A Good Way to BOOST Your Sugar Intake

Posted By elissa on Jun 22, 2010 | 3 comments

You should always flip over a packaged food product and check out the ingredients and nutritional panel on the back, because THAT’S where the information you need to know is located.  Never, never, never, trust what you read in an ad, on a product website or on the front of the box/bottle/package/container.

Here’s a case in point: Nestle’s Boost.  It’s sold as a nutritional drink; and so it is… sorta. If you go strictly by the sales spiel, it would appear to be a pretty good option for a snack or even a quick, on-the-go meal replacement:

BOOST Drink – Extra Energy For Your Active Day
 
When you’re on the go and need energy to help you get going, great-tasting BOOST nutritional drink may be just what you need. With its balance of vitamins and minerals, it provides the kind of nutrition needed to help you stay at your physical and mental best.

Drink Benefits
 
BOOST is a great-tasting nutritional supplement that you can enjoy with a meal and as a healthy between-meal snack. It also provides all the nutrients you need should you miss a meal. One serving of BOOST gives you:
26 vitamins and minerals, with carbohydrates and protein for energy, a healthier alternative than many caffeine beverages.
 
Antioxidants – Vitamins C, E and Selenium – to help fight free radicals and promote healthy cells and immune system
 
Vitamin C to help support a healthy immune system
Calcium to help maintain strong, healthy bones and teeth
 
Low in saturated fat (just 4 grams total fat, 5 milligrams cholesterol per serving)

These and many more nutritional benefits come in four delightful flavors:

• Vanilla 
• Chocolate
• Butter Pecan
• Strawberry 

Great nutrition never tasted so good! And it’s ready whenever, and wherever, you are. Just chill, open and serve.

Sounds great, eh? But there’s a “red flag” flying at the top… the word “energy.” This is typically “code” for one of two things: caffeine or sugar.  Since Nestle claims there’s no caffeine, that leaves…

Yup, you guessed it!

Ingredients in BOOST Vanilla
 
Water, sugar, corn syrup solids, milk protein concentrate, vegetable oil, (canola, high oleic sunflower, corn oils) and less than 0.5% of soy lecithin, carrageenan, salt, natural and artificial flavor, vitamin A palmitate, beta-carotene, ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, vitamin D3, vitamin E acetate, thiamine hydrochloride, riboflavin, niacinamide, vitamin B6 hydrochloride, folic acid, choline bitartrate, vitamin B12, biotin, calcium pantothenate, vitamin K1, calcium carbonate, ferrous sulfate, potassium iodide, magnesium phosphate, zinc sulfate, cupric sulfate, potassium citrate, potassium chloride, sodium selenite, chromic chloride, sodium molybdate, manganese sulfate. Contains milk protein and soy.

So sugar and corn syrup solids are two of the first three ingredients!  How much sugar?  The nutritional label indicates it’s 25g!  That’s about 2 tablespoons of sugar.

So this “nutritional drink” is basically protein-and-vitamin/mineral fortified sugar water. For your money (and calories), you might as well toss down some low fat chocolate milk and a Centrum.  Needless to state, it’s just as “healthy” a snack as the junk Nestle is peddling.

(h/t  Weighty Matters)