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 Kraft's South Beach Diet Prepared Foods

What do you think of the new Kraft prepared foods for the South Beach Diet? This is a page of opinions from various forums and personal e-mails from my site visitors. If you’d like your comments to be added to this page, send them to me in an e-mail. No names will be posted (unless you request it).

Click here for Kraft's page where you can find the ingredient lists for all of these Kraft SBD products. I have a few of these on this site on this page. Some of the “questionable” ingredients are highlighted in red.

I do not recommend them. This way of eating is based around healthy, natural food. The introduction of these processed foods, rife with additives, fat, sugar, and who knows what else, just isn't a smart way to go.

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I think the same thing I thought when I was on Atkins---that I'll stick to fresh foods, and avoid this stuff like the plague. Pass me some celery...
 

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Let me start by saying that, without a doubt, I will not be buying any of these South Beach products - every single one has sucralose, which I can't eat.

What I find interesting, after looking at some of the ingredients, is how I always thought this WOE (way of eating) was about eating things as close to their natural state as possible—whole grains, whole oats, brown rice. Yet these products are loaded with all kinds of stuff. The chips have MSG, which we are supposed to avoid. Most of the dinners have butter or dehydrated butter in them, and I noticed one with heavy cream. The meal replacement bars have butter and heavy cream as well.

The cereal bars have fractionated palm kernel oil and from what I read last year, fractionated is another way of hydrogenating oil (trans fat), not to mention sugar, maltitol syrup, corn syrup, oligofructose, evaporated cane juice invert syrup, maltitol, brown rice syrup, lactose, dextrose and sucralose (all forms of sweeteners) and butter— which is something else I've always been led to believe we shouldn't eat. And I must admit that soy nuggets don't sound very appealing to me.

I think I'll just stick with cooking things myself.

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I've seen the products advertised and in my store, but haven't tried them yet. And at what they cost, I don't intend to. Whoa! $3.99 for a single-serving frozen meal? Not with MY pocketbook! Now if they come down in price, or are on two-for-one special and I have a coupon...  And while I agree with those who are disappointed in how these deviate from the philosophy that we should be eating "whole foods," and not overly processed ones, I think these might have their place, for people who are low on time (or have more money to spend on lunch!), or on those occasions when the rest of the family is eating something decidedly not beach-friendly, or when you're disabled or shut-in (like if you've sprained your ankle, broken your leg, etc., and can't stand around in the kitchen...).

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Some of them look OK, but most look not much different than other packaged, processed brands. For example, look at the "Whole Grain Crunch" cereal - not much protein or fiber here:

Calories 110 Calories from Fat 20

Total Fat 2g 4 %
Saturated Fat 0g 0 %
Cholesterol 0mg 0 %
Sodium 150mg 6 %
Total Carbohydrate 21g 7 %
Dietary Fiber 4g 16 %
Sugars 4g
Protein 4g

(Note: The SBD Foods to Enjoy list says that cereals should have 6 to 8 grams of fiber or more per serving.)

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I'll have to say I would buy Amy's line of products, and Michelangelo's, before I would buy anything I see here, at least looking at the ingredient lists mentioned so far. I wonder if Dr. A. has seen the final products? If he has, I bet he's disappointed—but if he isn't, shame on him!

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I also buy Amy's sometimes. And Ethnic Gourmet... I wouldn't buy the Kraft stuff.

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IMHO THOSE are all (Amy's, Ethnic Gourmet, Michelangelo's) SB friendly convenience foods. If you can convince your local market to carry Amy's and Ethnic Gourmet, you'd be doing great.

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Yes, when I read the ingredients on the pizza, I decided that I would go with Amy's whole wheat pizza first. Much better quality line of food, IMO.
 

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I agree with the people who like Amy's frozen foods. I get too lazy to make lunch and Amy's has a few SBD friendly choices. Also they are pretty natural and taste good!

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Many of us on here feel it's easier to make up your own.... you can buy the compartment rubber made containers and use your left overs...  voila... healthy frozen meals.... Speaking for myself..... I'll emphasize speaking for MYSELF so no one misunderstands..... after reading the ingredients, you won't see me eat those frozen ones from the grocery store.... SB is my new WOE and way of thinking healthy and whole foods, not the chemicals, dyes and salt and whatever I can't even pronounce that are in those frozen ones.

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I glanced through some of the ingredient lists. For wraps and entrees, the sodiun level is very high - some up to 1400-1500 mg per serving, I believe. (Healthy choice has many entrees with around 500 mg of sodium.)

I remember a Daily Dish coming out awhile back, discussing the new federal guidelines for sodium - which recommend a daily total of around 1200-1300 mg max.

Something doesn't make sense here - with the discrepancies between Dr. A's recommendations, and the ingredients in the SBD Kraft foods.

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I really wondered, when I read the original agreement, how much control Dr. A. would have on the product line of a giant food company like Kraft.

Obviously very little as far as I can see. Given the low level of control he should never have signed the agreement, IMO.

But, that was his choice I suppose - he owns the rights to the South Beach Diet name and can pretty much do whatever he pleases.

The rest of us can eat right.

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I must admit that for me, things remain unchanged. I will not be buying any of these products because I still intend to do what has worked for me thus far: eating natural foods wherever possible. When it's not possible, I buy packaged products that seem to be the most nutritionally sound, like those from Kashi and Amy's, products that I already enjoy and know have a place in my continued success.

I'm not overly impressed with the ingredient lists, and I hope people still take the time to read the book and understand the philosophy behind the diet, rather than just buying South Beach/Kraft products and believing they're following the diet.

I understand, though, that different people have different needs, and for some, simply eating foods that are somewhat "better" is better than nothing at all.

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The sodium alone on some of the Kraft SBD foods is a big red flag for me. I do like the idea of having some frozen choices as an option once in awhile. We don't have a Whole Foods nearby, but we do have a frozen case of natural and organic foods at our Shop Rite that I've never really checked out. Time to do some investigating. You gotta wonder what Dr. A. really thinks about these not so friendly "SBD" products. Oooh, money makes people's thoughts just go right out of their heads!

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The meal-replacement bars are simply the old Post Carb-Well bars relabeled as South Beach bars. No changes in the formulation. Kinda fishy as they weren't "allowed" before.

I'm not running to the store for them. After doing SB for 1.5 years now, I do just fine without needing any prepackaged foods. I guess you could say my SB habits are already too well established to make room for these "new" products!
 

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I think there are better choices out there. I try to stick to the old rules (of 6 to 8 grams of fiber or more per serving and less than 8 grams of sugars per serving). I like Kashi Go Lean and Kashi Good Friends. Sam's is also a good choice but not as flavorful for me.

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Comment from MizFrog: One of the better choices is Post Shredded Wheat ’n Bran, also made by Kraft. The ingredients are: Whole grain wheat and wheat bran. That's it. It has 8 grams of fiber per serving and less than 1 gram of (natural) sugars. It's also a better value, as you get more servings for about the same price.

From reading the labels, it appears that Kraft took their Shredded Wheat ’n Bran cereal and added some other ingredients, such as almonds, sugar, oil, corn syrup, various flours and sweeteners, and a few other things, and called it Whole Grain Crunch.

In my opinion, the original product, Shredded Wheat ’n Bran, is better. You can add your own preferred sweeteners, and you can also add almonds or other nuts, if desired.

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I must say that I don't agree with Dr. A and Kraft regarding the frozen entrees, meal replacement bars, and all the other crap.

I did Jenny Craig for a few years and lost a lot of weight. When I started eating my own food, I gained 25 lbs. A lot of people starting SB look upon this (the new prepared foods) as the easy way out. Dr. A is not sending the right message. I know he means these foods as a quick fix on a busy day, however, that doesn't teach anyone how to arrange their food for a busy day. I still prefer the original Phase One and Two. I'm afraid people will stop losing weight and blame SB instead of themselves and their poor choices.

Also, the new Kraft foods are loaded with sodium. Some have more than a days limit.  Unfortunately.
 

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Finally saw these in my supermarket! The wraps don't really look appealing - the 1000mg of sodium kind of kills it!
 

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The frozen meals look a little better for maybe a once-a-week or once-in a-while type thing. Any thoughts on which entree is the tastiest?

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I've had the pizza which is pretty good. It's saved me on days that I would normally run to the store to buy crap instead because I forgot to put a chicken breast out the night before to thaw.

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There are plenty of good and quick meals to fix that do not require thawing meat and would, in my opinion, be a better choice than these frozen dinners.

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We took the little pizzas to a family get-together last weekend with a salad. The chicken was the least favorite one. People really liked the other three. We have tried the chicken wraps. They count as two starch servings for each box. There are two wraps in each one. We liked them a lot. We served a big salad with them. We have tried two of the frozen dinners. Nothing remarkable about them. We served extra veggies and a salad with them. We had the pork with pecans and the beef with string beans. I will get the pizza and wraps again, but I don't think I will have the dinners. I would rather have pizza. I am glad these foods are available, especially the pizza.

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Maybe I'm in the minority, but frankly I can't wait for these to come out. I know we've heard over and over that we DO have time to prepare meals, but frankly there are days that I don't. I work full time (can't stop that . . .), have two children who are active in sports, and work out about 4 to 5 times a week. If my kids have a game (and most practices), I am there with them. I'm not willing to tell my kids I can't come to your game because I have to spend time cooking. So, if on the days that as soon as I get off work, I'm headed for a soccer game . . . I can throw something like this in the microwave, that is what I will do. Also, I have shared parenting with their dad, which means I'm the only one home for dinner 3 nights a week. Sometimes you just don't want to cook for one - or do dishes for one. Now, I know I can use the crock pot, however, I'm NOT a morning person, and I have to be at work at 6:30 a.m. three days a week and 6 a.m. the other two . . .

I'm not saying I'm going to use these all the time, but I WILL be using them. Weekends are also usually taken up with my kids' sports. I also look forward the SBD approved cereal bars, as I find it too hard to carry snacks with me other than nuts, because everything requires refrigeration. When we flew to California, I carried a cooler on the plane. While it does work, it sure wasn't convenient - or practical - to carry that cooler, the purse, the suitcase, etc.

Anyway, like I said, I'm probably in the minority here, but I look forward to some convenient, easy to prepare, no dishes using food to hit the market - I just hope they're accompanied with high value coupons.

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This diet is learning to eat healthy. Popping frozen dinners in the microwave, eating breakfast bars, and unwrapping cheese slices is not healthy and should not be condoned much less promoted. I think SB is starting down the slippery slide Atkins took. But that's okay. I still have my original SB book and I know what really works.

I give it a year. Then the next diet will come out. It's a shame, really-- this is the first diet of its kind to really get it right.

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I heard over and over how the packaged Atkins foods will stall weight loss, make some people downright sick because of the stuff in them, and are not what the Dr. intended. It became obvious after awhile there are two camps - those who follow the original plan based on fresh foods and those who use the prepared foods. I suspect the same will happen with SB.

Eventually, the next diet will come out based on fresh foods and we'll be off and running again. Can't blame SB for jumping on the corporate bandwagon, as I'm sure there are big $$$ to be had there. And the option of sticking to the original plan is always there.
 

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From the Daily Dish announcing this (see above): “In a time crunch or need to pack light for a hike? The South Beach Diet™ Meal Replacement Bars are a great substitute when you can't get near the kitchen.”

This implies this stuff is not intended to be used every day or replace fresh food. But you know people will exist on it. I think you'll be able to click a stop watch and record the time it takes before someone complains when they eat the prepared SB foods they don't lose weight. We've already heard, “Dr. A wouldn't endorse them if they weren't good for you.” The Atkins people said that one too.

We all make our own choices. To each his or her own.

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I had a chicken with vegetables and was rather pleased. Is it something I
will have often? No, but it was nice to try it.

I also had the wraps for lunch was very disappointed with them. If anything,
it gave me an idea to create my own and save a bunch of money and
preservatives.
 

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I honestly don't suggest eating them in any phase. The ingredients are
no better then any other meals out there. But if you must have them I
would only do it once in a blue moon. Because of the sodium and stuff,
I can see they would be a definite diet buster. You would be so much
better off to make your own. As for phase one, that would depend what's
in them. If there is bread products or anything you can't have in phase
one, then no.

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The cereals and cereal bars are awesome! I wouldn't buy the frozen or deli foods again. I'd rather cook! (never thought I'd say that!) LOL! Too much salt, not enough taste.

I've also found some great products by Hodgson Mill. Their whole wheat brownies with flaxseed are SO GOOOOOD!!! They also make whole wheat muffins, w/w muffins with blueberries, and bran muffins. All delicious. I found them in the local food store...
 

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I was actually amused by the reviews on the Kraft foods. Since starting the diet, I have been improvising, making my own tomato sauce, etc., creating really simple but delicious recipes. I would NEVER buy those foods with all of the additives... the whole point, I thought was to eat healthier. I was never one to purchase frozen prepared dinners or packaged mixes, so why start now....????  The whole idea of the diet seemed to adapt  a healthy way of eating. 

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I went shopping yesterday and looked at a box of the cereal and burst out laughing! What makes this “South Beach” cereal?!? It had just as much sugar and other crap as regular ol' mini wheats, so why the differentiation? I know SB doesn't count carbs, but it still says sugar is a no-no, so how is all that sugar ok?

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I have tried the breakfast bars and the lunch kits. I absolutely love them both and can't wait for more products to released by Kraft. The cereal bars are delicious and filling. The lunch kits are extremely convenient and very tasty. I am going to try the frozen foods next.

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I do agree Dr. A. sold out to Kraft and stated that on another SB site. I will not eat those products because if you're sticking to the rules of the book you really can't!

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This page on-line April 21, 2005