I like eating a pickle for lunch from time to time. Kosher Dills, mini or large, that crunch - not nasty sweet pickles or relished pickles, ew! So I was at the store the other day, and they had Claussen kosher dills on sale. I usually buy the Trader Joes, or Fresh & Easy store brands, but I fondly remember amiable Claussen stork ads from when I was a kid, and I figured, why not?The next day, I'm eating one in my kitchen when I see the ingredient label: Fresh Cucumbers, Water, Distilled Vinegar, Salt, High Fructose Corn Syrup... wh wh whaaaat??? (re: Broflovski) Why the hell did Kraft Foods put in HFCS into pickles? Pickles? Really? Why? The "thumbs up" here is representative of high blood sugar, increased obesity, and promotion of type II diabetes symptoms.
Kraft / Philip Morris will not get my pickle dollars ever again. Epic failure, Kraft.
That is really odd. I've got a giant tub of claussen kosher dill halves and just checked the label -- no hfcs in mine.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was the mini-dills I have - I dunno. Or maybe UK market taste buds don't 'require' Kraft to add it there. Dunno.
ReplyDeleteRon, there is a disclaimer on the label (I retrieved from the recycling bin) that it contains "less than 2% High Fructose Corn Syrup" - but still, that could still be 1.9% pure HFCS. Maybe UK labeling laws do not require "trace" amounts of additives to be included... or maybe you have an "older" manufacturing lot. They are, after all, pickled, and could store, for Years.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the US. Claussen are not available in the UK afaik.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the percentage by? Weight? Volume? even 1.9% hfcs would mean the majority of calories would be coming from sugar, right? What's the listed carb content on the label? Should be close to 0g for a normal kosher dill.
ahhh, I did not know you were so close! =) It was 1g for 3 mini dills (serving size) as I recall, but I do not want to dive back into the 95 gallon recycling bin again!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnKxuqXV74M ...pickles
ReplyDeleteThe Claussen Kosher Dills that you get in the refrigerated section do not have HFCS. Those are the best anyway.
ReplyDeleteI was at my local Frys/Kroger yesterday, and I made a point to survey the same refrigerated pickle section where I first bought the previously mentioned HFCS bathed mini dills. Once again, I found
ReplyDelete- mini dills with HFCS
- whole dills, with HFCS
I also found,
- spears, WITHOUT HFCS
- 1/2 pickles, WITHOUT HFCS
Perhaps someone at Kraft thought it would be a great idea to load up pickles with HFCS to try and persuade consumers subconsciously that the sweeter ones are better. Maybe some bio-chemist said "if you put the HFCS on the sliced / halved / coined pickles, they'll discolor / rot / accelerate in oxidation... I don't know.
But I DO KNOW, that my one bottle of HFCS laden pickles, from the refrigerated section, was not an anomaly. And, I continue to avoid consumption of HFCS, acesulfame K, phenylalanine, sucralose, and other sweeteners that don't naturally occur, and my blood sugars have returned to the 105 to 115 range, nice and stable. That's enough data for me, personally. =)
I know this thread is forever old (I just jumped on here to look up if Claussen makes sweet pickles and this popped up in my results) but I have to say something: it is VLASIC that uses the stork in their ads. Also, I just bought Claussen pickles and they do not contain HFCS. Perhaps it's something specific to the manufacturer in your area? Anyway, have a nice day :-)
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