Fruity Pebbles, Fruit Rollups and fruity candies are just a handful of the myriad products aimed at kids that promote their fruitiness. Not only are fruit flavors appealing, but the use of the word implies that that flavoring is natural, or at least that it has been derived from fruits. Of course, this is not necessarily the case and the Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments proved it by doing a study entitled "Where's the Fruit?"
The study looked at 37 different products, all product aimed at children, where images of fruit and/or fruit ingredients were pictured on the packaging and found that half of them contained no fruit of any kind. Another 16% contained only "minimal amounts of fruit despite prominent fruit promotions on the packaging." For example, Yoplait's Strawberry Splash Go-Gurt Yogurt contained no actual fruit, nor did Berry Berry Kix.
Using a picture of fruit on a box isn't exactly false advertising, but it is misleading and the study certainly illustrates how important it is to read the ingredients and nutritional information on packaging when shopping for food if you really want to know what you're getting.
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