Lunchables: How Bad Are They Really?
First let me just say that this is not a Cart Confession. I have never purchased a Lunchable in my life nor do I intend to. My children know not to ask for them when we are grocery shopping. We whisk right past that section of refrigerated casing when in the supermarket.
But last week at NuVal, while I was reviewing a list of scores for one of my clients (Price Chopper in Schenectady, NY), I came across the score for a Lunchables product. Scoring Lunchables takes a lot of effort because they are complex – there is more than one product in the packaging. So we are just beginning to score them at NuVal. This was the first Lunchables product I had seen scored. Like a bad car accident on the side of the highway, I just had to look.
Lunchables Lunch Combinations – Ham & American – NuVal score of 5. Ouch! Included in the package are Cracker Stackers, Lean Ham, Kraft American Cheese, Ritz Crackers, Butterfinger Bar, and Capri Sun Roarin Waters Wild Cherry.
The amazing thing is that when I was googling this product to try and find an image to include for this blog post (since I obviously do not have these in my refrigerator), I came across a Mommy Blogger who was raving about how happy she was that there was now a healthier Lunchable. I do not want to embarass that Mommy Blogger so I won’t include a link here to her silly post.
If you are the kind of person who enjoys horror flicks and gore, you probably want to see more. So here you go…
Lunch Combinations – Bologna & American – NuVal score of 6! Wow, the Bologna version actually scores better than the “Lean Ham” version. Included in this package are Cracker Stackers, Bologna made with chicken & pork, Kraft American cheese, Ritz crackers, and Nabisco Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies.
In doing more research on the Lunchables phenomenon, I found a great blogpost from the Washington Post about the new “more wholesome” Lunchables.
Back in the days B.C. (Before Children), when I worked for Big Supermarket Company, I once spent a day “riding stores” with one of the company’s most experienced marketing managers. We were in a very wealthy area of Connecticut when he told me about Lunchables. You see, the store we were in was #1 in the entire supermarket chain for Lunchables sales. Lunchables are not cheap and in this particular high-rent town, the Lunchables just flew off the shelves. They were the Designer Lunch for privileged children.
Fast forward to today and I don’t hear my kids asking for Lunchables too much. I don’t think they have a huge presence in our elementary school or summer camp. However, we do see some children eating Uncrustables.
Guess what? They score just as low. They get a 5.
I know that most of my loyal A Better Bag of Groceries readers are not the Lunchables- or Uncrustables-buying type. But it’s kind of fun to look a the scores – in a sick sort of way – isn’t it?
Now get off your laptop and go make your kids (or yourself) a nice healthy lunch with whole grain bread, lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables!
Question of the Day
Have you ever purchased a Lunchable or an Uncrustable?
Posted by: Melissa 24 comments
Posted in: Lunch
Tags: Lunchables, Uncrustables
