OK, I never watch TV and this is why. First commercial that comes on shows a bunch of bored kids sitting at a table and the announcer asks:
“what is kid’s favorite vegetable?”
Sound of crickets chirping as kids *clearly* do not like vegetable. Then they show the kids chowing down on Bush baked beans – kid’s favorite “vegetable”. Well I am all for legumes and normally I get about half my protein from black beans but last I checked legumes are not a vegetable. Beans are a great source of complex carbs, protein, and fiber but they don’t have the vitamins and anti-oxidants that colorful vegetables and leafy greens have. So although I’m in favor of getting kids to like beans, I still want them to eat real vegetables. Somehow this reminds me of “ketchup is a vegetable” scandal of last decade.
The other problem is that Bush Baked Beans promoted in this advertisement are not just beans, surprise, surprise. There is a lot of sugar in them which makes them tasty and the more it tastes like a candy bar, the more kids like it. Lets compare a can of baked beans to a can of plain beans
A can of Bush Beans has 840 calories and 36 grams of protein – 17% protein by calories ((36×4)/840). A can of S&S organic black beans has 390 calories and 24 grams protein – 25% protein by calories ((24×4)/390). Why is one can of beans only 17% protein and the other 25% protein? Because of all the added SUGAR. You will note on the baked beans they cleverly separate sugar into brown sugar and sugar. Ingredients lists must list the most prominent ingredients first. A very common tactic of food manufacturers is to split up the sugars into two, three, or four different types so they can list healthy sounding ingredients first. For example, if a pastry just used one type of sweetener they might have to list sugar as the first ingredient but if they separate it into sugar, high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, honey then they can list water first. In this case, there is more water than sugar or brown sugar but is there more water than sugar + brown sugar? Probably not.
