Oscar Mayer has debuted its newest offering, a meat-cheese-nut pack -- and a lot of people are pointing out that it's essentially Lunchables for adults.
The new product, called the Portable Protein Pack, reportedly contains 13 grams of protein, "proven effective by thousands of years of human existence."
There are four different packs: applewood-smoked turkey breast with roasted almonds and reduced-fat marbled Colby and Monterey Jack cheese; applewood-smoked ham with reduced-fat sharp cheddar and almonds; rotisserie-seasoned chicken breast with reduced-fat cheddar and roasted peanuts; and slow-roasted turkey breast with reduced-fat cheddar and peanuts.
Don't get us wrong; we're all about getting protein from whole foods. After all, protein is known to be important in weight maintenance and muscle growth, and it's also highly effective at keeping us full. Take nuts: a 1-ounce serving of peanuts (which is about 28 peanuts) has nearly 7 grams of protein, and a 1-ounce serving of almonds (which is about 23 almonds) has nearly 6 grams of protein. And sure, cheese, chicken and ham also have protein. But if you take a look at what's actually in these items in the new Portable Protein Pack, the ingredients list starts getting hairy.
For instance, the ingredients for the rotisserie-seasoned chicken breast (as detailed on Shopwell's website) include chicken breast, water and cultured dextrose. But the chicken also contains less than 2 percent of a lengthy list of other things, including cherry powder, carrageenan, modified cornstarch and caramelized sugars.
What do you think of Oscar Mayer's newest offering? Is this just another case of healthwashing? Or would you rely on the Portable Protein Pack for your afternoon snack? Tell us in the comments! As for us, we prefer to get our protein in other ways -- like with one of these eight nutritionist-approved snacks.