• as much Vitamin C as cup of blueberries
• as much iron as a cup of spinach
• as much calcium and Vitamin D as a glass of milk
• as much Vitamin A as an 8 ounce glass of tomato juice
• as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal
• as much Vitamin E as two glasses of carrot juice
• as much Vitamin B-12 as a cup of cottage cheese and fruit

I got a ton of comments. I still get a ton of comments. They go from calling me a stupid hippie to saying that the cookies are evil and I’m awesome for pointing out how much they suck. I never like to respond to people who call me, and I quote, “annoying” and “crazy” and “a food Nazi.” (While I will approve 99 percent of comments, I don’t feel the need to post every nasty comment that comes in, especially those laced with epithets.) However, the fact that I seem to get at least one of these comments a day, I will explain in a little more detail why I don’t like these cookies. I will use an example out of our food history.

Remember when low fat food came out? And people gobbled up low fat or no fat snacks and drinks? Remember when those people started gaining weight? Well, that’s sort of how I see these cookies. Parents tell their kids that they are eating “healthy” cookies and then kids think that cookies are somehow good for them. They get the wrong message.

My kids absolutely, 100 percent eat cookies. We especially love Whole Foods 365 Organic animal crackers. We like these caramel cookies we buy at Trader Joe’s. They love homemade oatmeal raisin cookies that my mother makes. They like cookies. That said, they know, as Elmo once said, that cookies are “sometimes” foods. That there is nothing inherently “bad” about cookies, but that they are not providing that many of good things that their bodies needs. They taste good, though. And that’s what they should think. Cookies taste good and are okay to eat in moderation. They know they get their Vitamin C from blueberries and oranges, iron from spinach, and calcium from cheese and yogurt and milk. The way nature intended it. So no, I am not a fan of WhoNu cookies. Understand? Good.

First, and most important caffeine is a drug. Sorry, folks, but it is. And being able to buy a bottle of flavored caffeine seems sort of dangerous. Sure, someone could down three or four cans of Red Bull or a pot of coffee, but they are going to be limited by the size of their stomach. It’s not easy to drink ounces and ounces of liquid. Not without getting a stomach ache, anyway. With MiO Energy, however, you get 60 mg of caffeine or about what you’d find in a cup of coffee in one “squirt.” But here’s the rub: It’s very easy to put three, four, or even five squirts of MiO in an eight-ounce glass of water, essentially upping your caffeine intake without adding any real bulk to your stomach. According to the company’s website, the 18 serving bottle is a mere 1.62 fluid ounces! Meaning you could drink 18 servings of caffeine very easily in a single glass of water as long as you didn’t mind the super-concentrated taste. In an uninformed consumer’s hands or even worse, a kid’s hands? Well, it could be dangerous. And it’s not just me. I recently read a Slate.com article that called for a ban of all caffeinated beverages to kids — especially in schools. From the Slate article:

According to a 2011 paper on health effects of energy drinks on children, children shouldn’t have more caffeine than 2.5 milligrams per kilogram per day; since the FDA limits 71 milligrams of caffeine per a 12-ounce can of soda, that’s about one soda a day, not a soda plus a couple of shots of MiO Energy.

Seems like kids have already gotten the message that MiO Energy is a great party drink, too. If you go to the MiO FAQ you’ll see a telling question: Can I mix MiO Energy with vodka. To Kraft’s credit, it discourages the behavior: “We strongly advise against it. MiO Energy contains caffeine and studies indicate that consuming caffeine with alcohol can lead to unsafe behaviors. Please don’t try it.”  The FAQ also cautions against giving MiO Energy to kids or mixing it into Coke.

The second problem I have with MiO was well documented in my last post about the product. Here’s what Kraft says about its ingredients: MiO is sweetened with sucralose, a calorie-free, artificial sweetener that is 600 times sweeter than sugar. To maintain color and freshness, MiO does use certain preservatives and artificial colorings. Ugh. And the Energy version also has guarana and ginseng as well as vitamins B-6 and B-12.

Finally, I have to say it: The stuff tastes like chemicals. I decided it’s not cool to bash something without actually trying it. (Besides, I got quite a few comments from readers saying the stuff was yummy.) Not sure what they were tasting, but I disagree wholeheartedly. Me? I’d rather grab a plain glass of water or, if I didn’t mind the palpitations, a cup of coffee. They are both cheaper and taste a lot better.

Although my troop always forgoes the incentives so we can earn an extra $.05 per box, there’s still an opportunity to earn Girl Scout store gift certificates by selling 300, 600, or 900 boxes. Big Girl, who spent a little time perusing the catalog, decided she wanted to earn a $75 gift certificate. It was a tall order, I told her. Selling 300 boxes of cookies on her own would be difficult and require a lot of hard work. She said she wanted to do it, and I am so glad she did because in addition to that gift certificate, she also racked up confidence, poise, marketing know-how, and sales skills. She even overcame her shyness and got better at making eye contact, two things that have stymied her in the past.

Me, I didn’t care so much about the gift certificate or the money for the troop. I just wanted to get rid of extra cookies. My troop had a few booth sales. My cookie mom was laid up, so I was the cookie holder. If Big Girl would sell cookies, I could free up space in my trunk. Our first location was outside a local supermarket. The first sale was rough to put it mildly. Big Girl looked like she was being tortured. She wouldn’t speak up. She wouldn’t make eye contact. In all honesty, Little Girl was the one doing all the selling. “Girl Scout cookies! Wanna buy some cookies?”

Still, we sold 43 boxes, and Big Girl got a taste of what it felt like to be successful. Our next sale was unintentional. We were at a local sandwich shop. It was packed. I asked the manager if we could walk table-to-table selling our cookies. She said yes, and we were off. This time Big Girl’s selling skills were marginally better. She actually had three people tell her that she needed to look them in the face if she wanted them to make a purchase. She held it together, though, and started making occasional eye contact and speaking loud enough for people to hear her. We sold 20 boxes within 15 minutes. Soon after, we walked around in our town. A few days later we visited my old hometown. We also hit three local railroad stations, and poked our heads in bars, pizza joints, and delis. With every sale, Big Girl got a little more confident. She hit her stride when, at the new Moe’s by our house, the owner told her he would buy whatever she had left if she could do the math. (It was 14 boxes. She did the calculations in her head and got it right.)

By our last sale — at the local railroad — she was unstoppable. “Get your Girl Scout cookies,” she barked. “I’m down to my last eight boxes. These are going fast!” And they did. She sold cookies to the last five people she approached. I was even more impressed when she forgot to hand over a box after a sale and, when the guy reproached her, she held it together even though she was completely embarrassed. A few years ago something like that would have sent her into a crying jag.

Sure, there were some glitches. At the supermarket sale, for instance, she started hyperventilating when someone asked her to recite the Girl Scout Promise. Imagine my surprise when she not only said it at a railroad sale a few days later, but smiled the whole time.

So how do I feel about Girl Scout cookies? I feel pretty good. All the sales and marketing materials tout how good Girl Scouts are for the girls. Until now, I sort of poo-pooed that. However, my kid is a shining example of what a kid-run sale can actually do. Would it have been easier for me to post on Facebook and get my husband to bring her order form to work? Sure, then I would have missed out on seeing my child beaming with pride from her accomplishment.

Cons: Contains seven grams of sugar, which is on the high side for something marketed as a “healthier” cereal.

My Big Girl is in an anti-cereal phase. She won’t eat her Joe’s Os anymore. She doesn’t like Puffins, she says. I like her to eat something in the morning, so I’ve been on a quest for a new cereal, buying anything I think she might like. I saw Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise during my last trip to Whole Foods and picked it up. I was wrangling Little Girl at the time, so I only gave the box a quick look, but I liked what I saw. The front clearly stated it was organic and contained three grams of fiber, two grams of protein, and 11 percent of the daily recommended allowance of omega-3s. I also liked what was missing: preservatives and artificial colors and flavors. Its sodium content wasn’t too bad, either. Just 130 milligrams.

When we got home, I showed Big Girl my find, offering her a bowl of the stuff. She was skeptical. It doesn’t look like other cereals, she said. She’s right. It’s not uniform in size, shape, or color. In fact, it’s what I’d call a fun mix of shapes and textures. (Thanks to the ancient grains like quinoa and amaranth.) Big Girl, however, wouldn’t try it.

The cereal has puffs and flakes and pieces.

Not wanting to waste a box of cereal, I poured myself a bowl for lunch the next day. It was quite yummy. The cereal has a nice crunch to it, and all those different shapes and sizes make for a different experience in every spoonful. As for the taste: The vanilla is very subtle, but it is pretty sweet overall. So sweet, in fact, that after I took a second bite I had to give the label another look. That’s when I saw that sugar (evaporated cane juice to be exact) was the second ingredient. Here’s the full list of ingredients:

Whole corn meal, evaporated cane juice, brown rice flour, yellow corn flour, inulin, quinoa puffs, flax seeds, natural vanilla flavor, buckwheat flour, quinoa, sea salt, amaranth, molasses, tocopherols (natural vitamin E)

When you consider that four grams of sugar equals about a teaspoon of sugar, that means every bowl of Organic Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise has almost two teaspoons of the stuff. While it’s not a deal-breaker for me, I do wish it had a little less sugar. On the plus side — and what’s frightening — is that the sugar content is relatively low when you compare it with other cereals.

This past December the Environmental Working Group (EWG) assessed breakfast cereals and found some were 55.6, 51.9, and 48.3 percent sugar by weight. (The offending cereals were Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, Post Golden Crisp, and Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow, respectively. Organic Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise, by comparison, is 23.3 percent sugar by weight.) You can look at the rest of the 10 Worst Children’s Cereals here.

There are a few issues when you add sugar to breakfast cereal. Littler kids especially have issues when sugar content creeps up. From an EWG press release:

“Studies suggest that children who eat breakfasts that are high in sugar have more problems at school. They become more frustrated and have a harder time working independently than kids who eat lower-sugar breakfasts. By lunchtime they have less energy, are hungrier, show attention deficits and make more mistakes on their work.”

I have digressed completely. Again, this cereal falls below the suggested eight grams of sugar per bowl, so since I’m eating it — and loving it, I might add — I’ll keep buying it. Will I give it to my 3-year-old? Probably not, but if Big Girl, who is eight wanted to try it, I’d probably happily pour her a bowl. And since I do like this cereal, I’m definitely checking out some of the other Nature’s Path offerings, which made it on to the EWG’s list of best cereals (meaning they are lower in sugar) including Optimum Cranberry Ginger, Corn Puffs, Kamut Puffs, Millet Puffs, and Rice Puffs.

How does your breakfast cereal stack up? Take a look at the EWG’s analysis of 84 popular cereal offerings if you’re not sure.

This week, The Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine Mainely Moms and Dads confirmed the chemical is still out there, and it can be found in many of the foods we’re giving our babies and toddlers. From the organization’s news release:

“The Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine sent fifteen containers of food to Anresco Laboratories for analysis in January and released the results today. BPA was found in 11 of the 12 sampled containers of baby food manufactured by Beech-Nut, Gerber, Earth’s Best Organic and Shaw’s Wild Harvest brand. It was also found in all three of the canned foods sampled including Campbell’s Disney Princess SpaghettiOs, Dora the Explorer soup, and Chef Boyardee macaroni and cheese.”

This is pretty scary. In case you haven’t seen the data: Teams of independent researchers have found that BPA isn’t as safe as once though. The reason: It acts as an endocrine disruptor, mimicking human hormones like estrogen. People have linked it to increased risk of breast cancer, thyroid issues, lowered male fertility rates, decreased birth weight, and wheezing, among other ailments and issues. Another October 2011 Harvard School of Public Health study found BPA exposure in the womb is linked to behavioral and emotional difficulties in girls. Of course the folks who bring us this plastic and resin say it’s perfectly fine. Me? I’m thinking that all those researchers can’t be wrong, which is why I limit my family’s BPA exposure as much as possible.

The smart folks in Maine are asking manufacturers of food intentionally marketed or sold to children under three to replace BPA or disclose how much BPA is in their packaging. They say a second phase will ask for a complete ban of the substance. It’s a start, I guess, but I’d rather see our governments come out and ban BPA in all food containers as well as anything that might be ingested by kids or adults. What do you think?

My definition of green — at least as it relates to a product or service — takes into account many characteristics. If it’s a product, I believe it should be manufactured using renewable ingredients and components. It should also be free of petroleum-based components and anything would harm the environment (or the people who use it) such as phosphates, lead, hormone disruptors (think BPA or phthalates) and antibacterial elements — especially triclosan. Other ingredients I try and avoid are VOCs, poisonous or toxic additives, nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), DEA (which has been found to cause cancer), and formaldehyde. “Green” food products should be organic and contain actual food — nothing that is developed or produced in a lab. A rule of thumb that I’ve heard over and over again: If you can’t pronounce it, don’t ingest it. Packaging for all of the above should be recyclable or renewable, and use as little plastic as possible.

Dictionary.com defines green as “environmentally sound or beneficial.” I would agree. Green products should have as little impact on the environment as possible. And that’s where this whole discussion gets cloudy. How green is organic coffee grown in South America once it gets to New York? Sure, it might be grown organically in a way that supports local growers, but how can anyone overlook the fact that it has to travel via airplane or boat to the U.S. where it’s put into a truck that guzzles gas and spews carbon monoxide along the way?

Of course, thinking like this could make you crazy. So, what’s your definition of green? How does it affect how you shop and live? I’d like to know.

• About 10 percent of the juices that CR sampled (from five brands) showed arsenic levels that “exceeded federal drinking-water standards. Most of that arsenic was inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen.”
• 25 percent of samples had lead levels “higher than the FDA’s bottled-water limit of 5 ppb. As with arsenic, no federal limit exists for lead in juice.”
• We’re getting a large portion of our arsenic exposure from apple and grape juice. CR called the juices, “a significant source of dietary exposure to arsenic,” according to its analysis of federal health data from 2003 through 2008.
• Kids are drinking a heck of a lot of juice. According to a CR parents poll, 25 percent of kids under five drink more juice than their pediatricians recommend.

Consumer Reports says the source of the arsenic and lead is contaminated apple orchards. Soil is contaminated due to a number of reasons, For example, arsenic-based pesticides that were used in the past are still hanging around. Plus, there’s plenty of arsenic and lead in the environment from things like the production of pressure-treated wood.  Even more significant, I think, (and something the CR article points out, too) is the fact that much of our apple juice is made from concentrate that comes from China, a country that still uses arsenic-based pesticides.

I have always had a few rules about juice. First, anything my kids drank had to be 100 percent juice — no high fructose, sugar-added junk for us. Second, it had to be organic. Finally, juice was an occasional thing. We drink it sparingly at playdates, at mommy-and-me classes, and always watered it down in a 2-to-1 ratio of water to juice.

These rules, I assumed, would keep my girls healthier. We would avoid pesticides and reduce our risk of obesity. After all, juice is way better than the other options out there — aside from water, of course. Two separate 2010 studies out of Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and Baylor College of Medicine seemed to support my theory.

One study found that children between the ages of two and five who drank 100 percent fruit juice had “significantly” higher daily intakes of vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium and “significantly lower intakes of added sugars compared to non-fruit juice consumers.” Juice drinkers, for some reason, also ate more whole fruits and whole grains. The other study — of children ages six to 12 — had similar results. Kids who drank juice took in more key nutrients and ate more dietary fiber, according to the study. In addition, “overall diet quality, as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index — a measure that evaluates conformance to federal dietary guidance — was higher in all fruit juice consumers assessed.”

Great. Juice is good for adults, too, as studies have found that it can reduce the risk of some cancers and is beneficial to cardiovascular health. Except, of course, when the juice contains carcinogens. So what’s a parent to do? I plan on sticking to water or orange juice for a while, or limiting my purchases to apple and grape juices that are organic and clearly marked, “Made in the U.S.A.” How about you?

The urge for stuff is so strong that, about a week ago, I sat down and made a list of a few things that I tell myself would enrich my life. Silly stuff, really. A stainless steel coffee grinder. Some spin shoes. Tiny speakers for my iPod. An eco-friendly large coffee mug for my morning joe. A 33-ounce French press so I can make coffee for friends. A solar watch. (The band on my old watch broke and I don’t trust any jewelers enough to leave it anywhere.) A small stainless steel strainer. Nothing that expensive, really. Just things that, at this moment in time, I covet.

I have to admit it feels weird to want stuff, and I’m not sure where it’s coming from. It’s been a long time since I made a Christmas list of more than one or two things. I tend to avoid asking for specific items, preferring to find what I need (I never really want things) at thrift stores or on sale. I have been so resolute in my no-stuff goal that I end up bringing back most of the stuff people buy me, which tends to make people mad, but I digress. I got so used to going without, I guess, that it’s really hard for me to spend money on myself — or allow anyone else to spend it on me. It’s so weird and foreign to me that here I am, writing a blog about it.

I’m wondering if it’s because I finally feel like I am worthy of presents? Or maybe my obsessive fear of being poor again is waning. Or maybe it’s just that I see everyone else in my spin class with clip on shoes and I want to feel that same rush of speed. I really don’t know. But what I do know? I’ve got some cleaning to do to make room for my new stuff because if my family doesn’t come through I’ll be shopping for myself on December 26th.

Thanks to the Candy Professor for letting me use this photo, which shows the with-artificial-colors, without-artificial-colors difference.

A fellow Twitter pal clued me in that the New England Confectionery Company, the company behind NECCO Wafers, decided to go back to its old recipe — and all the artificial colors that used to be in it. I confirmed the news by reading this piece, Customer Outrage Forces Necco To Put Artificial Ingredients Back Into Wafers on NPR’s blog, although this was announced back in May at the Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago, according to Samira Kawash, (AKA the Candy Professor). She wrote a blog about it in the spring.

In a nutshell: The company in 2009 made the switch from using artificial colors and flavors to natural ones. From the NPR blog:

“Instead of artificial dyes and colorings, the revamped Necco wafer used natural colorings made from turmeric , red beets, purple cabbage, and cocoa powder. The company also replaced the artificial flavors in some of the wafers with natural flavors.”

People hated it, according to company officials, and complained. Meanwhile, sales dropped by 35 percent, according to reports, so the company switched back to the artificial stuff.

The Candy Professor was nice enough to provide an ingredients list for both the old and new version:

All natural: Sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, coco power, natural flavors, vegetable gums, natural colors (red beet, purple cabbage, turmeric, caramel color, paprika)

Original (aka chemically one): Same as above with citric acid and artificial flavors, Yellows 5 & 6, Blue 1, Red 3, Red 40

I can remember eating NECCO wafers as a child, but I really wonder if they contained artificial colors. I mean, they’ve been around since 1847. You’re not going to tell me that artificial colors were around back then. I would personally like to do my own taste test. I wonder if there are any of the “natural” version left on store shelves?

In the meantime, I’m really sad that the company made the switch, especially since I suspect that the drop in sales had very little to do with the new colors. (As you can see from the above photo: the color difference is negligible, in my opinion.) I’d say it has to do more with choice, since even the “natural” version of the wafers is little more than formed sugar. With so many other yummy candy varieties on the market, maybe NECCO Wafers, a throwback to the nineteenth century after all, just doesn’t appeal to today’s consumers. I guess we’ll just have to see how the market shakes out.

• as much Vitamin C as cup of blueberries
• as much iron as a cup of spinach
• as much calcium and Vitamin D as a glass of milk
• as much Vitamin A as an 8 ounce glass of tomato juice
• as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal
• as much Vitamin E as two glasses of carrot juice
• as much Vitamin B-12 as a cup of cottage cheese and fruit

Wow, I thought, a cookie that is actually healthy is probably something I would want to buy! I had to see the list of ingredients, though, since it sounded too good to be true. Unfortunately, it was. Every one of the four varieties (Chocolate, Crispy, Soft & Chewy, and Vanilla) contains artificial flavors, hydrogenated oils, and chemicals like monocalcium phosphate, monoglycerides, and polydextrose. (Polydextrose, according to Wikipedia, is “an indigestable synthetic polymer of glucose.” Ugh.) The Soft & Chewy version lists high fructose corn syrup as its third ingredient. Have a look at the ingredients yourself.

The Twitter party, which was HUGE and well-attended, was a busy one, but the conversation didn’t reflect the fact that these cookies are basically plain old cookies that contain some not-so-great ingredients — with some added vitamins thrown in. Instead, the hosts played up a health and nutrition angle. Most of the questions, in fact, were directly related to nutrition such as: What is your best tip for ensuring your child has a nutrition-rich diet? Do you worry your athlete is not getting enough vitamins and minerals in their diet? How do you celebrate the end of a (sports) season? What does your athlete eat after a game? What type of food would you take to your child’s game or a team party? Have you ever struggled with being asked to be the Team Snack Mom?

Attendee comments during the two-hour Twitter party were all over the place, but most were very enthusiastic. One attendee/host suggested dunking WhoNus into milk to get a “double” vitamin boost. (“When you dunk a Whonu in milk its like getting double the vitimans.”) Another said she likes crumpling up the cookies into Greek yogurt. Yet another said how happy she was that cookies were finally a healthy food. Exact words: “It is nice they are nutritious.” Sigh.

My take away from this is how smart the folks at WhoNu’s parent company Suncore Products are. They are marketing these cookies as part of a healthy, active lifestyle. Moms, who may not have the time or gumption to look at the ingredients, are falling for the hype hook, line, and sinker. And that’s one of the biggest problem I have with these cookies: Parents are being lulled into thinking they are doing something good for their kids when in reality they are simply giving them a highly processed food that just happens to have vitamins in it. Oh, and the fact that all those parents are probably playing up the vitamin angle when giving them to their kids, who will then learn to equate cookies with healthy food. I’d have fewer problems with them if Suncore Products removed all the artificial gunk and high fructose corn syrup. How about you?

This post is how I am participating in this week’s Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday, two awesome blog carnivals dedicated to promoting the use and consumption of — what else? — real food. BTW: If you’re looking for a truly “healthy” cookie, why not bake some yourself? There are some great recipes out there. Try this one or this one or this one.