Health

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Aquafina: Unearths Its Source

AquafinaFor years, Americans have been buying bottled water for convenience, improved taste, and its perceived health benefits compared to tap water. We spend more on bottled water per gallon than we do on gasoline.

The biggest selling brand of bottled water is Aquafina made by Pepsico. From the look of the bottle with snow capped mountains, one would think the source of the water is some lovely, quiet stream or underground springs in the Alps. Not so.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Aquafina pws

Tucked at the bottom of the label of some bottles of Aquafina (others have no disclosure) are the words “Bottled At The Source P.W.S.”  Most people would have no idea what P.W.S. stands for, and that was probably the way Pepsi wanted it.

It actually means “Public Water Supply,” in other words, tap water. That’s right Aquafina gets its water from the tap, puts it through a seven-step purification process, pumps it into bottles that some say harm the environment, and charges you a fortune.

With some prodding from a consumer group, Pepsico announced last Friday it was going to come clean on the Aquafina label and say what P.W.S. stands for. Coke on the other, the maker of Dasani bottled water, has had no similar change of heart about disclosing that its purified water comes from the tap too.

None of this is meant to speak ill of tap water, that repeated tests have shown is generally safe and tasty to drink in most communities. In fact, expert wine tasters did a blind taste test of tap water from cities around the country, and recently named the tap water from Salt Lake City, Boston, and Columbia, SC as the best tasting.

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Purina Dog Chow: Adds Up to 2 Years to Your Dog’s Life*

Purina Dog Chow Imagine if your choice of dog food could extend the life of your favorite pet by years.

That seems to be the claim in a currently running commercial for Purina Puppy Chow and Dog Chow. The ad says, “add up to two healthy years to his life.”

What proof does the company have? The ad goes on to say, “a groundbreaking 14 year study by Purina proves that Puppy Chow, then Dog Chow nutrition, fed properly over a lifetime, helps add up to two quality years with your dog.”

Wow. Who would feed any other brand to their dog if Purina is so much better?

*MOUSE PRINT: The company never tested other brands of dog food compared to Purina. “All dogs received the same 100 percent nutritionally complete and balanced foods – only the amount differed. ”

In fact, here is the test methodology:

For the first three years, the control group was fed an unlimited amount of food during 15-minute daily feedings; afterwards they were fed an amount estimated to be the caloric requirement for large breed dogs in “normal” body condition. Each dog in the lean-fed group always received 75 percent of the amount eaten by its paired littermate. All dogs consumed the same diets, which were 100 percent nutritionally complete and balanced (first a puppy formula, then an adult formula) — only the quantity provided was different.

Translation: what was really tested was how underfeeding your dog could extend his life.

While the advice from the actual test may be sound — that slim dogs live longer — it may not be just this brand that can extend your dog’s life.

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Cheesy Changes: American Cheese Relabeled

Stop & Shop Cheese Singles SCan you spot the difference between these two packages of cheese slices?

They have the same UPC code, the same look, and probably the same taste faintly reminiscent of a product once called american cheese.

The one on the right is called “Pasteurized Process Cheese Food” and is currently being phased out in favor of the item on the left called “American Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product.” So, big deal, they changed the name, you say. The name change had to be made because the ingredients no longer met the federal definition (the standard of identity) for “pasteurized process cheese food.”

*MOUSE PRINT:

ss cheese ingredients

Uncle Sam has a very specific recipe for mandatory and optional ingredients in “pasteurized process cheese food.”   In particular, this product must be a minimum of 51% cheese (isn’t that reassuring), and no more than 44% moisture.

In the early 2000s, Kraft Singles starting using “milk protein concentrate” in its products and that was not allowed by the federal recipe. Rather than change their recipe, Kraft renamed it to “american pasteurized prepared cheese product.” [See second story here.] There is no federal standard of identity for such a product.

Other brands, including store brands, have been slow to change, but most have now eliminated “cheese food” from their labels.

So what do you get in the new products? From the labels, it is not even clear if it contains american cheese anymore, or whether it is at least 51% cheese. What it does have is 50% more cholesterol than before, and almost 40% more salt.

And, to add insult to injury, the new Stop & Shop product, while still a pound, only weighs 453 grams instead of the old 454. How cheesy can you get?