Carrot chocolate: The absurd lengths of misleading food labels
An experienced dietitian shared her insights about the boundaries of absurdity in naming certain food products. She pointed to carrot chocolate as an example. You won't guess what this "delicacy" has to do with the orange vegetable.
Carrot chocolate — sounds interesting, doesn't it? Let's take a closer look before we are tempted to praise this product. So how is it: did food producers finally have mercy on consumers — especially children who look at sweets in the store — and create a vegetable-chocolate concept that not only tastes good but also gives the snack at least a bit of nutritional value? Here come two very disappointing truths. The first is the answer to the above questions. The second is that you probably expected such an answer anyway.
The existence of carrot chocolate came to the attention of dietitian Anna Makowska through a reader. When she read the ingredients of the snack, she got pretty angry. "I'm not amused by making fools out of consumers. And making thoughtless illiterates out of children pisses me off quite a bit," she wrote on her profile "Doctor Ania." Why did the dietitian get so upset?
Carrot chocolate — the boundary of absurdity?
The composition of the carrot chocolate sent to Doctor Anna Makowska is not very favourable regarding health properties. But let's be honest — no one expects sweets to be as good for the body as vegetables. However, there is a specific boundary of misleading food product names, and the crossing of this boundary greatly upsets the dietitian.
Carrot chocolate, presented on the "Doctor Ania" profile, contains...0.6 grams of dried carrot per 100 grams of chocolate. Yes, you read that correctly. Just that little vegetable was enough to call the chocolate 'carrot' and lure customers with a positive association to buy it. Doctor Ania commented on this tactic in harsh words:
Is it a fun play on words? 0.6 grams is about a pinch of dried carrot for the WHOLE BAR. [...] Come on, is this some boundary of absurdity? Who invents such labels? Who approves them? Who prints them? Why can't this product be called something else?
Do you agree with Doctor Anna Makowska's opinion? Would you also feel cheated buying such "carrot" chocolate?
