For the most part, I hate to shop.  There is one notable exception.  I love to shop at Trader Joe’s.  The store had pretty good stuff (sometimes great stuff) at generally fair prices.  I stop in at least once, sometimes twice, every week.  I’m ashamed to admit it, but I even kind of like their fake tropical motif, and I religiously read their cleverly written fliers.  I genuinely feel affection towards this company.

OK, so here’s the problem.  The other day, as I was eating my breakfast, I started wondering about the ingredients in one of their cereal products that I particularly like.  The ingredient list is (parentheses nesting as presented on the box):

• OAT CLUSTERS (ROLLED OATS, CRYSTALLIZED EVAPORATED CANE JUICE, CRISP RICE [MILLED RICE, CRYSTALLIZED EVAPORATED CANE JUICE, SALT, MALT], WATER, CANOLA OIL, HONEY, CORNSTARCH, NATURAL VANILLA FLAVOR, SALT, HERBS & SPICES),
• CORNFLAKES (MILLED CORN, CRYSTALLIZED EVAPORATED CANE JUICE, SALT, MALT),
• MULTI-GRAIN FLAKES (MILLED RICE, WHOLE WHEAT, CRYSTALLIZED EVAPORATED CANE JUICE, BARLEY MALT),
• ALMONDS.

As I’m reading this, I’m feeling pretty good with my “healthy choice” in breakfast products, until I start considering “Crystallized Evaporated Cane Juice.” About the time that I begin to wonder what this magical ingredient might be, I realize that it’s simply cane sugar.  Some marketing genius at Trader Joe’s has seen fit to re-position sugar (doesn’t sound healthy) as “Crystallized Evaporated Cane Juice” (somehow sounds healthier).  With nonsense like this, I can certainly understand why people don’t believe in marketing hype anymore.

Sigh…  I still like Trader Joe’s, but I’m a little more jaded about them.