Don't Be Fooled By 'Healthy' Junk Food

Before 9/11, my husband and I spent a lot of time traveling in Switzerland. We thoroughly enjoyed riding its excellent trains, with one exception. The panel of glass that separated nonsmokers from the smoking section was open at the top, making it impossible to escape the smoke.

It made us wonder why they even bothered.

That's the same question you have to ask when it comes to "healthy" junk food, a burgeoning new food group.

Dunkin' Donuts announced this summer that its menu will contain zero grams of trans fats by mid-October. The doughnut chain spent four years and millions of dollars on top-secret research to find a trans-fat-free frying oil that customers liked. Medical experts say trans fats boost the levels of LDL, or bad, cholesterol in the blood; lower the HDL, or good, cholesterol; and increase the risks for heart disease and stroke.

Dunkin' Donuts beat out competitor Krispy Kreme by being the first major chain to introduce a doughnut with zero grams of trans fats. Federal regulations allow food makers to call products trans-fat-free as long as each serving contains a half gram of trans fats or less.

While they may be trans-fat-free, these treats still pack an enormous dietary punch.

Take the old favorite glazed cake doughnut. It has 350 calories and 19 grams of fat. Heaven help you if your tastes tend toward the cake stick, with 490 calories and 29 grams of fat. It begs the question, why bother being trans-fat-free?

Are we being fed subtle messages that high-fat, high-calorie foods are somehow good for us? I hope no one thinks that the breaded, deep-fried green beans on the appetizer menu at T.G.I. Friday's are a good way to get your vegetables.

And you can't possibly think those high-priced vegetable chips in the grocery store are healthy. Thinly sliced carrots, squash, taro, sweet potatoes, whole peas and green beans, all deep fried and salted. Sure they have a little fiber and a few vitamins, but let's be honest. Is this really a healthy way to eat?

Make no mistake, I like a slice of pepperoni pizza, but I don't try to justify my almost weekly indulgence by thinking it's a great way to work more calcium into my diet. You have to be honest with yourself about what you're really doing.

How about Burger King's apple "fries"? The apple slices are shaped liked crinkle cut potato fries, and they're served in a container that looks just like the ones french fries come in. Something about that worries me. Maybe because it reminds me of the candy cigarettes of my childhood ... the bubble gum inside a white paper wrapper was coated with powdered sugar so if you blew hard enough, it would look like smoke coming out the end.

Some schools in West Virginia are putting their own positive spin on junk food by serving elementary students chocolate-frosted doughnuts and blueberry muffins fortified with protein and vitamins. Students also get low-sodium hot dogs on whole-wheat buns, french fries that are oven baked and low-fat pancakes. It's been dubbed faux junk food, and kids are eating it up.

But what happens when these kids encounter similar foods outside the school? Will they be able to make the healthy choice?

One way to get food marketers to shape up is to reward those companies that are doing it right. Take a good, hard look at the new ads for Subway's Fresh Fit Meals. Instead of ordering burgers and fries, fast-food restaurant customers place orders for love handles, a double chin, some blubber and thunder thighs.

To me, the message is spot on. Be honest with yourself about what you're ordering. Admit that it's a lot of calories and fat, little fiber and few vitamins or minerals. Eating those foods on a regular basis without balancing the calories with exercise is probably going to lead to unhealthy weight gain; never mind what it's doing to your arteries.

Let's help our children do the same thing. Teach them about the nutritional value of the foods they eat. I once helped a young friend look up the calories in her favorite Dairy Queen Blizzard Treat. I suggested she think of her daily allotment of calories as cash. She was shocked to learn she had just blown more than $600 on a midafternoon snack, and that that, coupled with the chicken fingers, french fries and soda she'd had at lunch, left her with nothing to spend on dinner.

It was a tough lesson that hit home with her in much the same way those new Subway sandwich ads are hitting home. At least with anyone who bothers to listen.