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Did Nabisco Put 20 Extra Pounds On You? The Amazing SnackWell’s Phenomenon
Food giants started out with the best intentions: by the 90s, food scientists were feverishly creating thousands of Frankenfoods laden with high-fructose corn syrup and preservatives
In 1992 when I was pregnant with my daughter Meredith, food cravings led me to drive all over my hometown of Redlands in search of the very sweetest Coca-Cola. I also permitted myself to eat squishy white bread (Wonder Bread or similar). If I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have used my pregnancy as an excuse to deviate so gleefully from the healthy foods I was brought up with. I only gained 40 pounds.
It took me about six months to lose the baby weight — during which time I ate SnackWell’s under the mistaken impression they were better for me than full-on Oreos or similar cookies.
SnackWell’s defined the 1990s food push: low or no-fat — everywhere!
I was as susceptible as anyone else to a heavy public push to demonize fat in food and downplay the health risks associated with too much sugar. For many years, I was certain that no-fat foods were the best nutritional option.
Our nation’s major agricultural food producers, companies like Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), were looking for ways to sell their…
