(no subject)

[ailbhe]

Decided to look up the ingredients in pop-tarts. Went to http://www.poptarts.com/ and clicked on "Parents" (as distinct from "Kids") section.

New URL: http://www.poptarts.com/moms/#/section

Yeah.

Sainsbury's website gives the following information for Strawberry Pop Tarts:

Wheat Flour, Glucose Syrup, Dextrose, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Invert Sugar Syrup, Strawberry (7%), Starch, Apple, Salt, Colour (Beetroot Red, Annatto, Curcumin), Raising Agent (Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, Diphosphates, Calcium Phosphate), Citric Acid, Modified Starch, Tricalcium Phosphate, Acidity Regulator (Sodium Citrate), Beef Gelatin, Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin).

Looks like a nice dessert... possibly a bit sickly sweet compared to, say, meringue.

Comments

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

In the US, people eat them for breakfast rather than dessert. Disgusting, isn't it?

I've had them but no longer eat them because they are full of wheat. A number of my friends who are vegetarian cannot eat them due to the gelatin.

[ailbhe]

There are a lot of really strange breakfasts out there... but I prefer the ones which say "breakfast pastry" outright than the ones which say "made with real fruit." IYSWIM.

There are apparently cereals for children with actual marshmallows in them.

[hilarityallen.livejournal.com]

On my one trip to the States I was a bit startled by the selection of cereals available. Most of them were full of marshmallows or chocolate or whatever. It took me ages to find something almost bland. (I think the best I managed was Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. I was aiming for muesli.)

[ailbhe]

I love Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. But they are also filed under "dessert" in my mind.

I'm sure there must be, like, bran flakes, or something, if you know which shops to go to. I'm reasonably certain that the whole country can't be eating chocolate-frosted sugar-bombs a la Calvin and Hobbes, or it would have vibrated off the face of the planet by now.

[hilarityallen.livejournal.com]

I assume so, but I was at a conference, so we got chocolate frosted sugar bombs, or Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. (I quite like them too, but I was hoping for something less made of sugar at breakfast time.)

[naath.livejournal.com]

I like sugar at breakfast! But preferably not in nasty cereal form (because I hate milk and hate dry cereal...). Pain au chocolat is a lovely breakfast for instance. However I'm also dreadfully lazy, so breakfast is more normally dried fruit and coffee at my desk for me.

[piqueen.livejournal.com]

I have to confess to occassionally eating them for breakfast. I wouldn't feed them to a child though. In my defence you can toast them and then wrap them in kitchen towel and use them to keep your hands warm on station platforms.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

The nicest wholemeal rice crispies I've ever had were an american brand. I've never been able to find as nice again :( So they do exist, but at the hippie shops or Whole Paycheck.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

My neophilia got the better of me when they first appeared in New Zealand and I tried some. They are ludicrously sweet, and yeah, dessert rather than breakfast. Also, the nutrition information scares me. More colouring than raising agent? Brrrr.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

There are reasonable cereals available in the U.S., but they don't have the in-your-face marketing budget and ad campaigns that the sugar cereals have.

Me, I don't like most cereals, so this is a moot point for me. :)

[ailbhe]

Yeah, but I have also eaten icecream or sherry trifle for breakfast; that doesn't really make them breakfast foods!

[ailbhe]

Presumably they are also on slightly higher shelves so that only grownups will put them into trolleys.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

The very tippy-top shelf, or somewhere down around your ankles.......

[ailbhe]

So what you need is a toddler, who can get stuff from the bottom on their own, or help you reach top-shelf stuff but sitting on your shoulders.

[barakta]

I like them as a random snack but I'd not call them a 'meal' per se. Then again I'll happily eat curry/pizza for breakfast :>

[ai731.livejournal.com]

Pop-tarts are apparently a very popular foodstuff with people who do multi-day long-distance sled-dog racing in northern Canada & Alaska. The type of fats used don't freeze solid even at -40degC, they can be eaten on the run, they're full of sugar for quick energy, and you can open the packaging while wearing mittens.

[ailbhe]

you can open the packaging while wearing mittens

I may get some in for bad hands days!

[baratron.livejournal.com]

You learn something every day! Thanks for this comment, I'm most amused.

[ai731.livejournal.com]

Do you *still* have bad hands days? I'm sorry to hear that!

[hilarityallen.livejournal.com]

Oh, I quite believe that they are available if you're able to go shopping for them. I was at a conference, and so was constrained by what the organisers thought breakfast cereals were. Which was largely pink and fluffy.

[ailbhe]

Only if I hugely overdo it, but they are more common while pregnant; quite a lot of women get RSI for the first time while pregnant! I'm lucky, I have Rob to do my bootlaces.

[mrs-redboots.livejournal.com]

They are seriously disgusting - as you so rightly say, sickly sweet. But then, they are not food, they are merely edible food-like substances (Michael Pollan).