[ColdDayInHell]

Pinkberry, the fast-growing US chain of "all-natural" desserts, just got busted in a class-action suit for packing their food with additives and crap:

The ingredients list for Original Pinkberry has 23 items. Skim milk and nonfat yogurt are listed first, then three kinds of sugar: sucrose, fructose and dextrose. Fructose and maltodextrin, another ingredient, are both laboratory-produced ingredients extracted from corn syrup.

The list includes at least five additives defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as emulsifiers (propylene glycol esters, lactoglycerides, sodium acid pyrophosphate, mono- and diglycerides); four acidifiers (magnesium oxide, calcium fumarate, citric acid, sodium citrate); tocopherol, a natural preservative; and two ingredients — starch and maltodextrin — that were characterized as fillers by Dr. Gary A. Reineccius, a professor in the department of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota and an expert in food additives.

Some of them can be characterized as natural, while others are clearly not, he said.

“Isn’t it amazing how many additives it takes to make something taste natural?” Dr. Reineccius said.


Source/Source

I'm sure thare are many more food companies out there who are making a killing from false advertising.

[daer0n]

I dont understand why companies like these would do that, i have tasted homemade yoghurt and honestly it tastes a thousand times better than the store bought 'natural' stuff, that stuff is gross, i have never liked yoghurt for that reason, till i tasted the homemade stuff. No need to add garbage to our food to make it taste better, maybe if the stuff that they sell at the super market and fast food restaurants was left alone and they didnt put all these additives and what nots in it we wouldnt be so used and so bias about eating 'tasty' stuff, of course we need now the enhancement cause they have made us get used to all that stuff, and now natural means bland and gross.

[Retro-Violet]

the thing with the phrase "natural" is there is no regulation on what to use it on.
like you cant use the word organic for something that isnt acututally organic. but it doesnt apply to the phrase "natural".

so when you see the word "natural", it doesnt mean its acutally natural or organic or anything. one item could be a fruit and they can call the whole product "natural".

its all marketing ploys to get people to buy theyre stuff, which in reality its lying to the public about what theyre eating.


growing up in the midwest and being around hippies now comes in handy at times.

[magosienne]

exactly. i've learned when you use sugars like fructose, you need something to fill because for the same sweet taste physically you don't need the same quantity. a teaspoon of fructose takes less space than a cube of sugar, so you need to compensate by adding some fillers (which also adds a nasty taste to those yogurts).
that makes me believe you'd better eat a "normal" yogurt, even homemade, rather than those filled with chemical sugars.

[love2482]

I got one of those Kashi granola bars (for free) and all over the box it was advertised "made with real food!".....yeah, I looked at the ingrediant list and there was of course crap I couldn't even pronounce. Ug. Ads can be so misleading!

[pretty_pink13]

I have never heard of that brand, but I do check the labels of my food to see whats in it all the time and yeah suprisingly, a lot of natural foods have a lot of crap in it...

[FabulessBeauty]

Pinkberry is a westcoast thing, I could be wrong. But yeah, Pinkberry is too overpriced for me.

[laurreenn]

pinkberry is really overpriced. and i don't get why everyone's so into it when there are SO many brands of yogurt now that taste way better & are cheaper!!

[kdmakeuparts]

I never even heard of it, until this morning they were talking about it on The View. They were saying all the same things you all just did!

[pinksugar]

crazy stuff! I'm glad they got busted. It is totally not ok to do stuff like this. I think there should be specific guidelines that must be adhered to with words like organic and natural, and how great would it be if they were consistent around the globe? never going to happen though!

[magosienne]

there are specific product labels for organic stuff, at least in my country. AB (for organic agriculture in french) is one of the most popular ones. Ecocert, which is more of an eco label, and BDIH which is a german old label you might find on Lavera products for example.

[PhantomGoddess]

Wow. I can't believe they actually got away with that for such a long time!

[newtestam]

Wow that's crazy. Luckily this chain isn't near me, and I haven't tried it. I'll make sure to stay away if I see it.

Why is it, everyone tries to sneak things in, like they can get away with it!???!!!

[LittleMissLilo]

Everyone just likes pink berry because all the celebrities are usually spotted eating there, like the girls from the hills.

Never tried it. Probably never will. lol

[blueangel1023]

Pinkberry 1st started in CA, and then moved on towards NYC. All of a sudden it's a craze. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/di...ewanted=1&_r=1

Tbh, I just discovered Pinkberry last month. Whatever they added in it is like crack cuz i was literally addicted to that for 2 wks straight. lol, but it's too expensive...I shelled out about $84 on Pinkberry for 14 days (it's almost $6 a cup with toppings) Now that I know there's additives in it, I'm going to control my cravings.