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       #Post#: 547--------------------------------------------------
       Nuts with added sugar--and other ingredients
   DIR By: agate
       Date: November 9, 2014, 7:35 pm
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       It's getting harder to find just plain nuts any more. They come
       all gussied up with sugar and assorted other ingredients.
       From the Berkeley Wellness Letter, November 5, 2014:
       --- Quote ---
       > Sugar in Food: Are These Nut Products Healthy or Just
       Well-Marketed Junk Food?
       >
       >
       > Many companies are turning nuts into candy… and pretending
       it’s healthy!
       >
       > Bonnie Liebman • November 5, 2014
       >
       > “With cocoa roast almonds,” says the box of Emerald Breakfast
       on the go! S’mores Nut Blend, which has more vanilla (read:
       sweetened) granola, honey roasted (read: sweetened) peanuts,
       milk chocolate candies, and marshmallow bits than almonds.
       >
       > “Wholesome fuel to energize your day,” says the box of
       Planters NUT•rition Chocolate Nut Sustaining Energy Mix, which
       has more peanuts, candy-coated dark chocolate soynuts, and honey
       soy clusters than the huge almonds (“enlarged to show detail”)
       featured on the box.
       >
       > Nuts, especially almonds, are the new health food.
       >
       > “Almonds are on fire, says Blue Diamond CEO as meteoric growth
       rates continue,” ran the headine on foodnavigator .com in March.
       >
       > One reason for the industry’s success: almond milk.
       >
       > With so many almonds on most cartons, people must think it’s
       like drinking liquid nuts. In fact, a cup of almond milk has
       just four almonds (and only 1 gram of protein). The rest is
       mostly water and (unless it’s unsweetened) sugar.
       >
       > Ditto for Hershey’s Chocolate with Almond Spread. It’s largely
       sugar and oil (sunflower and palm), with a smidgen of nonfat
       milk, almonds, and cocoa.
       >
       > Nuts—especially almonds and walnuts— are rich in
       polyunsaturated fat, which helps lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
       And they have some protein, though not that much. (Almonds have
       about 6 grams of protein and 165 calories per ounce, or roughly
       two dozen nuts. Walnuts have 4 grams of protein and 185 calories
       per ounce, or about 14 halves.)
       >
       > But companies have discovered that there’s money to be made
       selling more than plain old almonds or walnuts.
       >
       > “It’s called added value,” says Marion Nestle, the Paulette
       Goddard professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health
       at New York University.
       >
       > “You can’t make any money selling plain nuts or fruit or
       vegetables. Therefore, companies are under pressure to add
       value. And adding value in America means adding sugar, salt,
       fat, or white flour. They’re cheap, and your product is
       shelf-stable.”
       >
       > That means selling S’mores Nut Blend or Sustaining Energy Mix
       instead of a bag of nuts.
       >
       > “They’re turning nuts into candy,” says Nestle. “Corn syrup is
       cheaper than nuts. Why not just have 200 calories’ worth of nuts
       without the artificial color, corn syrup, and other junk?”
       --- End Quote ---
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