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Too Good To Be Food? Cocoa Roast Almonds

Posted on Jun 23rd 2010 12:00PM by Keri Glassman

Filed Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements, Too Good to Be Food

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Roasted nuts? Yum! Chocolate? Double yum! Portion controlled snack size? Check! Can you say home run of a snack? These individual packs seem to be an excellent on-the-go food to eat between meetings, while you're stuck in traffic on the way to your weekend destination, or even to sneak into the movies. But are they too good to be food? Here's the scoop ...

What's In It:
Dry Roasted Almonds, Modified Food Starch (potato), Natural and Artificial Flavors, Cocoa Powder (processed with alkali), Salt, Acesulfame Potassium and Sucralose.

The first ingredient is, of course, dry roasted almonds -- so far so good! Next up is modified food starch, a preservative that is often added for various reasons including inhibiting moisture and binding. I am starting to become leery. Next? Natural flavor. OK, but the artificial flavor is a no-go for me with anything, especially when eating a pure-goodness of a food like almonds. Why muck 'em up with artificial anything? I like cocoa powder for the antioxidant value, and of course the chocolate taste. Salt I can even live with because the total amount is only 25 mg per ounce. But the last two ingredients break my heart! Acesulfame potassium and sucralose are two artificial sweeteners that creep their way into so many foods we would not expect, including yogurt, breads and crackers, and now, nuts! Artificial sweeteners are linked to increased caloric intake (your body craves more food later in the day creating a positive energy balance) and also have been associated with certain cancers.

Nutrition Info*:
Serving: 1 oz.
Calories: 150
Fat: 13g
Sat Fat: 1g
Trans Fat: 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g
Monounsaturated Fat: 8g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 25mg
Carbs: 6g
Fiber: 3g
Sugar: 1g
Protein: 6g
*Note that the individual packs are 100 calories. The above information is based on 1 ounce, or about 24 nuts.

Bottom Line:
These nuts are too good to be food. Skip 'em! Nuts are a near perfect food which provide healthy fats, fiber, protein and antioxidants (as these nuts do), but the addition of the artificial sweeteners squashes many of the benefits. If you want to make a homemade version try taking one ounce of roasted or raw almonds and sprinkling with one teaspoon of cocoa powder. Or, try Sahale Snacks Glazed Almonds. They are naturally sweetened with ingredients like organic orange blossom honey (I feel better already) and pure ground vanilla beans.

Find out what other sneaky sugars Dr. Oz says could be lurking in your food.

Nationally recognized nutrition expert and published author of "The O2 Diet" Keri Glassman is the founder and president of Keri Glassman, Nutritious Life, a nutrition practice based in New York City. For years Keri has been a leader in advancing a "whole person" approach to health and wellness. She has dedicated her career to creating services and promoting education through her "Nutritious Life" brand.

11 Comment

Tags: Acesulfame potassium, almonds, artificial sweeteners, chocolate, Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds, keri glassman, keri-glassman, too good to be food, too-good-to-be-food

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Amber K 6-23-2010 @ 12:58PM

I have to agree. They took a perfectly good food and added junk to it and people just buy it up because they don't know any better!

Lauren B 6-24-2010 @ 9:13PM

It is not scientifically proven that artificial sweeteners cause cancer!

just jeanne 6-25-2010 @ 3:03PM

Junk, junk, and more junk! I wish they would legally ban MSG in all foods. It would save me trips to the Emergency Room as I am highly allergic to MSG. I read all food labels but they cleverly disguise MSG as "food enhancers". MSG has no food value so why load food with garbage that is poison to some of us??

Angiebaby 6-25-2010 @ 12:50PM

Artificial sweeteners are linked to more caloric intake? Isn't that the reason behind the 100 CALORIE BAGS? Artificial sweeteners make you hungry later in the day? ANY type of sweetener will elevate your blood sugar, and when that blood sugar levels off or occasionally bottoms out, hunger sets in. Artificial sweeteners are linked to cancer? So are coffee, tea, alcohol, red meat, soap, body lotion, the microwave and cell phones! Oops, not any more! Any type of cancer link, IMO, unless a direct cause-effect relationship can be proven, is premature and questionable at best. In a nutshell... if you don't want them, don't eat them, but leave the rest of us the hell alone. I could pop some of these into breakfast cereal, yogurt, ice cream or just pop them into my mouth! Yum!

Frank 6-25-2010 @ 1:39PM

Why do the producers of these foods add those horrible ingredients, they constantly ruin good foods with added garbage.

Sally Hiatt 6-25-2010 @ 1:56PM

The writer was "upset" about this. Lady, get a life. Why dont you look around the world and see what there is to really be upset about. Who cares what is put in a little pack of nuts. Dont like it, dont eat it. Get a life

r wilson 6-27-2010 @ 2:05PM

If you don't like the ingredients don't eat the damn things, just stop your whinning.

Janelle 6-28-2010 @ 1:07AM

Sad that the things that sound too good to be true usually are. Stick with the plain raw almonds.

~JTrempe PT, ATC

http://www.joint-pain-solutions.com

Marc 7-07-2010 @ 8:10PM

The FDA determined that these chemicals are safe. Time will tell if they were correct.

My issue is that there is NO indication on the label that there is any artifical sweetner in the product, unless you read all the ingredients.

It's a nasty trick that Diamond Foods, Inc. is playing. Laws should be in place to require that the main label mentions that artifical sweeteners are used.

deadharbor 7-08-2010 @ 11:32AM

It's not a trick. Just read the nutritional info yourself for those who care.

Suzanne 7-21-2010 @ 11:16PM

How about Blue Diamond Natural Oven Roasted Almonds, dark chocolate flavor? Ingredients: almonds, sugar, cocoa powder (processed with alkalai), corn maltodextrin, natural flavor (dark chocolate), sea salt and rebiana (stevia extract). Serving size: 1 oz./about 24 nuts, 160 calories, 13g fat, 1g sat.fat, 35mg sodium, 9g carb, 3g fiber, 4g sugar, 5g protein. OK, so there is sugar, and more calories per serving, and they're in an 8-oz. canister, not individual packets, so you have to use some control. But I find a handful of 7-8 nuts very satisfying, so I only get 1/3 of the amounts above. And they're delicious!