Advertisers know the secret to selling their product – market to children.
It’s a known fact — kids are bombarded with junk food ads on the Internet, TV, and even through celebrity endorsements.
Bright colors and characters line the boxes of many food items marketed to children, but the ingredients in these products will shock you.
Advertisers are happy to exploit the innocence of children and use psychological techniques all to sell a product.
In addition, they play to the “convenience factor,” and market their products to busy moms as a quick meal solution.
But once children become hooked on unhealthy foods, it’s hard to reverse the trend.
While some food is better than others, we’ve compiled a list of the worst of the worst.
Here are 7 dangerous foods with harmful ingredients you should never feed your kids:
- Lunchables: Marketed as a “quick lunch” solution for kids, these packages contain fatty mechanically separated meat, refined white flour, and artificial flavors. Not to mention the sugar and corn syrup thrown into the accompanying drink. Just say no to these packaged meals!
- Kool Aid: Serving your kids Kool-Aid? You might as well dump sugar in a glass of water and hand it to them. A regular 8oz glass of Kool-Aid has a whopping 24 grams of sugar. And even worse, the powder is full or artificial dyes. Childhood obesity is on the rise,and loading kids up with sugar will only increase their risk of developing diabetes later in life.
- Gummy Bears: Most kids are addicted to these sweet bright gummy bears, which have been a known favorite candy for generations. But these glucose syrup bears have no nutritional value and are simply empty calories. And even worse, these sticky bears are loaded with food coloring and can even cause tooth decay.
- Froot Loops: Kids are drawn to neon colorsand cute animals, so Froot Loops are quite appealing to their young eyes. But this sugary cereal doesn’t actually contain fruit, and is loaded with sugar and a number of artificial ingredients such as Red #40, Yellow #6, and “natural orange” flavor.
- Pop Tarts: Pop Tarts are known to be a “quick convenient breakfast food” to serve kids for busy moms on the go. But these iced pastries are coated in icing (sugar) and contain high fructose corn syrup, which causes a myriad of health issues. Each wrapped package contains two Pop-Tarts, and while the serving size is only one, most end up eating both. Which means kids are consuming a scary 78 grams of carbohydrates, just in breakfast alone.
- Ice Pops: Kids love popsicles on a hot summer day, but these “fruit” pops are not made with actual fruit. These neon frozen pops are full of sugar and artificial dyes – as you can tell from the dyed tongues children have after eating them.
- Cheetos: This “cheesy” crunchy snack is a favorite among children. Although the cheesy powder substance they bake into their product isn’t actual cheese. In fact, Cheetos are loaded with synthetic and highly processed ingredients. And ‘Hot Cheetos’ are even worse, as they can cause stomach problems in children who digest them.
If you have these foods in your pantry, it’s time to throw them away.
Looking for healthy alternatives?
To satisfy a child’s sweet tooth, slice up some fresh organic apples, and place almond butter on top with fresh coconut slivers.
You can also introduce your child to fresh, brightly colored veggies, served with organic hummus.
Or, try throwing fresh fruit into a blender combined with almond milk and whip up a healthy smoothie that’s sure to be a hit.
Do you have any of the “7 dangerous foods” in your pantry? What are your favorite healthy snack ideas?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.