Imagine being able to enjoy a salad with all the thick, creamy dressing you want and feel guilt free because it has no calories.
That seems to be the promise of Walden Farms dressings. In fact, it may be the perfect food because they say it is “sugar free, fat free, gluten free, and calorie free.” Why sprinkle your salad with mere water (which is also sugar free, calorie free and fat free) when you can use this dressing?
Is it possible to make a salad dressing with zero anything?
*MOUSE PRINT:
According to the label, while there is some dijon mustard in this honey dijon dressing, there is no honey. It is composed mainly of thickened water and vinegar with spices and flavoring. But aren’t there at least some calories in that?
The company says:
If a product, under US Government regulations, has less than 5 calories per serving, it is considered zero. That is the category we fall into. Our products actually contain 3 to 4 calories per serving. The products also have less than .5gm of carbs, fat and sugar per serving. The calorie free line has taken extensive research and development to offer this extradinary product to the consumer. A blend of concentrated natural flavors, flavored vinegars and dehydrated vegetables together with a special non caloric emulsifying base, make you think that you are consuming a regular dressing,instead of a calorie free product.
In fact, the company is right! The Code of Federal Regulations says that “amounts less than 5 calories may be expressed as zero.”
Walden Farms makes a host of other no-calorie foods including chocolate syrup, pancake syrup, fruit spreads, carmel topping, and pasta sauce. Of course, they haven’t yet figured out how to make calorie free ice cream, pancakes, bread, and spaghetti that you put their cellulose gel-thickened products on.
Five calories? I’ll burn that off with one mouse click.
Mmm, placebo foods!
I used to like this site, they would put up a lot of TRUE “con jobs” in the advertising/packaging world.
Lately though, while there are TONS of con jobs out there, the ones mouseprint puts up are, well, just stupid.
This one is a prime example. You show a product that lives to its advertising (outside of maybe having honey flavoring instead of real honey).
Edgar replies: Mouse Print* is about finding the unexpected in the fine print. Sometimes it is funny, sometimes it is deceptive, and sometimes it is instructive. So, not all posts are about “con jobs”.
It almost seems like you are doing an ad for them. Start off with a shocking headline and then ending with “wow, this really is true”.
I wish we could get the stronger advertising laws that most of Europe has then this product would have to state that its true Calorie count.
While it is legal for them to do this I do not think many consumers would know the US Regulation allow it and most would probably think this truly has no calories. Which in turn would allow them to use more then 1 or 2 servings per use.
Again, while legal I think this fits into Mouseprint as it is still deceptive to the consumer as mot consumers are not educated to know better. Which is another reason I like this site.
Isn’t propylene glycol the main ingredient in automotive antifreeze, that is poisonous to your pets if they drink it? I see this stuff used to sweeten several (low calorie) type foods. I can’t imagine the food and drug administration allowing this to be put in our food. Oh wait, it is run by the government…. never mind. I ain’t eating anything with it in it for sure!
No John ethylene glycol is the main ingredient in antifreeze. Propylene glycol is used only in nontoxic antifreeze the toxic one is ethylene glycol. Propylene glycol is not toxic for your pets.
“Fat free,” “trans-fat free,” etc., don’t mean zero either. I believe Canada requires 2 sets of labels – a per-serving label and a per-container label – that prevents this sort of distortion.
This line of products has been wonderful for my husband. He is Type 1 Diabetic so their chocolate sauce and caramel sauce gives him the opportunity to satisfy that sweet tooth without the sugar and carbs!
Don’t eat it, it ain’t food!
I AM TYPE 1 DIABETIC STRUGGLING WITH WEIGHT AND HIGH BLOOD SUGARS AND HAVE GOOD GLUCOSE RESULTS SINCE USING WALDEN FARMS PRODUCTS. TRUELY A BLESSING FOR ME! I HOPE THEY KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND COME OUT WITH MORE PRODUCTS. I,FOR ONE, WILL BE TRYING THEM. THANK YOU WALDEN FARMS.
Educated consumers who are watching their weight SHOULD do their homework and KNOW ABOUT THE 5 CALORIE RULE>
Walden Farms products are simply the best for those watching their weight.
While other products that say “Light” or “fat free” have 40 calories a serving- Walden has <5. (I tabulate 5 on any calorie free product.
I Knew the gov't rule -so I always assumed Walden "Calorie Free" products had the "under 5" …
I thank this site for verifying that.
When I am counting calories – I calculate 5 cal/serving on the Walden Farms.
STILL
A full bottle of dressing (12 Servings) has a total of 60 calories, ^& you won't be using it on one salad. And their "peanut butter spread" while not anywhere near the taste of Skippy-Jif-Peter Pan or even Kroger… at 5 cal/ TBSP and with a lot of Sugar Free Jam satisfies an urge for a food weight watchers have long given up on.
It's the same with diet cola and sweetner packets which used to say "2" or "4" before the new regulation -circa 1993 — but now say "0"