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Of all the dubious food products that make their way through Globe Life's offices, these "thin," 100-calorie bagels from Dempster's take the award for the most despicable of 2012 (so far).
"The remarkably thin bagels that let you enjoy the great taste of your favourite bagel without feeling too full," Dempster's says of the creations, which are perfectly round and about as tall as a bread slice.
More accurately, they're an insult to bagel lovers (I'm fairly sure that nobody's favourite bagel tastes like sawdust, bird seed and despair) and to dieters everywhere. Are people really so lacking in self-control that they can't simply eat just half a bagel?
Oh … right, of course they are.
As a blogger on the Canadian Living website enthused about the bagel thins, "If you can't stop eating bagels, there is new hope."
Portion-control products are a rare bright spot for grocers lately. Nestlé sells half-sized Coffee Crisps, After Eights, Aero bars and Kit Kats (though they haven't made clear if you get the Kit or the Kat) that they promote as "singles." There are also portion controlled (although most manufacturers don't use that phrase) ice cream, cakes, cookies and peanut-butter granola thins, too.
For what it's worth, there is some evidence that bagels have grown in size in the last few decades. As a story in the Los Angles Times put it, "Twenty years ago, an average-sized bagel was three inches in diameter and had 140 calories, according to figures from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Now it's six inches across and packs about 350 calories."
But if that's the case (and I'm not certain it is – I have yet to see a six-inch bagel) wouldn't it make sense for dieters to learn to recognize portion sizes and make smart choices, rather than being tied to mass-market convenience foods that cost about twice as much by weight as regular ones?
At St. Urbain Bagels, excellent Montreal-style bagel shop (the bagels are boiled, then fired in a brick oven) in Toronto's St. Lawrence Market, it costs $4.25 for six bagels, compared with $3.79 on average for the Dempster's ones. That's more money, perhaps, but not once you consider that the St. Urbain ones are about three times bigger (not to mention inordinately more flavourful).
And the thin bagels beg another question. What's to stop someone from just eating a second after they the finish the first and don't feel satisfied?
Right. I almost forgot.
The taste.
So, 100-calorie bagels: a smart idea or just ridiculous?