From the files of It Is Sold as Fruit, But It Will Teach Your Kids to Crave Candy…

I came across these in the grocery store, and I couldn’t stop myself from buying them. They’re little soft, fruity chews sold in the babyfood aisle.

To me, they seem just like…

Buddy Fruits Pure Fruit Bites don’t look like fruit. They don’t taste like fruit. They don’t smell like fruit. They don’t feel like fruit. And they certainly don’t chew like fruit.

But they do look, taste, smell, feel and chew like candy.

“I’m tasty and healthy” the package says.

Of course, one pouch has as much sugar as 2 Oreo cookies. Bad example, I know: Oreos have nothing else going for them.

  • One pouch of Orange Buddy Fruits Pure Fruit Bites has about the same amount of sugar as an orange. That makes sense: the package says each pouch is made from 8 orange slices and 7 apple slices.
  • One orange has about 3 grams of fiber. How many in the Buddy Fruits Pure Fruit Bites? 0.5g.
  • One orange has vitamin C, Calcium, Potassium… The Buddy Fruits? You guessed it: None. (I’m not really sure how this qualifies as one serving of fruit.)

I’m not a sugar freak. I just believe in truth in eating.

Want your kids to eat candy? I’m fine with that. Give them candy.  (Read Candy with Breakfast?)

  • Don’t give you kids candy and tell them that it’s healthy. Or that it’s fruit.
  • Don’t give your kids “healthy” candy more often than you would give them, well, candy candy.

These fruit bites are made from fruit concentrate, a euphemism for added sugar.  According to the USDA:

You may also see other names used for added sugars, but these are not recognized by the FDA as an ingredient name. These include cane juice, evaporated corn sweetener, fruit juice concentrate…

I also believe in truth in advertising. The pouch says, Only fruit and nothing else*

The asterix is a dead giveaway.  *All our ingredients come from fruits. That includes the coconut oil you weren’t expecting and carnauba wax.

Ironically, it’s easier to teach your kids to eat right when you let them eat indulgent treats. 

If you want to convince your kids to eat actual fruit, they have to be able to distinguish between the real deal and an impostor. Read Cookies and the Cycle of Guilty Eating to find out why.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~