? Why do we need to fool them with soda? Why are kids drinking soda anyway? Who buys the soda for these kids? Why don’t parents start leading from the front? Who does the shopping? Who makes the decisions?
My wife is involved with two mother’s groups with area kids. We’ve had several play groups in the last two years. All of the kids love fruit. The fruit platters never last long. It’s clear in my eyes that kids are naturally inclined to enjoy eating fresh fruit. Fresh fruit is a treat. Kids shouldn’t need to be fooled back into eating fruit. We as parents should be providing fresh fruit all along.
There is no soda in my home. Fresh fruit is a snack. It’s a treat for me, and it’s a treat for my son. My son has a long way to go before he’s doing his own grocery shopping. There won’t be any soda treats in this house.
It’s one thing to ignore sound nutritional advice when you are stuffing your own face, but it’s irresponsible when you do this to your own kids. No one is born with knowledge. Responsible parents need to make some time to learn the facts about sound nutrition.
I didn’t know anything about being a parent before my son was born. I read everything that I could however to learn as much as I could beforehand. The information is there if you take the time to look. The “I’m too busy” excuse is beyond old. News flash, we are all busy in today’s world. When it comes to raising our children, busy doesn’t cut it.
Ross
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“Indiana Jones Fruit Snacks”
Don’t you love the fancy food names to get kid’s attention?
Those ingredients are a joke. It’s still a mystery to me how parents who “love” their children can give them this food to gorge down their throats, and how many can actually think that something like this snack is “good” for them.
And let’s not foget Halloween. It is once again beyond me how ANYONE can eat dozens of those cheap, processed, little chemical “foods” in 10 cent candy wrappers. Ughhhh…
man, i so agree. since i discovered my shop sells frozen berries (rasp, straw, blue, black) which are cheaper than fresh, but still “raw”, and they taste great when still frozen!
Surely this is a sign of the apocalypse. I’ve got a 2 year old as well, and for the past few months it’s been our weekly treat to pick up a pint of strawberries or blackberries at the farmer’s market and pig out together. If he’s not doing that, he’s grabbing tomatoes right off the vine and sucking them down. It’s bizarre how many people think kids will waste away without a steady supply of sugar.
One of the things I’ve noticed is that so few people know how to look for ripe fruit anymore.
I love the last part about how EVERYONE is busy. Ross makes a good point- when will we ever “have time” to eat right? The truth is you MAKE time when the only things you buy are nutritionally sound food choices. Even today while I was at the grocery store, I looked into several shopping carts, and was pretty amazed that most people were buying some pretty standard food items (bread, milk, cheese, etc.) but had chosen some really processed, unhealthy options. I understand that some organic foods are pretty pricey (especially if you buy the fruits and veggies out of season), but I say if you’re on a tight budget, you should at least invest the time to research and see which foods are the WORST for your health, and spend your money buying the healthiest alternative (ex. an organic bread over white bread), and save your money by not buying any of the junk.
Of course, there is also a lot of misinformation out there- some people have the best intentions, but unfortunately lack the knowledge to choose the best options. Hopefully websites like Ross’s and others can help spread the word and clear up the confusion!
i love soda i drink 2 litres a day but i am fine and in super shape
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that drinking soda has anything to do with helping you get in shape. Soda is everything but good for you.
Ross
My nephew is almost 2 1/1 years old. he loves strawberries, in fact, he loved them so much he watched and learned how to open the fridge to get them for himself. it was the greatest thing to come home from school for a weekend and catch him sneaking into the fridge only to bring out some strawberries. he also loves oranges, mango, apples…
fruit is huge, and so delicious and juicy. yum
I agree. I might be busy, but the one thing I always have time for is to make healthy/nutritious meals. On the rare occasion that there is bread/pasta in my house–I make it from scratch so I know exactly what is going in it. Sometimes that means that other chores don’t get done or I spend the evening cooking instead of having any downtime for myself. It’s all about where you place your priorities.
I believe that the best thing I can do for my family
is to make sure that they eat well. If I don’t fill up my car at the gas station that has the crappy gasoline (and I don’t), then I’m not going to be filling up my body with crappy fuel either.
“No one is born with knowledge”
Brilliant!!!
Fruit Fizz? B.S.!!!! What is wrong with people? Turn kids onto fruit????? What a sad world we live in.
Instead of carbonating it, why don’t they just throw some kefir grains in the fruit? That will ferment it and take some of the sugars out of the fruit and the taste is unreal.
No one has commented on the issue of the 20 school districts contracting with Sodexho to serve this “fizzy fruit” to Connecticut children. Arithmetic is not the only thing our children are learning in school. While they eat, children develop knowledge of nutrition and eating habits. The school district wouldn’t allow vulgar language or English teachers that taught improper punctuation. Why is it okay to promote bad nutrition? Knowledge of proper nutrition and good eating habits are just as important as a child’s education.
Everyone is jumping to conclusions. Carbonation is the only added in fizzy fruit. PERIOD! No extra sugars or additives. It’s real fruit with a zing. It’s a great way for kids hooked on junk food that have moved away from eating real fruit to start eating it again. I challenge anyone to show me that anything has been added to this fruit but the fizz.
when my children come home from school their hungry, they have fruit. when my wife is preparing dinner, my 4 yr old is nicking veg that is being cut up. my kiddies like some veg that me and my wife hate, but they have eaten it around their nans, (sprouts urh runnerbeans urhh). but they like it so we buy it. i say to them when they’re hungry and they want chocolate just an hour away from dinner, no have a drink b’cos feeling hungry and feeling thirsty are the same feelings, if they still complaining, then have some fruit. it always works.
Mike – No, you’ve actually missed the point of the entry.
Kids should not need to be tricked into eating healthy foods. These kids won’t be eating the fizzy foods for the health benefits. They are simply being fooled into believe they are eating more candy. How will the kids then know how to differentiate between “good” candy and “bad” candy? Will a 7 year old know the difference between a gummy bear and a fizzy fruit?
Why not provide real, fresh (TASTY!) fruit all along? It tastes better AS IS.
PERIOD!