Fruit Snacks or Candy
Two women, Aliza Atik and Winnie Lau, have filed a class-action lawsuit against Welch’s claiming the company has been deliberately deceiving the public with their marketing of Welch’s Fruit Snacks. They believe that the fruit snacks are little more than candy, but the snacks are marketed as containing way more fruit than is actually in the product. The lawsuit also claims that the marketing and labeling of the products suggests that the vitamins in the fruit snacks are due to the products’ fruit content. “Unfortunately for consumers, the synthetic vitamins defendants add to the fruit snacks do not provide the same health benefits as vitamins obtained by eating fruit,” it says.
Promotion in Motion, the manufacturer of Welch’s Fruit snacks, has released a statement declaring that their “labeling is truthful and gives consumers the information they need to make informed decisions.”
The packaging indicates:
100% DV Vitamin C
25% DV Vitamins A & E
Fat Free
Gluten Free
No Preservatives
Regardless of if you believe fruit puree constitutes real fruit, the amount of sugar in these little pouches is astonishingly high. A Krispy Creme donut contains 12 grams of sugar, as does a bowl of fruit loops. While there are 19 grams of sugar in an actual apple, it is also very low on the glycemic index which means it isn’t likely to raise blood sugar levels significantly. However, due to the added sugar and corn sryup, fruit snacks are high on the glycemic index and likely to cause blood sugar spikes.
Personally, fruit snacks have never been a favorite of mine. Communal snacks at preschool and day-care are one of my worst nightmares. Even at schools that insist the snack be healthy, let fruit snacks slide. The parent wants to send in something fun, but ends up sending in little pouches of sugar with little no nutritional value.
While the lawsuit calls out Welch’s specifically, don’t let other brands fool you. Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks also contain 11 grams of sugar. While it is organic sugar, it still is a high amount of sugar per calorie.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.