Have you seen the new Fruttare? Is it just fruit and milk?

I always get excited when I see a new product advertised on TV or on billboards outside corner stores / delis.  I often wonder, will they get it right this time?  Will this manufacturer be true to its marketing and really deliver on its promise of natural real food?  I just saw an ad for the new Fruttare – new delicious fruit bars.

I love the marketing behind Fruttare:

“Fruttare fruit bars are made with tasty, real fruit from farms that do their best to respect, love and protect the earth.  Our goal is to sustainably farm every piece of fruit that goes into a Fruttare fruit bar”

“Fruttare Fruit Smoothis are real fruit pieces blended into a frozen fruit smoothie, for real fruit refreshment”

That’s great! Let’s see if they are looking out for the health of their consumers.  Let’s see if the fruit bars are just real food.

Ingredients

Water, dairy ingredients (31%) (reconstituted skim milk, milk solids), sugar, mango pieces (9%), vegetable oil, invert sugar, glucose syrup, stabilisers (1442, 410, 407, 415), emulsifier (471), flavours, acidity regulators (citric acid, 331), colour (beta carotene), ice structuring protein, dextrose (from wheat).

Number of Ingredients: at least 19

 

I’m not sure about you but at least 17-19 ingredients for a fruit smoothie bar seems like a lot to me?!

I regularly make smoothies at home and I would need 4 to 5 ingredients on average.

I understand that for commercial production some additional additives would be required to stablise the product.

So what else is included with these real fruit smoothies? Let’s have a look at the other additives included within these products.

Colour 120 – Cochineal

This colour is derived from the cochineal, a species of insect found mainly in Peru and the Canary Islands.  The insects are sun-dried and crushed and then submerged in an acidic alcohol solution to produce the pigment that eventually results in the cochineal colour.

Caution is advised for this additive as the potential effects can include asthma, hyperactivity, contact dermatitis, rashes or hives. So whilst this is a naturally occurring colour, its not something I would like in my real fruit smoothie bar.

Ice structuring protein

Well this was a new one for me!  I hadn’t come across this before. Streets has dedicated 4 pages on its website to explaining what it is, what it does, why would use use it, does it contain genetically modified material, is it safe to eat? You can find out more here.  For those not interested in reading 4 pages, here is a quick summary for you:

What is it?

“Ice structuring proteins (ISP) are proteins that bind to ice.  They are widely found in nature in many organisms that live or grow in cold climates, such as carrots, grasses, insects and fish.  The protein helps these organisms from damage caused by freezing.”

Why are they used?

Consumer benefits of stronger more consistent flavours, wider range of novel textures, more intricate fun shapes and vibrant colour.

Genetic modification concerns

Fruttare does not contain GM material however, genetic modification technology has been used in the production of the ice structuring protein.  The original ISP was identified in a fish.  Streets website explains that sourcing the ISP “from nature was not sustainable or economically feasible the yeast extraction method was developed as an alternative.  The yeast is removed during processing so that the resulting protein does not contain any residual GM yeast”

Is is safe?

The protein has been approved by the food regulator Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ)

From my personal perspective, any ingredient that requires 4 pages of explanation doesn’t constitute real food in my book.  I would prefer my icecreams and iceblocks without Ice Structuring protein.  I will leave you to draw your own conclusions about ISP.

Is Fruttare a real fruit smoothie if it is filled with lots of additives and uses GM technology?

Why are these additives included in this product?

Is it because only the bare minimum of real food is used to keep production costs low?

Is it because the manufacturer wants to maximise profits earned?

I commend Fruttare for looking out for the planet, this is a great step, however the next steps surely has to be:

• transparency of ingredients used

• only real food ingredients used and

• placing the priority of health above profits.

What do you think?

Would you buy Fruttare for your Additive Free Kids?