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The
Girl Scouts of the USA tried hard to squeeze some actual
healthy stuff into their new cookie. And now they’re trying
just as hard to defend themselves against criticism that the
Mango Creme is nothing but a sugary sham.
The
Scouts raised eyebrows last month when they began selling the
cookie, touting the partnership with a company called
NutriFusion. The South Carolina-based company makes
GrandFusion, a product made by grinding freeze-dried fruits
and veggies into a powder and adding it to various foods.
NutriFusion
says its product "supercharges" the nutritional
value of food without altering its taste. "GrandFusion is
a blend of fruits and/or vegetables that can significantly
increase the nutritional profile, and therefore the
marketability, of food, beverage and snack products," the
company says on its website.
ABC
Bakers, one of two national suppliers of Girl Scout cookies,
went a step further by stating that the new cookie contains
"all the nutrient benefits of eating cranberries,
pomegranates, oranges, grapes and strawberries!"
ABC
adds: "Try some today and enjoy a delicious new way to
get your vitamins!"
That
claim, including the exclamation points, must have been a
bridge too far for the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, the public-health advocate group out of Washington.
The group’s CEO, Anna Maria Chavez, sent a letter to the
Girl Scouts, urging them to stop promoting the cookie as a
healthy product.
"Unfortunately
that cookie does not have the ‘nutrient benefits’ of
eating fruit, but does have 4 grams of heart-disease-promoting
saturated fat and 11 grams of tooth-decaying sugars per
three-cookie serving," the letter says. "We are
concerned that by marketing these cookies as a ‘delicious
new way to get your vitamins,’ the Girl Scouts is misleading
its members and supporters and undermining their health."
The
center points out that 98 percent of the crisp,
coconut-flavored Mango Creme consists of enriched flour,
dextrose (a form of sugar) and palm oil. Among the ingredients
in the other 2 percent are soy lecithin, citric acid, malic
acid and annatto (a natural dye that comes from the achiote
tree in Latin and South America). It has "nutrients from
natural whole food concentrate," including cranberry,
pomegranate, orange, grape, strawberry and even shiitake
mushrooms, added for their vitamin D content.
Are the
cookies horrible for you? Not if you don’t eat a whole box
at a time, probably. According to the label, each three-cookie
serving (36 grams) has 15 percent of the daily recommended
intake of vitamin B1, and 6 percent each of A, C, D, E and B6.
A serving also has 180 calories and 8 grams of fat. By
comparison, a two-cookie serving of the popular Caramel
deLites has 130 calories, 6 grams of fat (5g saturated) and 12
grams of sugar.
The Girl
Scouts of the USA responded to the letter with a statement
defending the besieged cookie.
"This
variety was inspired by consumer research that points to a
preference for sandwich creme cookies, and a resurgent
interest in adding vitamins and nutrients to snack foods in
North America. The Mango Creme is not the first Girl Scout
Cookie produced that includes a benefit associated with an
added ingredient, or a benefit associated with a reduced or
removed ingredient.
"All
Girl Scout cookies should be considered an occasional treat
and eaten in moderation."
Cookie
season ends March 10.
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