No pumpkin, either

Nutrition Action Healthletter, July-August, 2006

Jell-O No Bake Pumpkin Style Pie Dessert has the "creamy taste and texture of pumpkin pie flavored with natural cinnamon & ginger," says the label. And it's ready after a "quick & easy 15 minute prep."

Pumpkin pie in 15 minutes? What a deal. And a glance at the Nutrition Facts label shows no saturated or trans fat. Double deal.

Make that double cross.

Apparently, pumpkin style pie is code for pumpkinless pie. Instead of a vegetable that's rich in beta-carotene, vitamin K, and fiber, you get sugar, modified food starch, and a mouthful of additives like artificial flavors, caramel color, and Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 food colorings. The cinnamon and ginger may be "natural," but nothing else is. It's about as authentic as a diamond-style engagement ring.

But No Bake Pumpkin Style Pie delivers more than pumpkin colored sugar and food starch. The microscopic print on the Nutrition Facts label discloses that "1/8 pie prepared with margarine and 2% reduced fat milk" contains 2 1/2 grams of saturated fat and 1 1/2 grams of trans fat. (The big print lists 0 grams for each because there's none in the dry mix.)

No Bake's Nutrition Facts panel, courtesy of Kraft Foods, doesn't break any labeling rules. They don't call 'em Kraft-y for nothing.

Kraft Foods: (800) 431-1001