Misleading Labeling

If you saw this on the side of a scone mix, how many calories would you think was in a scone?

If you’re like me you thought, “Hey, 120 calories? That’s not bad.”

If you were buoyed by the reasonable calorie count, how long would it take you to realize this imagined scone would also have no fat? And yet, if you flip the box over, the instructions clearly call for butter, milk and an egg. All of which have varying degrees of lipids.

Is it just me or do you find the nutritional information misleading? If the manufacturer knows what the customer is going to add to the mix — and they even specify whole milk —  shouldn’t they calculate the nutritional data based on the final product? Unlike breakfast cereal, no one is going to eat this straight from the box. And yet cereal companies provide two sets of numbers for their flakes —  naked cereal AND a bowl soggy with 1/2 cup of 2% milk. Why can’t the scone makers do this math?

What further irks me is they look all above-board and helpful when they warn you the product might have come into contact with soy, milk, eggs, nuts, dairy and stray cats. But they can’t give you the calorie count of a scone prepared as per their own instructions?

Now, before you ask why I made scones from a mix, they were a very thoughtful gift from a friend. They had no artificial flavours or colours and were actually quite tasty.  Once I added butter, milk and an egg.

Did you see the catch right away or, like me, were you momentarily fooled into thinking these were low-cal treats? Is  half-baked (pun intended) nutritional information helpful or harmful? Or are there other sneaky label tricks that bug you more?

Grumble away. For your trouble, here’s my own scone recipe. I have no calorie count for any aspect of the recipe, but be warned. With  a 1/2 cup of butter, they’re not low-cal.