"Big Bird" Sells Out to "Big Sugar"

What's with Big Bird, Elmo and Grover?

They're supposed to be learning and teaching Healthy Habits so kids eat right and exercise. If that's the case, they why are they taking a not-so-sweet path -- one laden with high fructose corn syrup?

What gives?

You see, Sesame Workshop boldly announced earlier this year that Cookie Monster was cutting back on his favorite sugary nibbles, a move that I applauded. What's more, the company unveiled its Healthy Habits initiative.

But now Sesame Street's Big Bird, Elmo and Grover are pushing Musselman's applesauces from Knouse Foods that are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and contain artificial colors (Red 40, Blue 1 and Yellow 5).

Are the Sesame Street people so naive that they haven't heard about the slew of recent studies that link high fructose corn syrup with obesity and other dangerous diseases?

Even more surprising, these new products -- Big Bird Green Apple, Cookie Monster Grape and Elmo Cherry -- are being touted as healthy and having "reduced sugar, no artificial flavoring and is fortified with 100% Vitamin C and 10% Calcium."

Reduced sugar? Isn't added sugar a more appopriate description?

What's the matter with delicious, sweet-tasting, no-sugars-added applesauce, which contains apples, has about 50 to 70 calories per portion size (half cup) and doesn't include artificial dyes?

Why couldn't the Sesame Street folks promote Musselman's unsweetened applesauce instead? Why can't kids learn to appreciate natural sugars?

Bad eating habits often begin in childhood. So feeding kids applesauce with high fructose corn syrup could pave the way for them to get hooked on sweets.

I agree with Regina Wilshire, who, on her Weight of the Evidence Blog, urges people to contact Sesame Street and complain that licensing their characters characters to promote high fructose corn syrup sweetened foods is sending the wrong message to children about healthy eating habits.

Comments

[Nadia]

Soda and junk food should have never been in the schools. But they are because some of our corrupted elected officials, who are pocketing money from the soda's industry executives. Instead of holding the highest morality of the office, they choose to hold their allegiance to the corporations' greed & power. Senator Vicki Walker, one of the four legislators in Oregon, who collected $2000.00, had no shame of defending her unethical behavior by blaming the parents of the children. Walker stated something like that "children come from home obese, not the sodas in the schools that make them obese"!!! I've lost my election last May 2005 to Mr. Eric Forrest, the executive of Pepsi Cola! Most of our elected officials supported him and his evil ethics. My life was threatened, and more than three times, someone is trying to run me over and kill me.