Listen up!

Sharon is now in the air, winging her way from the southern hemisphere all the way up to lil' ol' Iowa, which presumably is somewhere in the northern hemisphere, although there is still some dispute as to it's exact location, or indeed, whether it exists at all.

HOWEVER, in the event that there is an Ioway, Sharon will be cruising in just before noon tomorrow at the Des Moines International airport :-D

This time I'll try to keep my brain about me and take pictures. (after we're done with that whole part about me running towards the arrival gates shouting, "MY BABY!!!")
______________

OK.

Today was another fun shopping day and I've discovered an item that deserves a closer look in....

.....Ma's Consumer Product Marketing Review Report, or "MaCoProMarRevRep," for short.

In collecting my regular allotment of tasty diet soups, I noticed a new version of an old favorite.....

Behold, The Traditional Italian-Style Wedding soup......
 
......now sports a green "Healthy Request" banner.

Is it truly more healthy, as the label suggests?

Come with Ma as we take a closer look....(click on photo to enlarge)
  
Right off the bat we see a slight difference in the number of calories:

The new "Healthy Request" comes out with 10 more calories than the older version. Granted, this is not a big deal. Still, it's enough to raise a wee red flag.

Cruising down the Nutrition Facts we see that the saturated fat has been reduced from 2 grams to 1.5 grams. If we remember that the saturated fat is the kind that becomes solid at room temperature, and un-saturated fat is the kind that stays liquid at room temperature, then it is reasonable to assume that having less saturated and more unsaturated fat is a good thing.

(of course, I'm guessin' that since a normal body temperature is 98.6 F, most of the saturated fat we eat doesn't get to room temperature......but hey, let's not cloud the issue)

We'll assume this fat changeover is a good thing, though as we see by the label, the amount of fat has not lessened. It might also be worth noting that the new can has "Polyunsaturated Fat" listed at 0 grams. Apparently, this fat wasn't included in the old soup, but isn't it comforting to see yet another kind of fat the new soup has none of?

I thought so.

Now let's peruse the cholesterol stats.....

HOLD THE PHONE, NELLY! (I don't know any Nellies, I've just always wanted to say that)

Despite a lovely facts label on the NEW soup describing it as being "low cholesterol," it actually HAS 5 more grams, than the old soup. What's more, if you compare the levels, the new "Healthy" soup has a cholesterol increase of 50% over the old "unhealthy" soup.

Fifteen grams of cholesterol may or may not be that much per serving, but it clearly is not an improvement on the old soup.

Red flag number two.

As to sodium, that is less, and by 40 %, as the new soup claims. Most other items remain the same, until.....

.....we come to the vitamins.

Vitamin A has been reduced from 20 % to 10 %, but iron increases from 4 % to 6%, going from old to new.

I'm thinking the extra iron comes from the sea salt, which is used in the Healthy Request as opposed to tradition table salt.

Sea salt comes from the sea.....and for some strange reason, I keep thinking of Hemingway....

*snaps back to reality*

Well, I could go on about a few non-nutritional differences in labeling, but as I always say, there's no reason to delve into minutia ad nauseam.

In summation, the "Healthy Request" has almost half the salt, and slightly less saturated fat. It's total fat percentage remains the same, so while it's label shouts "98% Fat Free," the old soup could just as well sport the same claim.

The extra cholesterol though....that bothers me a little.

And what about taste? I tested the newer version and found it palatable, but slightly less flavorful.

But mostly, I had to squint a LOT to read that small print without my glasses.

And somebody needs to address that on the label.
 

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