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FitFriday: Faux blueberries deceive, a history of weight loss and cold recess weather
January 21st, 2011
02:05 PM ET
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FitFriday: Faux blueberries deceive, a history of weight loss and cold recess weather

Blueberries- they're full of antioxidants and vitamins - unless they're not real.   And here's more about why weight loss isn't as modern as you might think and when even Minnesota kids think it's too cold to play outside.

Fraudulent fruit

Ever wondered about those round, rock-hard dehydrated blueberries in your cereal?  Well, they’re probably not real, says the Consumer Wellness Center.

Those are a mix of sugar, corn syrup, starch, hydrogenated oil, artificial flavors, and food dye blue No. 2 and red No. 40, masquerading as blueberries.  The episode can be viewed here.

The Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit, names well-known companies like Kellogg's, Betty Crocker and General Mills. The knockoffs were found in bagels, cereals, breads and muffins. Some mixed the real berries with the fakes.  So pay attention to the ingredient label, the report warns.

“As if it's not hard enough to include fruits in your diet. Now you have to watch for fraudulent food,” writes the LA Times.

A history of weight loss

Think weight loss is a recent obsession?

Not so.  The Library of Congress held a panel this week on the historical perspective of obesity and weight loss.  The library put on display diet books including the 1860s hit - Letter On Corpulence, Addressed To The Public, according to NPR.

Fad diets and gimmicks have long been used.  The La Perle Obesity soap promised to wash away your fat without “dieting or gymnastics.” Bile Beans, containing banned laxative ingredients, touted it would "disperse unwanted fat" and "purify and enrich the blood." Before Spanx, of course there were corsets.

Too cold for recess

With the cold weather sweeping through the Midwest and East, when does it become too cold for recess?

There is no national standard for when it is too cold for kids to play outside, reports USA Today.  Those decisions are made locally.

Here are a few examples:

In International Falls, Minnesota: "if it's 15 below (or warmer), they go out, no matter what," said one principal about recess.  "At 20 below, it gets iffy."

In Upper Marlboro, Maryland, the school website says students have outdoor recess unless the temperature drops to the 35 and 40 degree range.

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Filed under: Children's Health • Fitness • Healthy Eating
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soundoff (9 Responses)
  1. Myself63

    Fake blueberries.... how dare they?
    Bile beans.... that does not sound appealing.
    Poor children, they should rebel and demand indoor recess when it's that cold.

    January 21, 2011 at 14:41 | Report abuse | Reply
  2. KMS

    It will, in fact, hurt your precious little one if they spend too much time in sub-zero temperatures with dangerous windchills. Frostbite can set in relatively quickly – in Int'l Falls, which is mentioned here, they had temperatures of -46 F...5 minutes to develop frostbite on exposed skin in that weather. The prudent decision there is to keep the kids inside, as the principal in the article indicated.

    January 21, 2011 at 16:04 | Report abuse | Reply
  3. Moodyme

    Fake blueberries? But that should be obvious from the list of ingredients! If something purports to have blueberries, and none appear in the ingredients, that should be a red flag...and the producer should be sued or fined for mislabeling and false advertising. Mixing fake with real is sneakier, and might not be as obvious, but the dye and artificial flavors would keep me from buying the product.

    January 21, 2011 at 16:18 | Report abuse | Reply
  4. Staceyann Dolenti

    Well then they aren't blueberries at all.....

    Staceyann C Dolenti

    January 21, 2011 at 16:51 | Report abuse | Reply
  5. Aubrie

    Word to the wise... Make your own homemade muffins.

    January 21, 2011 at 17:49 | Report abuse | Reply
  6. Odalice yolanda feliz

    lol....that'a a new one!

    January 21, 2011 at 22:34 | Report abuse | Reply
  7. BWS

    Won't somebody think of the Children!?!?!?!?!!!

    January 23, 2011 at 02:39 | Report abuse | Reply
    • Glorbeau

      I like the reference from the Simpsons

      January 25, 2011 at 12:27 | Report abuse |
  8. Staceyann Dolenti

    By the way, the fake blueberries look and taste horrible. Nothing like the real thing.

    Staceyann C. Dolenti

    February 22, 2011 at 10:54 | Report abuse | Reply

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