Do fewer ingredients = healthier food?

One of my favorite foods is chocolate mousse, which I make with just five ingredients: Heavy cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and chocolate. These days, that relatively small number of ingredients would be a selling point.

Frito Lay’s recent advertising is a case in point. The company is promoting “the power of three,” with the “three” being the total number of ingredients—potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt—some of its snack chip brands contain.

This sounds great, right? It means no additives, like artificial colors or flavors. But what it doesn’t eliminate calories, fat, or salt—they’re still in there! It’s no secret that chips go down easily and add up quickly—just 15 Lay’s Classic potato chips contain 150 calories and 10 grams of fat. And keep in mind that only a few of Frito Lay’s snacks fall into the three-ingredient category.

A related marketing angle is being used by Häagen-Dazs, which recently introduced an ice-cream line named for the number of ingredients it contains: Five. On the plus side, our testers said the new line’s coffee flavor contains less fat and is creamier than the original. But a half-cup still contains 220 calories and 12 grams of fat.

So unfortunately, as much as I’d like to believe it, the fact that my mousse contains only a handful of ingredients doesn’t make it any better for me.

For a list of good-for-you snacks to put in your shopping cart (and a few to skip), read Snack Smart from our June/July issue of ShopSmart.

Comments

[eiram]

I have my own share of weakness for sweet foods and chips. And I think it's okay to give in to these cravings every once in a while as long as there's a check and balance going on.