Whole grain white bread – what's wrong with this picture?

Whole grain white bread – what’s wrong with this picture?

When you see the words “soft and smooth” on a product label, you might think toilet paper (at least I do), unless, of course, the label also promises whole grain. That’s the tip off that it’s probably not toilet paper.

But you might want to flush it anyway.

Last year, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) threatened to sue Sara Lee for misleading consumers with a product known as “Soft & Smooth Made With Whole Grain White Bread.”

Okay, first of all, someone should sue them for giving a loaf of bread a name that runs on for eight words and an ampersand. Come on – it’s bread! But CSPI’s issue is this: S&SMWWGWB contains only 30 percent whole grain, but the name subtly implies that the geniuses at Sara Lee have somehow accomplished the impossible task of making white bread out of 100 percent whole grain.

Last month, Sara Lee executives caved in and announced that the product’s label will be modified to let consumers know that their white bread does not come close to qualifying as 100 percent whole grain.

And that might actually turn out to be a selling point.

In an interview in Media Post’s Marketing Daily, a Sara Lee spokesperson described a typical S&SMWWGWB person: “This is targeted specifically to consumers who love white bread, particularly that sticky texture.”

In that case, I’d like to suggest a new product name: White & Sticky Even Though It Contains Some Whole Grains Which Are “Supposedly” Good For You Bread.

I can’t imagine CSPI would have any problem with that.

Source:
“Sara Lee Agrees to Change ‘Whole Grain’ Label” Sarah Mahoney, Media Post’s Marketing Daily, 7/22/08, mediapost.com