Kraft's guacamole is fake has large qualities of hydrogenated oils and food colors

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(Kraft's guacamole is "fake" has large qualities of hydrogenated oils and food colors) http://www.newstarget.com/021236.html Consumer sues food company over "fake" guacamole Monday, December 04, 2006 by: Jessica Fraser (NewsTarget) A Los Angeles woman sued Kraft Foods Inc. for fraud anddeceptive labeling last week, claiming that that its Kraft DipsGuacamole dip -- which contains less than 2 percent avocado -- ismisleading consumers. The plaintiff, Brenda Lifsey, said she discovered the miniscule amountof avocado in Kraft's guacamole last year when she made a three-layerdip. "It just didn't taste avocadoey," Lifsey said. "I looked at theingredients and found there was almost no avocado in it." Lifsey's suit asks the Los Angeles County Superior Court to haltKraft's marketing of the guacamole dip as guacamole -- whichtraditionally contains mostly avocado, along with smaller amounts ofother ingredients such as tomato and onion. She is also seekingattorneys' fees and unspecified punitive damages. Kraft's guacamole -- one of the best-selling avocado dips in thecountry -- contains mostly starch, large quantities of partiallyhydrogenated coconut and soybean oils, and blue and yellow foodcoloring to give it a green color. According to Claire Regan, vice president of Kraft Foods corporateaffairs, the company is in the process of re-labeling its guacamoledip to make it more clear to consumers that the dip is merelyguacamole-flavored dip. Regan said the change was not associated withLifsey's lawsuit. "We think consumers understand that [the dip] isn't made fromavocado," Regan said. "All of the ingredients are listed on the labelfor consumers to reference." The FDA has no regulation in place for requiring guacamole to containa minimum amount of avocado. However, the agency does regulate otherfoods, such as peanut butter, which must contain 90 percent peanuts bylaw. FDA spokesman Michael Herndon said the agency would need to findKraft's label misleading in order for the guacamole dip to beconsidered misbranded. Consumer advocate Mike Adams, author of "Grocery Warning," saidguacamole is one of several grocery store foods that are packaged,positioned and marketed deceptively. "Food manufacturers use artificial colors, hydrogenated oils, flavoradditives and dangerous cancer-causing chemicals like sodium nitriteto alter the cosmetics, texture and taste of foods, essentiallyfooling our eyes and taste buds," Adams said. "The practice is highly unethical but widespread, and unless moreconsumers start suing food companies to reverse this trend, thedeceptions will continue," he said. "Government regulators, forexample, are doing nothing to prevent this kind of deceptive labeling." Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in thePublic Interest, called on the FDA to set standards requiring Kraftand other manufacturers to disclose the amount of avocado in theirguacamole dips. Jacobson said Kraft's labeling is "deceptivemarketing" and said companies with such labels are "begging to be sued."