If your Cheetos aren't crunchy......

On my walk today I came across a gigantic advertisement for Cheetos:

“If your Cheetos aren’t crunchy, it’s because you’re accidentally eating a banana.”

Witty?  Yes.  Attention grabbing?  Definitely.  Funny to a nutrition expert?  No.

I’ll never say that advertisers are the problem; we all make our free choices on what we choose to spend our money on, purchase, and consume.  But they certainly don’t help the situation we’re in.  You’re “accidentally” eating a banana?  That is just terrible!  There are so many foods advertised towards people with low health literacy, to children, and to those who suffer the consequences of long-term negative health choices.  Education is our only hope.  In honor of that statement, here are the ingredients in the popular “fiery-Cheetos”:

Enriched corn meal (corn meal, ferrous sulfate, niacin, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean, sunflower oil), salt, maltodextrin, sugar, MSG, autolyzed yeast extract, citric acid, artificial color (including Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 6, Yellow 5), partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, hydrolyzed soy protein, cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), whey, onion powder, whey protein concentrate, corn syrup solids, natural flavor, buttermilk solids, garlic powder, disodium phosphate, sodium diacetate, sodium caseinate, lactic acid, disodium inositate, disodium guanylate, nonfat milk solids, sodium citrate, carrageenan.    

In 3 ounces you’ll gain 510 calorie, 33 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 750 mg of sodium (OMG!!), 45 grams of carbs. 

Here are the ingredients the dissed banana: 

Banana. 

In 1 fruit you’ll gain 90 calories, 0 grams of fat and saturated fat, 1 mg sodium, 23 grams of carbs, 5 mg calcium, 362 mg potassium. 

If you ask me, eating Cheetos would be the accident – not the other way around  ;)