Today In Food: Two Things That Suck

1. All Veggie Booty has been recalled following report of 51 cases of salmonella poisoning that may have associated with the product. If you have any of this around the house throw it out immediately.
Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
And you can go here to get information about a refund.
I'm sure I'm not the only household where veggie booty is considered a food group so join mom 101 (she did get to make the booty call reference first!) and daddytypes (he got the total recall!) in spreading the word.



What else sucks today? Well how about this new product which I'm guessing is geared toward our kids.

It seems pointless to make a snarky comment about this because I think its basic wrongness speaks for itself. I mean, I'm sure we've all had moments when we wished that someone would create a straw made out of sugary cereal and coat the inside with powdered milk and then box it all up with a fun, familiar character, and place it at kid eye-level at the supermarket. We're only human. But for most of us that would be a passing fancy, not something we'd ever really want put out there in the real world. But obviously, this wouldn't have gone from being twinkle in a cereal executive's eye through the long laborious process of ending up on the shelves, if a lot of smart people didn't think there was a bootload of money to be made from cereal straws. So can someone enlighten me: Under what theory will this product end up in a person's house (beyond the random desperate tantrum-dodge)? In case your wondering if it's basic unhealthiness is mitigated by how it tastes check out the review on consumerist.

Comments

[Amy H]

I didn't get the basis for the straws, either. I also don't understand, like, the gooshy candy in the tube, or the tongue lollipop and just stuff like that.

Are they meant to REPLACE breakfast?? That would be sad. I always felt bad on the days we were running late that the kids got "Milk & Cereal Bars" for breakfast. Maybe it's just what they'd normally have in the form of a bar - but with a lot more JUNK in it.

I don't know, we saw them in the store and thought they were ridiculous.

I found the absolute greatest thing in the world for breakfast. Its only downfall is that it's so delicious that I have to make myself not eat it. It's from the Peanut Butter Company - http://www.ilovepeanutbutter.com/store/index.cfm?destination=darkchocolatedreams

But wow, it's way more expensive online than it was at WallyWorld.

[Jill]

We too consider veggie booty a staple around here. I blogged about it too and am very bummed I missed the obvious booty call reference.

[Jim]

I'm confused. Wasn't Kellog's the company that was going to scale back its unhealthy offerings and advertising targeting kids?

Or was that someone else?

[judy]

You are correct. It is Kellog's. Maybe they aren't going to advertise this. They'll just let us discover it for ourselves!

[adrienne]

Veggie Booty? I guess they ran into some bad kale...

*******
Kellogg's if we can't really be healthy, we'll just pack our nastiness into smaller and smaller packages.

Maybe I'm being overly harsh, and they're marketing this straw for the over 12 demographic (which they leave open to whatever noxious garbage they can manufacture and sell). Don't you want one for your daily coffee?

Coming soon, the Kellogg's breakfast lozenge with 200 calories, 230 mg of sodium, 2 g saturated fat.

*The article I found on Kellogg's move to "healthier" fare is titled "Kellogg Strengthens Marketing Practices," not "Kellogg Cares About Kids" or "Kellogg Feels Guilty for a Past History of Misdeeds." "Strengthens Marketing" must mean "finds new and exciting ways to lie while maintaining the same lousy practices."

[Adrienne]

article referenced:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070614/clth020.html?.v=91

[snarflemarfle]

I saw those fruity straws in the store on Monday. Yucko! But I'm not a big fan of soggy cereal...or fruit loops.

By the way, I'm loving the blog. Keep up the good work!

[mod*mom]

we luckily get the trader joe's white cheddar corn puffs instead of pirate booty. i had something like salmonella last week + i think it was from strawberries, but who knows where it came from.

[AJ]

My strategy for sugary cereal is to never buy it. I clearly recall sometime in my youth my mother buying a box of Fruit Loops. And I distinctly remember that incident cementing itself in my brain with giant meat hooks to be drummed up again and again in a whiny voice every time she visiting the cereal aisle. She couldn't claim it was a cereal we never buy because she had already opened that door.

[Kelsey]

Totally off topic, but AmyH, I bought the White Chocolate Wonderful last week, and it was gone yesterday. I ate it all myself. *goes and hides.* I still think that at $3.89 (here in Pearl Harbor) its a bit pricey though.

[Karen is Thrifty]

Love the sarcasm, Judy. ;)

[Amy H]

Hahaha, Kelsey!! I actually thought, "If I was pregnant right now, I could eat this whole thing and nobody could say a word to me about it!!" ahahahaha. Bad reason to have a kid, though!

I think that's about what we paid for it at wal-mart. If it helps any, it's better for you than JIF (which is what I normally buy). I'm on my second jar, but I let The Man and the kids try some. ;)

:)