Guacamole scam

I have a firm belief that the first step for people trying to achieve a healthy diet is 'know what you're eating'.

It's a lot more difficult than it sounds, as this rather extreme example of a brand of guacamole in the US owned by Kraft shows.

Someone who buys guacamole is expecting a product where the majority ingredient is avocado. The Wikipedia entry for guacamole suggests that other ingredients may include salt, lime juice, onion, tomato and chilli. Guacamole is a healthy food. Avocados are high in monounsaturated fats and dietary fibre. They are a good source of vitamin E and potassium. A guacamole made with fresh lime juice or tomato will be a source of vitamin C; with onions, a good source of antioxidants. It's also really tasty!

The guacamole bought by the unfortunate woman in the article contained "hydrogenated soya bean, coconut oils, corn syrup, whey and food starch, with 2 per cent avocado" as well as blue and yellow food colourings to obtain a green colour.

In terms of nutrient value, this product contains more saturated fats (and possibly contains trans fats, depending on the hydrogenation process), sugar (from the corn syrup), protein (from the whey, which is basically a waste product from cheese manufacturing; probably used in this product for a creamy mouth-feel) and simple carbohydrate (from the starch) than real guacamole. There may be some vitamin E from the soybean oil, but essentially it's empty calories, meaning you don't obtain much more than simple, energy-providing macronutrients: no vitamins, minerals, antioxidants or other potentially beneficial phytochemicals.

Frankly, I find it disgusting. Disgusting in the sense that no-one in their right mind would put that stuff in their mouth knowing what was in it, and disgusting in the sense that it's utterly deceptive to call that product guacamole and sell it alongside similarly named products that actually contain ingredients that meet the consumer's general expectation for content. Assuming of course that such products are still present on the shelves, not having been deemed uncompetitive by their manufacturers.

The only thing that has clearly stuck in my mind from my product development subject last semester was our lecturer's response to my friend's question as to why we wouldn't be using fresh garlic in our satay sauce development prac:

"Remember, it's a formula, not a recipe".

I hope Kraft get nailed. It's only one of many companies pulling a trick like this, but tricks like this are detrimental to the diet quality, and therefore the health, of consumers.