Five Reasons To Avoid A Lunchable

September 7, 2011   26 Comments

Snack Girl makes frequent visits to her local supermarket to check up on the latest. Guess what I found in the shampoo aisle?

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Lunchables! Right there next to shaving cream, toothpaste, and assorted hair products was Oscar Mayer's kid friendly MRE (meal ready to eat) for our children.

Now, if we were in a hurricane situation - I would say, "Stock up on those bad boys. They will last forever!"

Personally, I like to shop in the produce section for my child's lunch items. Check out the inside:

Does the image above look like lunch to you?

As you can see, it is peanut butter that you must warm in your hand before you squeeze out of the tube, grape jelly, berry snacks, bread, mandarin oranges, and a spoon.

Here are my five reasons to avoid this lunchable:

1. Sugar - The sugar content at 37 grams is almost the same as a 12 ounce can of Coke.
2. Cost - These cost $3. I know I can make a PB&J with fresh fruit for less than that.
3. Packaging - There is way too much of it and it is not reusable.
4. Not 100% Whole Grain Bread - Made with whole grain flour does not mean whole grain!
5. Artificial colors, flavors and something called "carnauba wax" - I use wax for my floors and car - not for food for my children.

We can learn a lot from Oscar Mayer's growing sales and lunchable product line. Why are these so attractive to children? Children taste with their eyes - see DIY Packaging Tricks For Healthy Snacks.

My kids love little packages and they get so excited with the idea of opening anything - like a present!

There are a ton of different lunch boxes out there with little cute shapes to put food in. I found a list with literally hundreds of ideas to make Lunchables look truly sad.

Check out: 20 Days of Healthy, Wholesome School Lunches - these work for adults, too!

And here is my list of lunch box snacks: Top Ten Lunch Box Snacks 2011.

Please share your thoughts on Lunchables.

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