Smart Ones Frozen Meals: Not All That Smart, Actually

Jenna sat down to eat her Smart Ones frozen entree, a vegetable-loaded lasagna, when she found that she’d just been served a big, steaming bowl of confusion. Eating frozen dinners is supposed to simplify meal planning when you’re trying to lose weight, but the package manages to contradict itself regarding the meal’s nutritional content. A simple enough graphic design error, sure, but it indicates a worrisome lack of attention to detail.

Jenna writes:

I was getting ready to sit down and enjoy a sensible meal until I read the nutritional information on the box of my Lasagna Florentine Smart Ones Weight Watchers Meal.

The back of the box on the right clearly states same great taste, different points value. It says there are still 290 calories and 6 grams of fat in this meal.

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If you look to the left, the nutritional label states that there is in fact 310 calories and 11(!) grams of fat. That may not seem like a big difference but to a person who is struggling to lose weight, it means the world.

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Here’s the whole back of the box:

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Weight Watchers is supposed to simplify calorie-counting, not leave you confused. (Heinz licenses the Weight Watchers name for Smart Pnes products.) Jenna called the number on the box, only to discover that everyone at Team Smart Ones was out for the day. The actual nutrition information is most likely that printed in the white “nutrition information” box. But when you eat enough of these frozen dinners, a discrepancy of 20 calories and 3 grams of fat ads up.

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