FitSugar

Who Owns Organic Food Brands?

FitSugar — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:45:00 PDT

When buying organic and natural-food brands, such as Kashi and Naked Juice, you may think you're supporting small, independent companies. But often these brands are actually owned by major conglomerates: Kellogg, in the case of Kashi, and Pepsi for Naked Juice.

I was excited to find this very cool chart in the latest issue of Good magazine, which breaks down most of the major natural brands by their corporate owners. For the details,

Some of these definitely did not surprise me: I figured that Morningstar Farms had a corporate owner, and I've read before that Muir Glen is owned by General Mills. However, I had no idea that the Heinz subsidiary Hain Celestial owned so many small companies! Westsoy, Casbah, Shariann's, and more. Check out the entire chart here.

I'm not suggesting you should avoid these brands just because they have corporate owners. But it might help you decide where to put your money if there are certain companies whose policies you disagree with. I'm curious, does corporate ownership affect your buying habits?

Source

Naked Juice: It's Not So Naked

FitSugar — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 07:30:00 PST

Have you guys tried Naked Juice? You'd think with a name like that, this drink would be made with just fruit juice. Even with the fine print at the bottom of the label that reads "with added ingredients" I was still more focused on the word naked, thinking this smoothie would be unadulterated. The Orange Mango Motion flavor contains a lot of added B vitamins, to give you an extra boost, but that is not all this drink contains that will charge you up.

The motion in this smoothie comes from "guarana extract" and "green tea extract." While these are natural forms of caffeine, they're still caffeine and if you drink all 15.2 fluid ounces of this juice, you'll get 86 mg of the stuff. Just for comparison, a regular cup of joe (not the suped up coffee from Starbucks) contains about 45 mg of caffeine. So this drink packs quite a punch. When they say "energy," they mean it. I just wish it were energy from the juice, not energy from caffeine.

Want to see the nutritional info? Then

Check out how on the label it tells you exactly how much of your daily supply of vitamins you are getting. Cool, huh? This juice would make a great alternative to your morning cup of coffee -it's like drinking your coffee and OJ all at once. I'd probably try and stick to the recommended serving size though, otherwise you'll be bouncing off the walls if you're not used to drinking this much caffeine.

Happy Hour: Green Machine & Vodka

partysugar — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 13:13:20 PDT

In honor of today being 420, and this weekend being Earth Day, I thought it would be fun to create my own green cocktail. I was brainstorming ingredients and wanted something that was healthy and alcoholic. If tomato juice and orange juice are mixed with vodka to make super tasty drinks, why not mix together Naked Juice's (which, in case you haven't noticed, is all the rage now... and seriously while the best mimosas are made with fresh OJ, when you're in a pinch, Odwalla's OJ is the next best thing to freshly squeezed) Green Machine with my favorite liquor? Not for the fair-of-heart, Green Machine is a fruit juice blend of apple and kiwi that is supposed to help you detox, revive, and energize. So yesterday afternoon I transformed into Mad Scientist PartySugar and came up with an interesting mix of green machine, vodka (Level had recently sent me a bottle and I was anxious to try it), lemon juice, and Sprite. Raise your glass to celebrate mother nature and

Green Machine & Vodka
From PartySugar

1 1/2 oz vodka (I recommend Level for its undeniable smoothness)
1 oz Naked Juice's Green Machine
1 oz Sprite
juice of half of a lemon

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
Combine all of the ingredients in the cocktail shaker.
Shake and strain into a tumbler filled with ice.
Enjoy!

Serves 1.

Print recipe with images | without images

I'm Asking: What Do You Think of the ING Direct Cafes?

Emily Co — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:10:32 PDT

I'm a huge fan of ING Direct, and I just discovered that my favorite online bank will be opening a cafe near me in San Francisco later this year! It'll be the eighth ING cafe in the nation and the first one in the Bay Area. I find the concept of drinking coffee and eating at a place where I do my banking pretty novel, but it seems like Yelp users give it a thumbs up. According to reviews, people are really digging the cafes because of the cheap food and drinks. Not to mention, you can also get a free hour of WiFi. Here are some of the Yelp reviews for a Chicago branch:

"This morning, I fell in love. Running late for work and needing a bagel and drink, I stopped in here because it's right by work and there was no line. A peek in the pastry department assured me that I'd get my Everything bagel! Yay! I also spotted the Naked container and picked one out [Power C]. Up to the front I'm told my total . . . $4. Yep, FOUR DOLLARS. For a bagel WITH cream cheese and a Naked juice. No tax." - Nina L.
"I'm a sucker for a deal, so I have two ING mugs, because you get your drinks half off every time you use them. Half off an already cheap drink?! I can't pass that up . . . " - Lora S.

I just Google-mapped the location, and it turns out the cafe is just around the corner from my office. Is this a heaven-sent sign? I'm thinking this cafe might just become my new go-to coffee spot! In addition to the affordable prices, you can even attend some of the informational events like talks on how to save money when socializing or how to teach kids about money. Not to mention, attendees at these free events will be provided with refreshments. Alright, I know I'm just going on about the good stuff - I gleaned from reading the more negative Yelp reviews that the biggest downsides to the cafes are the glaring orange color and the blatant branding all over the cafe. I can totally see how that can get a little distracting.

If you're a freebie lover, you might be happy to know that first-time customers will get a complimentary free cup of joe! To get going on this, check out this list of cafe locations. So what's your opinion - what do you think of the ING Direct cafes?

Souce: Flickr User madmarv00

Healthy Dose Link Time

FitSugar — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 10:40:59 PDT

90210 "Blue Naomi": Most Scandalous Moments

Lauren Bradshaw — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 23:31:13 PST

Did 90210 have you fooled? This week, the writers kept a few tricks up their sleeves with plot points that I didn't necessarily see coming - even though one of the night's big reveals was totally recycled from season two! Is the show really running out of storylines already?

Emily's putting the moves on Liam, and the guy is actually reciprocating. She also has apparently won over all of Annie's friends, so Annie is left out once again. But Annie's not the only one licking the wounds of rejection. Naomi continues to woo Max with her usual tactics (trench coats and lingerie), but the cute nerd isn't having it. Ivy also gets thrown for a loop when her new guy Raj reveals a shocking secret. All that plus, Snoop Dogg! Let's recap the night's biggest jaw-dropping surprises when you

Naomi pulls the ultimate romantic gesture: she dresses like a Na'vi. There is nothing Naomi won't do to prove a point. In this case, she refuses to believe that new crush Max isn't attracted to her, even after he calls her stuck up and shallow. After multiple attempts involving school girl outfits and trench coats, she decides to get inside his geeky mind by painting herself blue and meeting him at a screening of Avatar. Max's friends have a field day poking fun of Naomi's outfit, so when she storms out hurt, Max runs after her to make her feel better. They share a kiss and agree to keep their little flirtation top secret (hmm, remind you of another TV couple?).
Emily gets a taste of her own medicine. Ding-dong, the witch is dead! Okay, she's not dead, but Emily is shown the door, which is enough for me. Everything seems to be going her way for the majority of the episode; Liam dumps Annie and agrees to go on a date with Emily, plus she gets friendly with Silver, Adrianna, and Naomi. But things are going a little too smoothly. When Emily invites Liam in after their night out, he gets her to spew nasty remarks about the girls, and surprise - they're in the next room. Emily's caught red-handed thanks to Annie and Liam's scheme, and she packs her bags to return home. Here's hoping this is the last we see of her.
Ivy is going from burnout to dropout. Ivy's grades are slipping seeing as how she's always stoned at school. But you know it's really bad when even her new pothead boyfriend Raj thinks she needs to rein it in. He tells her to cut it out, which she just shrugs off until he really gives her a buzzkill: Raj reveals that he smokes because of his chemo . . . for leukemia. . . and he only has a handful of years to live. Wow, I did not see that coming. And just when I was getting to really like the guy.
Dixon signs Snoop Dogg as a new client. Navid continues to bring high caliber talent to Shirazi Studios. He and Dixon decide to officially acknowledge their partnership (in other words, Dixon gets a paycheck). Dixon's first order of business: take Navid's car to the wash. There he bumps into Snoop Dogg, and after fawning over the rapper (and singing some "Gin and Juice"), Dixon gets invited to take a drive with his idol. As a result of their chance meeting, he locks in yet another deal for the production company, but not before Navid yells at him for disappearing for the day. I don't know how this boss-employee partnership is going to work out between the two friends, but how many more guest star cameos do you think will show up?
Silver's naked all over school again. Honestly, you would think after Silver's sex tape, a text of her topless wouldn't be such a big to-do. Adrianna pushes Silver into admitting that she's cheating on Navid by convincing the girls that she thinks Lila is the culprit. Adrianna snaps a photo of Lila in the girls' locker room without a shirt on, but when she goes to hit send, Silver admits the truth to save Lila from embarrassment. Unfortunately, it doesn't save Silver. Adrianna immediately sends a photo of Silver topless, which would be a big deal - if we hadn't already seen this happen before to Annie.

Did you know Liam was out to get Emily all along? Were you surprised by Raj's reveal? Sound off below or check out the 90210 Superfans group in the community!

Photo courtesy of The CW