That's Fit

Just a word or two on those 100-calorie snack-packs ...

You've seen them, I'm sure. You may have even tried them. The marketing mavens over at Nabisco have effectively branded them as "Smart Packs." If you visit the Nabisco website, you'll also see that they've started what they call a "Snack Purple" initiative, audaciously assigning a color to this food as if it were a legitimate awareness campaign.

But, tastelessness aside (not the food, but the marketing of said food), the bigger problem with these 100-calorie packs -- be them Oreos, Lorna Dunes, Teddy Grahams, Ritz Crackers, or Chips Ahoy Cookies -- is that they have almost no nutritional value. Though you may be keeping your calorie count down by eating one of these packs instead of a traditional size bag of cookies or crackers, you're still consuming empty calories. A much better option would be to eat an apple. This truly healthy snack will only cost you about 65 calories, while at the same time providing you with a fair amount of fiber, potassium and a healthy amount of vitamin A.

So, "Snack Purple" if you want. Enter all the sweepstakes, buy all the purple shirts, watch all the uplifting video stories on their website, and eat those 100-calorie packs. But I urge you, do it because you like the taste of cookies and crackers, not because you've been led to believe that you're making a healthy choice.