With our recent attempts to be a bit healthier we've been paying a lot more attention to the things we eat, meaning less bread/pasta and more fruits and veggies. A couple of nights ago we saw a commerical for the V8 Splash fruit flavored drinks and Greg made a comment that maybe we should try those and see how they taste, since eating enough veggies is one of the barriers we've had a hard time getting past.
I noticed this morning that they have the drinks at our cafeteria, so I picked one up. It tastes pretty ok for a vegetable/fruit drink. I'm thinking this could be doable. Then I read the Nutrition label. I've learned to read the labels very carefully. It's become a hobby of sorts.
The first thing I noticed was the ingredient list. What are the first two ingredients in my V8 Splash Berry Blend? Water and high fructose corn syrup (one of the least healthy ingredients on the planet). Before any mention of vegetable or fruit juice. I'm not impressed. So I move on over to the Nutrion Facts box. 70 calories, fine, 18g of carbs (all sugar, 6%DV), 40mg potassium (1%DV) and 50 mg of sodium (2%DV). The only vitamins listed are A, C, and E. I can get that in a bowl of cereal. And oh look, it contains a whopping 10% juice**! The rest is water and syrup. I wouldn't exactly call that healthy, people. After reading all of that I couldn't even finish drinking it. I think I'll go home and make a salad.
**Note: To be fair, while typing this I decided to look up the info on the original V8 juice, which I do use in soups and sauces when I don't have enough tomato sauce or just need some more liquid. According to the V8 website, those are 100% juice, and so are the V8 Fusion drinks, which I should probably try instead of the Splash. What I couldn't find is the actual nutrion label information online. You bet I'll be reading those before I actually buy one!
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5 comments:
I just had lunch which consisted of Weight Watchers Smart Ones Salisbury Steak.
You inspired to check out the ingredients. At least you could pronounce your ingredients.
Heh. I used to eat frozen lunches quite a bit, until I started reading the labels. The sodium content alone scared me. I've found it impossible to avoid things with scary labels, but I sure have worked to reduce it!
Cow shares your pain over the HFC (high fructose corn syrup). They put it in everything!
Cow spent considerable time in an aisle once trying to find pickles, for goodness sake, that didn't have that in them.
Moo!
Ummmm. Pickles. I was contemplating pickles the other day. Mom used to make them when I was little, from cucumbers she grew in the garden. You can bet those didn't have HFC. I almost planted cucumbers just for that purpose this year, but figured I'd better wait until I actually think I might have time to make pickles, which won't be this year!
The V8 Splash are like drinking Starbursts. Ugh.
The original V8 is better, but the salt content is downright alarming.
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