Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Report Share Posted September 15, 2006 Hi folks -- I emailed Tofutti with a question about their " Better Than Cream Cheese " because I wanted to buy some, but when I checked the nutritional info there is a gram of trans fat in every tablespoon. I thought you might all be interested in the response I got. Heather ------- RE: product comment Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:05:02 -0400 Info <Info Hossfeld Family <jhr The hydrogenated is our original cheese product which we came out with about 18 years ago. It still outsells the NH version by about 10 to 1, primarily because it works better in cooking and baking recipes. Sorry, but that is a fact of baking life, hydrogenated works better. I have pasted a copy of a letter that I have sent to other consumers who have had similar health concerns. I think you will find it interesting. Regards, Steve Thank you for you recent Tofutti email. 10-15 years ago studies came out that said cane sugar was bad because it caused hyperactivity in children and to switch to corn sweeteners, which we did. Now you have studies going the other way saying that corn syrup sweeteners are bad because they cause obesity in children. We are now in the process of changing some of our items back. 20 years ago studies came out that said to switch from fats with high levels of saturated fats such as palm or coconut oil to partially hydrogenated fats, which are lower in saturated fats, which we did. Then several years ago studies came out saying it is better to go back to the other fats and stop using partially hydrogenated fats. Even more recently, another study came out that again said palm oil is not good. Canola oil? While some extol the virtues of it, others blast it since it is genetically derived from the rape seed plant and is used in making lubricants, oil products, and the like. (The name Canola comes from the Canadian Oil Company, which developed it.) Want more? The largest study of its kind in the United States just came out and said there is absolutely no evidence linking Nutrasweet to cancer. In May 2006 a similar study in terms of size in Europe came out with the same conclusion. Of course, for years now everyone has been blasting Nutrasweet. Starting to see the picture? If you wait long enough in this business, you will eventually see studies that show all ingredients have something bad about them. The thing we stress to everyone is that everything should be done in moderation. Otherwise, you will go absolutely crazy trying to figure out what is good for you and what is bad for you according to the latest study. Please keep in mind that there has yet to be a study that when concluded contradicted what the person conducting the study was trying to prove. In other words, you can pretty much make your study come out anyway you want, if you put your mind to it. I could list for you at least 30 different health concerns that consumers contact us with, and every person thinks his/hers is the most important issue and the rest not as important. If we, or any other food manufacturer tried to incorporate every single health concern that every single person had into our product, you would end up buying an empty package. It is not possible, especially in a product like ours where we do not have the flexibility of most other products because we can never use any type of dairy ingredient. Also, just to keep the record straight, there is basically no difference in the cost of corn sweeteners versus cane sugar. This is also true for regular fat and partially hydrogenated. Many individuals sometimes use this as the reason why companies use HFCS. The fact of the matter is historically, the cost of cane sugar tends to average lower than corn sweeteners, primarily due to the government subsidies that cane sugar producers traditionally enjoyed. As of this now, sugar is about $.03-$.05/lb cheaper than HFCS. Also, the producers of cane sugar are not typically involved in the production of corn sweeteners, so it is not a question of them coming out with a cheaper product. In point of fact, they compete with each other. As for alternative sweeteners, any ending in " ...tol " are artificial and will not be accepted by most health food stores. Stevia is not an approved food additive and would require a strong FDA warning on the label should you use it, which is something we would never allow to be put on our package. Are there any other " natural " sweeteners out there? Yes there are, but that brings us to the last problem and that is using the " good ingredient " makes the product taste bad. It is an unfortunate truth of food science that " something bad " is usually what makes food " taste good. " After all, food does have to have some type of positive taste attributes. Otherwise, why would most people buy it. To repeat, our substitution options are more limited since we can never us any dairy ingredients and are therefore limited in our choice of options. Hopefully, I answered your question and I do hope you still purchase our products. Please feel free to contact us should you have any further questions. PS: Whole Foods is aware. To them partially hydrogenated fat is a more critical issue and they won't take in any products with PHO. They know the HFCS vs sugar issue is very complex and many of the studies have come under severe criticism. Just so you know, in many of these studies, other variables are altered so you don't really know what the impact of something is. In the case of HFCS, in a number of studies they withdraw copper from the subjects (actually, laboratory rats) and then HFCS seems to have a more negative impact. You can look up this information on the internet. To repeat, moderation in what you eat is the key. Even if studies come out that say something is perfect, even too much perfection can be bad. Hossfeld Family [jhr] Monday, September 11, 2006 8:22 PM Info Re: product comment Great to know -- but why?? Heather Info wrote: > Dear Heather: > Thank you for your recent Tofutti email. We have two versions > of our Better Than Cream Cheese and Sour Supreme, one made with > partially hydrogenated fat and one made without. The one without is > available in health food stores only. Please feel free to contact us > should you have any further questions. > Sincerely yours, > Steven Kass > Tofutti Brands Inc > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Report Share Posted September 15, 2006 Wow! I didn't know about the trans fat in BTCC, and I disagree with most of what they said. But, I am SO impressed that they wrote you such a lengthy, detailed response. Shows they do care about their customers. Thanks for sharing this, Bonnie - Hossfeld Family<jhr < > Thursday, September 14, 2006 7:05 PM hydrogenated oil etc. Hi folks -- I emailed Tofutti with a question about their " Better Than Cream Cheese " because I wanted to buy some, but when I checked the nutritional info there is a gram of trans fat in every tablespoon. I thought you might all be interested in the response I got. Heather ------- RE: product comment Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:05:02 -0400 Info <Info<Info> Hossfeld Family <jhr<jhr> The hydrogenated is our original cheese product which we came out with about 18 years ago. It still outsells the NH version by about 10 to 1, primarily because it works better in cooking and baking recipes. Sorry, but that is a fact of baking life, hydrogenated works better. I have pasted a copy of a letter that I have sent to other consumers who have had similar health concerns. I think you will find it interesting. Regards, Steve Thank you for you recent Tofutti email. 10-15 years ago studies came out that said cane sugar was bad because it caused hyperactivity in children and to switch to corn sweeteners, which we did. Now you have studies going the other way saying that corn syrup sweeteners are bad because they cause obesity in children. We are now in the process of changing some of our items back. 20 years ago studies came out that said to switch from fats with high levels of saturated fats such as palm or coconut oil to partially hydrogenated fats, which are lower in saturated fats, which we did. Then several years ago studies came out saying it is better to go back to the other fats and stop using partially hydrogenated fats. Even more recently, another study came out that again said palm oil is not good. Canola oil? While some extol the virtues of it, others blast it since it is genetically derived from the rape seed plant and is used in making lubricants, oil products, and the like. (The name Canola comes from the Canadian Oil Company, which developed it.) Want more? The largest study of its kind in the United States just came out and said there is absolutely no evidence linking Nutrasweet to cancer. In May 2006 a similar study in terms of size in Europe came out with the same conclusion. Of course, for years now everyone has been blasting Nutrasweet. Starting to see the picture? If you wait long enough in this business, you will eventually see studies that show all ingredients have something bad about them. The thing we stress to everyone is that everything should be done in moderation. Otherwise, you will go absolutely crazy trying to figure out what is good for you and what is bad for you according to the latest study. Please keep in mind that there has yet to be a study that when concluded contradicted what the person conducting the study was trying to prove. In other words, you can pretty much make your study come out anyway you want, if you put your mind to it. I could list for you at least 30 different health concerns that consumers contact us with, and every person thinks his/hers is the most important issue and the rest not as important. If we, or any other food manufacturer tried to incorporate every single health concern that every single person had into our product, you would end up buying an empty package. It is not possible, especially in a product like ours where we do not have the flexibility of most other products because we can never use any type of dairy ingredient. Also, just to keep the record straight, there is basically no difference in the cost of corn sweeteners versus cane sugar. This is also true for regular fat and partially hydrogenated. Many individuals sometimes use this as the reason why companies use HFCS. The fact of the matter is historically, the cost of cane sugar tends to average lower than corn sweeteners, primarily due to the government subsidies that cane sugar producers traditionally enjoyed. As of this now, sugar is about $.03-$.05/lb cheaper than HFCS. Also, the producers of cane sugar are not typically involved in the production of corn sweeteners, so it is not a question of them coming out with a cheaper product. In point of fact, they compete with each other. As for alternative sweeteners, any ending in " ...tol " are artificial and will not be accepted by most health food stores. Stevia is not an approved food additive and would require a strong FDA warning on the label should you use it, which is something we would never allow to be put on our package. Are there any other " natural " sweeteners out there? Yes there are, but that brings us to the last problem and that is using the " good ingredient " makes the product taste bad. It is an unfortunate truth of food science that " something bad " is usually what makes food " taste good. " After all, food does have to have some type of positive taste attributes. Otherwise, why would most people buy it. To repeat, our substitution options are more limited since we can never us any dairy ingredients and are therefore limited in our choice of options. Hopefully, I answered your question and I do hope you still purchase our products. Please feel free to contact us should you have any further questions. PS: Whole Foods is aware. To them partially hydrogenated fat is a more critical issue and they won't take in any products with PHO. They know the HFCS vs sugar issue is very complex and many of the studies have come under severe criticism. Just so you know, in many of these studies, other variables are altered so you don't really know what the impact of something is. In the case of HFCS, in a number of studies they withdraw copper from the subjects (actually, laboratory rats) and then HFCS seems to have a more negative impact. You can look up this information on the internet. To repeat, moderation in what you eat is the key. Even if studies come out that say something is perfect, even too much perfection can be bad. Hossfeld Family [jhr<jhr] Monday, September 11, 2006 8:22 PM Info Re: product comment Great to know -- but why?? Heather Info wrote: > Dear Heather: > Thank you for your recent Tofutti email. We have two versions > of our Better Than Cream Cheese and Sour Supreme, one made with > partially hydrogenated fat and one made without. The one without is > available in health food stores only. Please feel free to contact us > should you have any further questions. > Sincerely yours, > Steven Kass > Tofutti Brands Inc > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.