Well the results of my study are in….and it turns out that even Nutritional Science professors and graduate students underestimate the amount of sugar in VitaminWater beverages. When posed alongside 2 strawberry frosted pop-tarts, a measured pile of gummy bears, and a package of Reese’s peanut butter cups (2), the VitaminWater was consistently, and incorrectly, often picked as the least sugary snack. When asked which snack contained actual fruit or fruit juice, the colorful beverage was also often (incorrectly again) the popular choice.
(The peanut butter cups actually had the least sugar. The other three options all contained 33 grams of sugar. Pop-tarts do contain a small amount of real fruit. Not so for the others. )
So yes, the marketing and labeling on VitaminWater beverages does a decent job of fooling people into thinking it’s not just colored sugar water. Congratulations. And shame on you.
Julie January 26, 2009 at 9:33 am
I need a little perspective… what is a reasonable amount of sugar for a snack? I generally only drink water, coffee and tea — so I’m more interested in learning about sugar content in little snacks we so innocently consume!