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Photos: Whole Foods Market; General Mills
Whole Foods is no stranger to veggies – even the frozen kind, and it's no stranger to healthy food. And for folks who can't quite get the two of them in synch, the natural-food grocery giant is now doing the thinking for you -- this week officially launching a new line of eight frozen vegetable blends designed to pack specific nutritional punches.
Beans and Greens, for instance, is a high-fiber-and-iron blend of kidney beans, great northern beans and kale. Leafy Greens is a high vitamin A mixture of collards, kale and mustard greens. Garden Blend hits vitamins A and C with carrots, broccoli and sugar snap peas. It also includes single veggie packages of collard greens and blue curled kale – two of the most nutrient-dense vegetables around.
"There was definitely a plan to make sure we were hitting nutrient density and creating a product that was more than just a bag of frozen vegetables," said Chris Slick, Whole Foods' Senior Global Coordinator for Exclusive and Store Brands.
The veggies are conventionally grown, flash frozen within hours of harvest to preserve all the nutrients. And there is nothing added – no salt, no seasoning, no sauce – generally in seven-ounce, two-serving boxes that can be eaten as is, dressed up or added to other dishes. "We wanted to do a very versatile line that you could eat right out of the box for lunch if you want," said Slick who said Whole Foods also wanted to help customers get away from the gazillion-half-filled-bags-of-frozen-vegetables-in-your-freezer syndrome.
They're packaged as part of the house brand 365 Everyday Value, and cost $1.99 box. But they're also part of the chain-wide health initiative called Health Starts Here. It features four pillars of healthy eating: whole foods, plant-strong, nutrient dense and healthy fats, a concept designed to include the stores' prepared foods.
Truth be told, Whole Foods (which has actually had the blends in stores for about six months) is not the first to do targeted nutritional vegetable blends. Green Giant, owned by General Mills, has had what it calls Health Blends on the market for a few years. They were designed to have unique, vitamin-rich combinations that folks might not think of on their own, said spokeswoman Pam Becker.
The difference is, Green Giant's blends have sauces and seasonings, which means more fat and calories (though not always) and way more sodium. On the other hand, you know exactly what you're getting rather than mindlessly throwing on half a stick of butter and a pile of salt.
So how do the two brands stack up? See for yourself with labels below for Whole Foods Greens and Beans vs. Green Giant Digestive Health Blend
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1-13-2011 @5:54PM Health concious individual said... Those NFP's look very different. I love the potassium listing on the 365 product! Also noticed it odd that Gren Giant used the smaller serving size to skew the HUGE sodium perception.
Way to go EB team!
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1-17-2011 @2:07PM Tad said... I agree completely with the writer above. Having bought the Green Giant brand before, I will now think twice before doing so again after seeing the significant difference in the ingredients. I'll be looking for this new product!
1-17-2011 @7:19PM Al Schrader said... I wait until the summer harvest time to buy fresh veggies. Then I wash them, dry them, and cut them into bite size pieces & freeze them myself in freezer bags. All winter I have spectacular veggies for soups, stews, stir fry, etc....Alfred-
1-17-2011 @3:32PM Les said... What a bunch of drivel! Why not compare same products? This comparison is like comparing apples,oranges, grapes and figs, and then analyze the stool samples for likeness.
Do it right, or don't do it at all.
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1-17-2011 @3:47PM jeff said... Hey Zingling are you really so hardup that you have to post your want ad in a food comparrison article? You are definately one sick s.o.b.!!
1-17-2011 @3:48PM Wendy Wilson said... What about using 1/2 portion of the vegatables already seasoned (salt, cheese) and 1/2 vegatables of same variety without pre-seasoning and mix. I am not a good cook, so the pre-made
sauces are a big help without having twice the amount unnecessarily.
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1-17-2011 @3:52PM bryan said... Another in the trend to raise prices and reduce package size. Enough. Why do we allow this nonsense. The message---I am doing something good for you, so you should accept that I will charge an outrageous price and reduce the amount I give you. Arn't I wonderful.
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1-17-2011 @5:04PM anaconda said... 1 can of beans of choice = 3 servings
1 bag plain frozen veggies = 4 to 5 servings
1/2 cup of grain of choice from box or bulk = a whole lot of servings
Season to taste (salsa, butter, herbs, spices, tomato sauce, etc.)
You can get an entire week's lunch or dinner from the above ingredients for a fraction of the prices of these prepared brands. But, to each is own.
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1-17-2011 @7:12PM snake said... amen.....snake person
1-17-2011 @9:36PM Lassie said... We don't have that chain here. These products look really good, but really expensive for what you get. I can see some McMansion dweller, going, "oooh, this looks yummy!" as she tosses it in her bag.... I wonder what a price comparison would be if you bought all the ingredients and mixed up your own, as anaconda suggested above.
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1-17-2011 @9:36PM Lassie said... And for cryin' out loud, Green Giant has been selling frozen veg in fattening sauce since forever, (everyone knows that unless they were born in the 80's, I guess) - . I'm surprised this article is pointing out the obvious.
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1-17-2011 @11:53PM Gregg said... Ever Notice the downsizing of food in pkg. and cost is higher!!!! Wake up consumers!!!
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1-27-2011 @11:51PM geraldinecarmona said... Defrost them and then add them during the last half hour. Putting them in frozen may cause a lot of water and ice to come off of them, and water down the liquid.
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/force-factor-review-free-trial-2113761.html
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