Every once in a while, a brainstorming bonanza somewhere in corporate America yields a product so instantly iconic that it deserves a place in our country’s history. Crystal Pepsi, Heinz EZ Squirt Ketchup (in shades like green, blue, and purple), and more recently, Swedish Fish Oreos, all come to mind.
But those gimmicky products pale in comparison to the newest contender for historic resonance, a product so bizarre it could have been born in the writing room of SNL, or even The Amanda Show: salad frosting.
This kid-oriented, squeezable spectacle is another invention from Kraft, and their preferred styling is salad "frosting" (quotes around "frosting"), based on the expectation that parents will lie to their kids about what exactly salad “frosting” is, and because children can be pretty gullible.
Or, in the words of Sergio Eleuterio, Kraft’s head of marketing, “Innocent lies parents tell their kids help alleviate the pressures of everyday parenting, and if it gets kids to eat their greens, so be it.”
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: The frosting is actually Kraft Classic Ranch Dressing in a tube.
According to a press release from Kraft, it’s all in the name of getting kids to eat more vegetables. “In fact, 63 percent of US parents admit to telling instrumental lies to get their kids to clean up their plates,” the release states, citing a 2012 study from the International Journal of Psychology. “Sometimes an innocent, smart lie is just the only way, especially as 75 percent of American kids eat salad only once a week,” the release continues, citing a trend report from the NPD Group.
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Okay, I get it, sometimes it’s hard to get kids to eat their vegetables; it may even be a statistically significant reality. According to a study in the June 2017 issue of Pediatrics, which collected data on a single day, about 26 percent of 1-year-olds had eaten French fries the day before, while 7.5 percent had eaten dark green vegetables and about 17 percent deep yellow vegetables the day before. Furthermore, between 2005 and 2012, the consumption of dark green vegetables fell by more than 50 percent. According to a 2018 report from the CDC, “most US children do not meet national recommendations for fruit and vegetable servings.”
So what’s a parent to do (other than lie about salad dressing)? If you’re into a research-based approach, the CDC recommends increasing early access to fruits and vegetables, especially in schools, where children spend most of their days, and “hands-on learning experiences, [such as] farm visits, school gardens, and healthy cooking lessons.”
Somehow, pretending that ranch dressing is actually frosting strikes me as moving in the opposite direction from “hands-on learning experiences” and “healthy cooking lessons.” But I’m not a parent, so what do I know?
As you might imagine, news of Kraft’s latest innovation garnered some ... mixed reactions on Twitter, my favorite of which are below:
Written by: Karen Lo
Popular on Food52
26 Comments
My whole point is why feed kids separately? How are kids to develop tastes for different foods if they aren't exposed and afraid to try new things?
There are so many things wrong with this product:
1. It's only Ranch, and it's not even the original Hidden Valley, which tastes far superior to others. Variety?
2. It's plastic. More stuff to put in the giant floating islands of trash.
3. It's in tube which means a lot of it will never come out because it gets stuck the same way the last of the toothpaste does.
The only redeeming feature I can think of is this might be a good convenient way to take salad dressing on a picnic.
We were raised to eat what was placed before us. I raised my kids that way too. I had no picky eaters! It wasn’t allowed.
Grow up parents. You are the adults here!
The lack of economic opportunity in the U.S.A. is at an ALL TIME LOW!
When I was growing up, a family could be supported on one income.
My Mom could stay at home and cook nutricious meal at home.
Fast food was a TREAT!
I don't blame families that feed their families on fast food because it's more economical than cooking at home.
You know how we get our 2 and 4 year old foster children to eat veggies? We make them tasty and serve them at mealtimes. We let them know that if you try something and don't like it, it's OK to spit it into a napkin and move on. No pressure, thank you for trying it! We serve the stuff they do like more frequently and let them make choices. We let them ask questions and try things as we're cooking. We show enthusiasm for tasty foods!
This week alone they have eaten: zucchini, green beans, potatoes, cauliflower, cucumbers, bok choy, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, salad (from a bag...I'm not perfect), and carrots. We'll have fresh corn on the cob tonight with dinner. They also eat their weight in fresh fruit daily.
Salad "frosting" is not necessary, not wanted, and part of the reason the rest of the world laughs at Americans who struggle to get their kids to eat real food. UGH!
"This is wrong on so many levels. Words matter. Truth matters. How about instead of telling lies “like a parent” we actually teach kids about nutrition and cooking and show them how to prepare vegetables so they taste good? And make their own dressing while we’re at it?" and they responded with:
"A little creative re-naming can help busy parents get veggies on the dinner table, especially with picky eaters!"
NO NO NO NO NO! Creative re-naming is just like alternative facts (aka lies) and I feel sad that they think kids are that stupid and that parents need to lower their expectations of their kids so low.
Whoever dreamt up this campaign obviously has never watched what magic actually happens when you TEACH KIDS TO COOK, not lie to them. My students LOVE working with veggies and whilst they might not love eating them all, exposing them to new foods is a surefire way to get them interested in trying them. This is an appalling campaign and encourages an unhealthy relationship with food from a young age (i.e. veggies are "yucky" and require something to make them taste good but let's not call it what it actually is...)
(ok, sorry, rant over!)
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