This morning I went to a local farmer's market. There was a new vendor selling all "whole grain" foods. I asked which of their breads were whole wheat and she told me that everything they had was made from whole wheat. I thought that was great, so I picked out a loaf of bread and, as a treat for me and my son, bought a small pack of peanut blossom cookies. I asked the women if even the cookies were whole grain and she again replied that everything on the table was. So imagine my surprise when I get home and read the ingredient list on the cookies -- the first ingredient was "enriched white flour" and that was the only type of flour in there. On one hand, I feel like I was duped. I had been so swayed by their "Whole Grain Bakery" sign and the salesperson's words, that I neglected to read the label for myself. On the other hand, they're cookies -- even with whole-wheat flour they certainly wouldn't have been "healthy." So, live and learn.

The problem I had this morning is a problem we all face every time we shop for food. Sometimes the front of the packaging can be deceiving. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has a list of "food frauds." While I don't know if I'd go so far as to call them frauds (that just seems a bit alarmist and conspiracy-theory-ish to me), the foods they list certainly are misleading. Take Kellogg's Special K Fruit and Yogurt for example: it claims the crunch of whole wheat, the smooth creaminess of yogurt, and the sweet taste of berries. Those statements are all true... but they're misleading. The cereal has more refined rice than whole wheat. The taste of yogurt comes from a sweetened yogurt powder that has been heat treated (killing all beneficial bacteria in the process), and the "berries" are actually dyed and artificially-flavored pieces of apple.

Take a peek at CSPI's list, and then be on the lookout for other foods of this type when you're grocery shopping. Unless you're buying fresh foods in their natural state, you're usually getting a little more than you bargained for. And many foods try to market themselves as healthy when they really aren't.