What in the world is 'Strawberry Sunkist' pop made out of? Does anyone know? I wonder if there is one strawberry in it. What are the ingredients?
These questions started when my advisory students brought in snacks during one of our extended advisory days. Most of what was brought in was all processed foods - America's favorite 'food group'! We all love pop, chips, cookies, donuts, etc. Speaking of chips, what makes those Flamin' Hots so red? I'm getting ahead of myself, here. I'll get back to that question later in this post.
So, I decided to do some research of my own and where else but on the internet. Wikipedia was a site that I found had some non-promotional and therefore useful information for what I was trying to find out. According to the Wikipedia page for Sunkist, the magazine Men's Health rated Sunkist as the worst soda in the United States, citing its extremely high sugar content equivalent to 6 Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches and its artificial coloring agents yellow 6 and red 40, which "may be linked to behavioral and concentration problems in children".[2] Here's the link for the article http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slide/worst-soda-1?slideshow=184612#sharetagsfocus. In case you are wondering, there probably isn't a soda that is 'good' for us.
So, I decided to do some research of my own and where else but on the internet. Wikipedia was a site that I found had some non-promotional and therefore useful information for what I was trying to find out. According to the Wikipedia page for Sunkist, the magazine Men's Health rated Sunkist as the worst soda in the United States, citing its extremely high sugar content equivalent to 6 Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches and its artificial coloring agents yellow 6 and red 40, which "may be linked to behavioral and concentration problems in children".[2] Here's the link for the article http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slide/worst-soda-1?slideshow=184612#sharetagsfocus. In case you are wondering, there probably isn't a soda that is 'good' for us.
My next research project was Flamin' Hots. One of my students had brought in the Flamin' Hots Puffs. Karolina, a very creative student quickly made a face out of her portion of these space-age looking snacks.
I found this link from ABC's Good Morning America program. The video discusses the link between color and choice in food habits - http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/food-coloring-affect-perception-taste-13619727
The video addresses our assumptions of taste based on the color of foods. I wonder... would we eat Flamin' Hots if they were black or blue? Hmmmmm....
Discussion Questions:
1. If Sunkist Strawberry Soda was clear, would you still want to drink it?
2. Do you think that color influences the food you choose to eat?
3. Have you had any personal experience with the side affects (bahavioral or concentration problems) claims associated with these foods?
