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.