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NO, I want REAL FOOD, damnit!!!
Nov. 16th, 2010 09:53 amI arrived at work very thirsty this morning, so I ducked into the grill portion of the cafeteria, and grabbed what looked at first glance like a product I usually enjoy, Tropicana orange juice with added calcium. Clearly and unmistakably branded as a Tropicana product, with some dark-blue spot with the word "calcium" in white letters, picturing a vibrant orange beverage on the front. I thought I knew what it was, so I didn't stop to read the label. I just grabbed it and then dashed over to the cashier, ahead of the swarms of people waiting for their pancakes and sausage biscuits.
When I got upstairs, I opened it and guzzled down half of it because I was really thirsty... but it registered as tasting wrong. Just wrong. Not entirely unlike orange juice, but sort of more like sugar water. (But only sort of.)
THEN I read the label. OMG. It's not orange juice, it's "orange juice beverage". (In small print, right at the edge of the bottom of the bottle.) "50% less sugar and calories", it says on the front, but "No Artificial Sweeteners" on the back. So how do they make it so sweet? I started Googling the ingredients, and found Reb A (Pure Via brand), a stevia extract that the FDA couldn't think of any objection to.
Well, my mouth objects. Stevia does not register on my tongue as real food, but as something kind of nasty. I do not appreciate Tropicana sneaking this one on me.
This shows that the whole "natural/artificial" distinction is COMPLETE BULLSHIT. Replacing 60% of my orange juice with water and purified stevia extract is not the kind of natural food I had in mind. How about some all-natural corn syrup? Or extracts of all-natural petroleum? By Tropicana's definition, what the hell isn't natural?
Yikes. Read those labels, always.
When I got upstairs, I opened it and guzzled down half of it because I was really thirsty... but it registered as tasting wrong. Just wrong. Not entirely unlike orange juice, but sort of more like sugar water. (But only sort of.)
THEN I read the label. OMG. It's not orange juice, it's "orange juice beverage". (In small print, right at the edge of the bottom of the bottle.) "50% less sugar and calories", it says on the front, but "No Artificial Sweeteners" on the back. So how do they make it so sweet? I started Googling the ingredients, and found Reb A (Pure Via brand), a stevia extract that the FDA couldn't think of any objection to.
Well, my mouth objects. Stevia does not register on my tongue as real food, but as something kind of nasty. I do not appreciate Tropicana sneaking this one on me.
This shows that the whole "natural/artificial" distinction is COMPLETE BULLSHIT. Replacing 60% of my orange juice with water and purified stevia extract is not the kind of natural food I had in mind. How about some all-natural corn syrup? Or extracts of all-natural petroleum? By Tropicana's definition, what the hell isn't natural?
Yikes. Read those labels, always.
