LOW-CAL MUFFINS: Too Good to be True?
It’s hard to lose weight. So when our nutrition experts heard about the trendy new Poi English Muffins – which boast of having only 70 calories, about half the amount in other standard-size brands – they set up a taste test. The muffins, containing a Hawaiian delicacy made from taro root, won rave reviews – until the Good HouseKeeping Institute staff noted that the other ingredients were similar to those in ordinary muffins, calling the calorie count into a question.
Meanwhile, based on those calorie claims. The Poi Company was getting great publicity: In its January / February 2001 issue, Weight Watchers magazine called the muffins “a speedy, low-points breakfast,” which sent the dieters to the company’s Web site to place orders, sometimes by the case.
Is this low-cal food too good to be true? You bet. GHI sent two bags to an independent lab, which found that each muffin contains actually about 160 calories – more than twice the label claim. Instead of 18 grams of carbohydrates per muffin, each has more than 30 grams, the equivalent of two slices of bread. So if you’re dieting, cut each muffin in half.