Forgive my hyperbole for a minute and play along…
When it comes to macaroni and cheese, I’m a firm believer in the Kraft spirals. There is none better (at least for quick, easy, prepackaged stuff). And it’s not like it’s expensive either… at about $1 a box, it’s fairly affordable.
Of course, store brands can offer a huge savings over already decent prices. Take Wegmans for example… Their spiral mac & cheese? About 3 for $1. That’s just insane. But there has to be some sort of trade-off, right? Yes… there is.
First thing I noticed was the Wegmans brand directions require 1/4 of butter or margarine. Compare that to just 1 tsp for Kraft (even the “classic” ingredients on the Kraft box only require 3 tbsp). That is one half of a stick of butter for the Wegmans brand. Also consider that the Wegmans brand specifies 2% milk – and Kraft recommends fat free (though has a recipe for 1%).
Here’s a quick look comparing some of the “nutritional” facts… Comparisons are to the “prepared” values… and percentages are % Daily Value.
| Nutrition | Wegmans | Kraft |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 520 | 290 |
| Total Fat | 40% | 8% |
| Saturated Fat | 27% | 15% |
| Sodium | 43% | 25% |
| Total Carbs | 21% | 16% |
Damn.
So of course this is just one example and doesn’t really mean a whole lot when considering store brands as a whole, but this is a bit disheartening when you have people looking to save money for their families – but then end up feeding them something WAY less healthy than an actual name brand.
Quite frankly, I’m a bit saddened that this particular example is so bad. I like Wegmans… and shop there a LOT. But this is just bad. And really, even the taste of the Wegman’s brand isn’t even CLOSE to the Kraft stuff – really not that good at all.
So go ahead and save yourself a few dollars… but make sure you hit the gym a few more times to work off that cheap stuff.
Was told a story by an uncle in the 80s — that he worked at a site in central MI where he bagged frozen tater tots for delivery to stores. Half his shift was filling Ore-Ida bags, half a store brand’s bags… with the same potatoes from the same chute. Honestly, I can’t provide any more specific details than that, as it was ~25 years ago, and that uncle has long since passed away; also, obviously, a lot of things can change in two-plus decades, anyway. The basic story has always stuck with me, though. I guess the real moral would be that purple
Dammit, typing on my phone, trying to back up to correct “purple” to “people,” and accidentally hit the Publish button.
Anyway, people should be more vigilant in checking labels, comparing ingredients, etc. — but then again, that’s just a basic truth in today’s world, regardless of the name/store brand issue.
Oh I absolutely believe a lot of “generics” are essentially identical to the name brands. That’s why it was so odd to find this one sooo far off.