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beans and vegetables, Bush's Baked Beans, feeding children, food commercials, healthy eating, vegetables
baked beans
Is anyone else irked by the Bush’s Baked Beans commercials where the company tries to pass their product off as a healthy food? If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a man and a woman clad in white aprons, standing in a kitchen with the company’s logo as a backdrop. The children in front of them are served baked beans and the audience is told these beans are the vegetables kids love. Seriously?
Not wanting to be narrow-minded, I checked the USDA site and it states that green beans, lima beans and string beans are grouped with vegetables. Other beans such as kidney, pinto and black beans may be classified as a subgroup of the vegetable group or part of the protein food group. In any case, I think the message is outrageous.
Looking at the company’s website, they boast that their original baked beans recipe includes “the finest ingredients – specially cured bacon, fine brown sugar.” The product nutrition page shows that one-half cup contains 550 milligrams of sodium and 12 grams of sugar. What’s next – oatmeal cookies for breakfast and carrot cake for dinner?
I’m not saying people should not eat this food, but let’s be honest. It may be a treat, but it’s certainly not a health food. I wonder if the script writer really thinks parents are that naive. The script is better suited to an SNL skit in my opinion. Take a look at this video of the commercial and voice your opinion.
My teenage sons love these beans, and when I tell them to be sure to have a veggie with their lunch on the weekend, they say, “I’ll have baked beans.” Then I have to remind them those beans aren’t exactly a vegetable. 550 mg of sodium and 12 grams of sugar? Wow. Makes me glad I limit them in their diet.
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I had kids before I learned nutrition and it makes me sick now to think about how we ate. Fun foods are OK as long as we recognize that’s what they are. I plan to make up for it with my grandchild.
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Every time I see that commercial I think WTH? Trying to pass sugary baked beans off as a vegetable is despicable advertising and marketing.
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I know, right! Do they really think their customers are that stupid?
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I have been researching this all morning to see how they can make this claim.
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I agree! I just saw the commerical again and had to see if anyone else agreed with me. It is ridiculous. The same as saying Captain Crunch is a healthy breakfast.
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Yes, Anonymous, it’s almost comical. It reminds me of the Bill Cosby routine when he tells his wife he thought he was giving his children a nutritious breakfast by serving them cake because it has eggs and milk in it.
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That’s the first thing I said, these are not vegetables!!!
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I saw the commercial this morning and that is why I started looking. Beans are a legume right? Or a non meat protein.. The company is really reaching when they call it a vegetable. Ok so it does grow from a plant.
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Beans are healthy but the ingredients added to create the baked beans product makes it more of a special treat. It is delicious. I just think the marketing is misleading. I haven’t seen the commercial in a while, so the company must be listening to their consumers.
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Just re-read your post. You saw the commercial this morning? Interesting. It must be working for them if they’re still running it.
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I just saw this commercial this morning. I was irked because I was always taught that beans are legumes not vegetables. I refuse to accept it as a vegetable.
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Amazing that they’re still running this commercial. It must be working for them.
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I just saw this commercial, and searched to see if anyone else was a little upset about the claim. The kids had two proteins on their plate (as if Americans aren’t getting enough protein or sugar). Beans and chicken… These kids need some phytochemicals in their lives.
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It seems many feel the same way. I’m surprised the commercial is still being aired.
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They have a slew of these commercials all sending out this same message. I don’t watch much TV, but happened to come across several of these commercials during a recent vacation. I was incensed.
Beans are technically a vegetable, and while not the most nutritious, they do have a fair amount of fiber & iron and would be perfectly acceptable as one in a diverse pool of vegetable servings as part of a balanced meal plan.
What is so irksome is that they are taking this dubious, low quality vegetable, slathering it in a massive amount of sugar, and claiming it to be healthful. McDonald’s hamburgers have onions, lettuce, and tomatoes, so I guess next time I need to up my vegetable servings I should grab a quarter-pounder or two.
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I like that analogy! We need to teach children how to distinguish between vegetables and treats that may include a vegetable or two.
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I’ve been having that craving for baked beans and yes I do tell myself that these are actually good for me. Whenever I go for the less sugar, less salt kind they just don’t taste as nice, I know…. Long live Heinz 😉
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No argument there. I grew up on baked beans and still indulge. Just don’t like Bush Beans marketing strategy. Never heard Heinz refer to their product as a vegetable.
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I guess anything goes when trying to make concerned and naive moms buy the product 😉
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So glad I found your blog. I just saw the commercial with the kids at the dinner table and the parents are high fiving because the kids “ate their vegetables.” I thought it was comical and then I started feeling annoyed that they seriously are trying to push their sodium filled, sugared up beans as healthy. Freshly steamed broccoli with nothing on it deserves a high five! And to undermine parents today who actually read labels and know what’s in food is doubly insulting. It’s like the companies who think they are doing us a favor because they don’t put high fructose corn syrup in their junk foods.
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I get annoyed every time I see this commercial. They are not vegetables!
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So many agree with you. It’s amazing the commercial is still aired.
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I just saw the commercial for the first time and I was yelling at the television!! Don’t get me wrong, I love baked beans, but they are far from a healthy choice equivalent to a vegetable. And unfortunately, I feel there are many out there who just don’t know (or who don’t want to know) the truth and will now be adding to the epidemic of obesity and diabetes by thinking baked beans are a good choice on a regular basis.
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Oh my gosh ! Completely agree. Just saw this commercial and was baffled- I had to google to see if anyone else had opinions on this. Good work 💪 Lol
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Thanks, bellab. I’ve received so many comments and consensus on this post. Did you find many other posts on this subject?
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Yes!
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We need to get this commercial pulled! Yikes it’s disturbing. They’re trading our kids’ health for profits…
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And it must be working for them since it’s been on the air for so long. I don’t believe the product is harmful. I just don’t like the idea that some parents may be duped into believing this is the way to get kids to eat vegetables.
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I emailed the company and their response was how nutritious beans are. They failed to mention the salt, sugar, molasses, bacon fat, etc. so they are defending their ads.
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Not surprised
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I just saw the commercial and am appalled they are saying this is a vege. It needs to be taken down.
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I just found your blog through a search of the very commercial you are discussing. I am writing my own blog post about how downright dishonest many commercials are and just wanted to see what was out there on the topic. I am pleased to see so many people that are as angry as I am about their nerve. I will also contact the company to complain.
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Yes, it seems I did stoke the fires. I am amazed at how many comments I received. Feel free to post a link back your site here. There is clearly an interest in connecting with like-minded people.
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Absolutely and thank you so much. http://www.hookedonhealth.co
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Wow, I actually thought you just wrote this post. After noticing that this was written last year I am very sad to say they are still airing this commercial. We must bombard them with comments about how wrong these commercials are.
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Pingback: Do we really want to cheer up our kids with a Happy Meal? | Gail's Blog
Is sugar cane a vegetable too? Fortunately they weren’t a mainstay in my childhood but a very rare (as in once a year) treat. Marketing is always dubious. Still not sure if wrinkle cream gives you wrinkles or takes them away. Hard to tell…. 🙂
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Wow…just Wow……that irritated about a baked bean commercial..you should get a puppy or a hobby…
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For the record, today, in 2018, in line at a local public school, a child said he did not want the baked beans on his plate. The lady behind the counter said, “We are required to serve a vegetable to every child. They can throw it out if they choose.” — NEVER had I heard that baked beans should be in the “vegetable” category.
So goes “nutrition” that is served to our children in the public schools. : (
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Thanks for posting this, Carol. Point taken.
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