Trimming the Fat sign now

We, the parents of our future leaders of this nation, request that the executives at Oscar Mayer start looking and implementing ways to reduce the amount of saturated fat and sodium in the Lunchable product line. Working toward providing healthier food while still appealing to the convenience factor that has made these lunch products so successful, would prove to the parents that Oscar Mayer was equally concerned with our children as it is with profits.

For those of you who do not have children or those who are unfamiliar with these products, I will describe them. Lunchables are various food items pre-assembled in small, handy boxes by Oscar Mayer. This product can be found in grocery stores throughout the United States. Oscar Mayer makes these Lunchables in very convenient sized packages for children to take to school for lunch.

At the supermarket the other day, I witnessed three families heavily stocking up on these lunch meals. I also saw this monopoly at a recent field trip with my daughter. She was the only one in our group of six girls who did not bring a Lunchable for their meal. My daughters have often begged me to buy Lunchables for them. I figured now was the time to let them sample the product since I would need the nutritional information for research. There are many different varieties produced by the B-O-L-O-G-N-A and Wiener Giant, but the one I picked was Bologna & American Cracker Stackers. The contents of this package include six Ritz Crackers, six cracker-size slices of Kraft American Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, six slices of Bologna and two Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies. The children stack it all up and enjoy. What child wouldnt love this much fun in their lunch? At $1.99 per package, what parent would slave in the kitchen every morning when this option is so easy and affordable?

Well, if any of these parents took a moment to look at the back of one of these packages and understand the numbers, I would venture to say they might rethink their decision. In the 4.15 oz. package my daughter sampled, she consumed 30 grams of fat, twelve of which were saturated. That is 60 percent of the daily recommended value of saturated fat based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Another staggering amount found in this heart-attack-in-a-box is the sodium. At 1,240 grams of sodium, 52 percent of their recommended daily intake will have already been consumed in a snack sized meal. Remember this is lunch, not dinner. Also consider that this is just above four ounces for the entire meal. That is the same weight of a precooked hamburger patty without any fixings or a bun.

As much as Oscar Mayer should bear some responsibility for the absurdly high fat and sodium content, they would not be able to keep a product on the shelves that parents did not religiously buy. The fact that there are more and more varieties of Lunchables being produced each year proves they are a marketing success. Are the Oscar Mayer executives spending more time counting their money than concerning themselves with the staggering escalation of obesity in our children today? I hope not.

Please help spread the word and forward the website for this petition to anyone you know who has children or was a child at one point. I have also written a research paper on childhood obesity.

If you have any questions, comments or would like to read my paper, feel free to email me at: [email protected]