A hearty, spicy roll drizzled with sweet frosting

I took the silica gel's advice.

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TooGoodToCheck

Looks like you didn’t miss much. Aesthetics aside, that is the smallest cinnamon bun I’ve ever seen.
- Mister44
  
  It’s Nutri-System. Portion control is a huge part of their weight loss system.
  - SomeGuyNamedMark
    
    Looks like appetite suppression is part of their system too
- http://greggman.com greggman
  
  Spoken like a another fat American (of which I am one)
  
  Lots of places in the world have more reasonable sizes. Small than that one.
  - GrumpySteen
    
    That’s not a snack or dessert, that’s the entire meal and it’s only 1.8 ounces. Where in the world is less 1.8 ounces considered a reasonable size for a meal?
http://twitter.com/dargaud Guillaume Dargaud

What is so hard in walking to the nearest bakery and getting it there, not made 6 months ago ?!? Unless you are on the space station or something.
- http://twitter.com/MartianEmpress Rezeya Montecore
  
  Or have allergies. Or other special dietary needs. Or are on an airplane. Or live in one of the many, many, many places in the US where there are no local bakeries because the Wal-Mart’s eaten them all. Or are traveling, have no clue where the local bakery is, and don’t really want to exit the freeway to get there. Or are hungry right now. Or have a health condition that may require you to have carbs on hand. Or any number of other ways you couldn’t give people the benefit of the doubt. :(
  - SomeGuyNamedMark
    
    So he has a health condition that requires eating only old rolls due to allergies, while on a plane, that flies to Wal-Mart locations in non-urban areas and is avoiding highway exits. Plus he is hungry right now and must raid the Nutri-System stash!
    - RJ
      
      That does sound pretty crazy when you put it that way. Every flight I’ve ever taken would end up on a highway exit ramp at some point.
- sockdoll
  
  According to the packaging it is an example of Nutrisystem’s prepackaged food for their weight loss program. People on the plan have to buy the specially formulated and portioned foods and eat them according to schedule. It apparently aids in weight loss by killing one’s appetite.
ROSSINDETROIT

The actual roll looks nothing like the picture on the wrapper. It’s like deceptive advertising or something. Is that possible?
- Robert
  
  Nah, it says “serving suggestion” in small print to the lower right of the muffin. They suggest you scrape off the topping, add one of your own, and then put a couple raspberries next to it.
  - http://boingboing.net/ Rob Beschizza
    
    WHERE ARE MY FUCKING RASPBERRIES was a candidate headline.
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      If more than half the audience understands the headline on first pass, you’ve failed. We have no business coddling the reader. This one’s a winner.
  - SomeGuyNamedMark
    
    “Serving suggestion, throw this roll out and eat something good.”
- Scott Croom
  
  Actually, the roll and the icing are all very much NutriSystem items that you get in the package. However, and this is a big however, it is not delivered with the icing already on and they have literally a ton of rolls to choose the ideal “representative” product. It’s actually pretty standard work for a food dresser and food photographer. They have a TON of tricks they can use even before the limited Photoshop work.
  It’s also perfectly and totally legal.
joeposts

Do Not Eat brand flavour package, interesting.
RichG2012

Although, if you want to go into business making “Edible Silica Gel” – thus packing new suitcases with a tasty treat for the recipient – I think it could catch on – give me a call.
- waetherman
  
  “Do Not Eat” – how disappointing. Is it a desiccan or a desiccant!
Work_Watch_Buy_Repeat

If it has an “ingredients” label, it’s not real food. It’s processed metabolic entertainment, optimized for psychological addictiveness rather than nutrition. It’s someone trying to make a buck by slowly killing you.

Eat real food. Not plastic packets of “consumer chow”.
- Glen Able
  
  but it has the word “Nutrisystem” on the packet, in a reassuringly sciencey sort of font. I, for one, am convinced that this product has been engineered by some of our planet’s finest nutritionologists.
- Tess
  
  Plenty of real foods have ingredients labels. Otherwise I agree with you.
  
  I have no problem with the fact that there are lists of ingredients on things like yogurt and bread. I just prefer the ingredients to all be food.
  - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
    
    Bread and yogurt are both processed foods. FYI.
    - http://profile.yahoo.com/P5KAZH4MML3KDELJFK4734VFHY Sasquatch
      
      Which just goes to show you , processed foods aren’t inherently bad.
      - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
        
        That depends on the person consuming the food. But no, they aren’t all “bad”. I didn’t imply that, but maybe you were replying to the previous comment.
    - rhodian
      
      If we consider bread and yoghurt to be processed foods, and presumably also any other cooked, baked or otherwise interfered-with food (which is, after all, what processed literally means, I guess, to be fair) then cheese must also be a processed food. What on earth, then, is “processed cheese”?
      
      Could it be, perhaps, that in certain contexts words like “processed” take on special meanings which render “processed cheese” a non-tautological expression? I certainly know the difference between cheese and processed cheese.
      
      FYI.
      - timquinn
        
        what about refried beans then, huh?
      - Palomino
        
        what about biscotti, which is essentially a “twice baked cookie”?
      - rhodian
        
        lol, yes - @boingboing-7020b2c8a7fcf98937fced7a6028f188:disqus they haven’t actually been refried y’know!
        
        (why can I not reply to those messages?? odd…)
        
        @boingboing-82164bffe4ccc2dbd0163c9486f9e62a:disqus biscotti have actually been baked twice, so the use of “twice-baked” is perfectly sensible and not tautological at all.
        
        But fair play, we do say tautological stuff all the time. It wasn’t so much the core of the argument as the development of my thought. My point is rather than the “processed” in “processed food” is a different from the “process” in “any food product which has been through any process”. What is the difference? Heck, I dunno – nor do I have to. I merely observe that there is a difference. I haven’t done a comprehensive survey, but I nevertheless dare to assert that when most English speakers are talking about “processed food” they do not mean “freshly baked bread”. Perhaps they should, but they don’t.
      - Bangorian
        
        I consider the inclusion of an h in the word yogurt to be a form of unnecessary processing.
      - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
        
        cheese is a “processed food”. It is the mother of processed food. Curd is separated from whey and formed into a portable and sometimes preserved method of consuming milk. I love cheese.
- http://profiles.google.com/marc.k.mielke Marc Mielke
  
  Naturalistic fallacy. Just because its natural doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Nature wants nothing more than to kill every one of us, something I’m reminded of every time I walk out the door. And I live in one of the nicest places on earth.
  - ocker3
    
    Nature itself, or things that make up Nature? A Lion may be happy to kill a human and eat them, does that mean that Gaia herself told the Lion to do that? It’s a competitive system, the strong and wily survive, the others, less well.
    - Palomino
      
      Falling coconuts kill more humans that sharks…news at 11.
      
      http://www.unisci.com/stories/20022/0523024.htm
      - ocker3
        
        That is bloody hilarious!
  - Beanolini
    
    Nature wants nothing more than to kill every one of us
    
    It’s worse than that. Nature doesn’t give a shit. Nature doesn’t know or care that you exist. Nature will eventually and inevitably kill you without even noticing you were there.
    - ZikZak
      
      But simultaneously – and not to be overlooked – Nature will assist and benefit you constantly. It will give you freebies, it will bail you out when you have no other hope. It will take care of you and protect you with no demand for repayment.
      Nature is.
- Halloween_Jack
  
  If it has an “ingredients” label, it’s not real food.
  
  This is the sort of nonsensical twaddle that gives locavores, otherwise-sensible people, a bad name.
  - timquinn
    
    all ideologues are boring, at least.
- https://launchpad.net/~zak-mckracken Zak McKracken
  
  What type of food does _not_ have an ingredients label?
  
  Afaik, _everything_ that has ingredients must name them.
  So … fresh fruit and vegetables, raw meat, and … eggs?
  
  I’d like to know whether you can actually live on an “ingredient-free” diet, but I doubt it.
  Okay, so if you’re lucky, where you live, flour doesn’t have an ingredients label, so you might be able to bake your own bread, but what are you gonna put on it? Honey ? This is getting hard.
  
  Pro tip: If they sell you stuff at the bakery without a label, that label is still on display, at least in my part of the world. Because, you know, if they _have_ ingredients, they need to name them.
  - rhodian
    
    Dude! Seriously? Eggs from my neighbour’s chickens, potatoes and tomatoes from the garden, apples from trees, nettles from waste ground and mushrooms from the forest. Whole buncha food all over the place with no ingredients on it.
    - Just_Ok
      
      They do until you wash them.
  - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
    
    Haha, love this, complete bemusement at concept of food that doesn’t come in a package.
- PinkWithIndignation
  
  I know for a fact troll chow is made of the tears of the innocent preserved with citric acid, so this is a completely moot point, food troll.
Emo Pinata

You ordered a 150 calorie bun from the internet. Don’t be surprised it sucks.
- MB44
  
  He ordered a 150 calorie bun from the internet. Don’t be surprised if it is delicious.
  - http://twitter.com/chriscoreline chris coreline
    
    He ordered a 150 calorie bun from the internet. Don’t be surprised if it is actually a form of porn.
- http://benjscott.com thunderhammer
  
  Oh great, Captain Hindsight is here to save us!
Mr. Winka

There’s probably as much nutrition in the silica gel packet and packaging as their is in the food unit. Also, the non-food unit to food unit ratio is very high.
Dr David Alan Gilbert

Does cakewrecks.com have a section for prepackaged wrecks?
PhosPhorious

I would have eaten it. I’m not proud of that but. . . there it is.
- grs
  
  I literally laughed out loud at that. I appreciate your honesty and found the presentation hilarious. Kudos.
http://twitter.com/ccllyyddee User Signin

What is it made of? Processed wood fiber, petroleum derived flavors, and chlorine blasted sugar product? The silica gel is probably better for you. Either that or go out and chew on the bark of a tree. The maples are slightly sweet.
- Just_Ok
  
  Leave the maples alone!!!! The Vermont Sugar Maples, for example, are very disturbed by global warming and are moving north.
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1515015318 Missy Pants
    
    They can join their cousins in Quebec! We welcome all fleeing Vermont Sugar Maples and offer all clemency and citizenship!
    - Just_Ok
      
      Mais les arbres ne peuvent pas parler français
CLamb

Why is there a silica gel packet in with the pastry? I would expect that it is desirable to keep the pastry moist–not dry.
- Glen Able
  
  I’m guessing it’s designed to have a shelf-life of 10,000 years. Any moisture would allow some kind of extremophile bacteria to survive and breed in there.
- http://profile.yahoo.com/MK2IG73YSGPKJCWALJQ7TAYIAE Andy
  
  it actually indicates a lack of preservatives. The silica gel is there to absorb moisture – if there were preservatives, it wouldn’t matter if moisture was present or not.
  - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
    
    There are preservatives in that. Trust! Don’t let the silica fool you. The shelf life on Nutrisystem is incredible.
- joeposts
  
  Simple – it’s not meant for carbon-based lifeforms. Rigellia XII’s denizens buy these by the caseload and wonder why there’s a bunch of inedible carbon and glucose.
- twency
  
  It might not actually be silica gel. I can’t read the label. It could be an oxygen absorber.
David Pescovitz

I might add that silica gel is also a common “ingredient” in beef jerky packs.
- Mark Dow
  
  And they look and taste nothing like the cowboys on the packaging. I ate them anyway.
Aunt Babe

ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, SUGAR, INULIN, WHEAT GLUTEN, DEFATTED SOY FLOUR, RAISIN PASTE, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: EGG, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED PALM KERNEL AND PALM OILS, MALTITOL, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, ARTIFICIAL COLOR (TITANIUM DIOXIDE), NONFAT DRY MILK, SOY
LECITHIN, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS,
PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID, SULFITE, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE), PALM OIL, GLYCEROL,CINNAMON, ENZYMES, CORN FIBER, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, SODIUM CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE, SUCRALOSE, SALT, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE), HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, WHEAT STARCH. CONTAINS EGG, MILK, SOY AND WHEAT.

Yummy!!!
- http://twitter.com/MartianEmpress Rezeya Montecore
  
  The ironic thing is, beyond the long scary names and frightening capital letters, none of these except for the hydrogenated oils are really disturbing or dangerous in the slightest. It may not taste as good as a “real” cinnamon bun from Le Pretense, hand-knitted from wheat grown in the patissier’s own ears and ethically sourced Bolivian spider honey but I don’t think you’re going to notice a whole lot of health difference as long as you’re observing the principle of “Don’t eat cinnamon buns every day of your life, schmuck.”
  - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
    
    GMO Soybean oil, cellulose (made from wood), inulin (more wood), soy flour (more GMO soy), artificial flavors, corn fiber (ground up corn cobs), potassium sorbate (preservative), hydrogenated oils (trans fats), titanium dioxide (paint or sunscreen)…
    
    Yeah…no thanks. Maybe your not picky. Great! Not me. I won’t eat that. It doesn’t taste good, it’s not good for you. It lacks nutrition and is chock full of stuff I don’t want in my body.
    
    Having treats once in a while is a completely different topic.
    - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=517074855 Alecks Kim
      
      Tell me, in scientific, non-BS terms, how this product is anymore deficient in nutrients than a fresh-baked, 100% non-GMO organic roll is. I’m assuming you mean micronutrients because, except for its fiber content, the vast majority of its mass is water and macronutrients. In any case, any fat-drenched, refined sugar-heavy, flour-based concoction that comes out of a patisserie is a chemistry experiment that *I* sure as hell don’t want in *my* body.
      - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
        
        You’re missing out.
      - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
        
        I didn’t say that. I said I *don’t want to eat whats in it!* !!! Jesus. The rest of you can have at it. BTW, I don’t make a habit of eating baked goods. It doesn’t matter if they are organic. It’s not really good for anyone to eat on a regular basis.
    - twency
      
      Corn fiber is not made from ground up corn cobs. Hydrogenated oils are saturated fats, not trans fats (you’re thinking of partially hydrogenated oils). What makes you think the soy is GMO?
      - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
        
        Scary genetically modified soy!
        
        Does GM mean bad at the moment in the US? I mean I’m all for organic, but pretty much every vegetable we eat has been genetically modified at some point. This isn’t a crowd I expected to be scared of the science boogeyman.
        
        Also, no one cares about the use if palm oil, purely on ethical grounds?
      - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
        
        Most of the Soy used in the USA is GMO. Non-gmo soy is expensive and moderately rare.
    - EvilSpirit
      
      You know what else is made of cellulose, other than wood? Every damn cell wall in every other plant on the planet.
      
      So, are you telling me that you’re somehow maintaining a plant-free diet in order to avoid the demon cellulose?
    - Christian Ridley
      
      Cellulose….uh oh, scary!
      
      Ever eaten a vegetable? You know cellulose is the most common organic molecule in the world, right?
      
      No? Thought not. Learn something.
      - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
        
        Oh my god. That’s the revelation of my life, thank you genius commenter. This is in regards to cellulose in the context of food ingredients. Not the whole of biology.
    - http://twitter.com/MartianEmpress Rezeya Montecore
      
      It just strikes me as perhaps naive to argue something is dangerous because it has a scary-sounding name, scary-sounding source, or scary-sounding uses, when it’s demonstrably not that harmful in moderation. (e.g., The corn fiber bit is IMHO ridiculous, unless there’s some grotesque health hazard here I’m ignorant of. Are you one of those people who freaks out over carrageenan because it sounds funny too? Marketers love that attitude, it helps them immensely. :( )
      
      The GMO stuff, I will at least admit the jury’s out, though I think statistically clear it’s not causing health problems for most already healthy people and… come on, I already *granted* you the trans fats (i.e. hydrogenated oils) are not so good. Those do distress me, because they’re unnecessary, the evidence *is* good they’re very harmful, and the labeling around them is full of loopholes.
      
      But I’m sorry. I used to work with a vegan health fanatic who fretted at me just like this for years, and none of his assertions ever convinced me after I did the research. These issues are not the cut-and-dried things you say, and while I’ll hardly blame you for being cautious, treating this only modestly unwholesome pastry like utter non-food is kinda silly.
      
      I’ll agree with you that it’s not good for you, but dammit, neither is the aforementioned $14 “wholesome” bun from some yuppie locavore health food store, and you presented no reason to think it’s that much better, which was my whole point. Food science is not in itself evil; substances with >10 letter names are not inherently harmful.
      
      There’s just a whole lot of [citation needed] in your comment.
      
      [Edit: For instance, everything I can find on titanium dioxide toxicity, from anything besides direct inhalation of particles, looks totally speculative. Care to back that one up?]
      - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
        
        I never said it was “dangerous” ! I said “I DON’T WANT TO EAT IT!”. You are having a lengthy argument with yourself.
  - http://soundcloud.com/pocketsquare grumble-bum
    
    I’m pretty committed to the “eat closer to home, with real-er foods” thing, but…
    
    “Bolivian spider honey” is a damned good fun-poking. I’ll be adding it to my self-deprecation arsenal.
- http://thebrainpolice.blogspot.com microdot
  
  thank you…why eat processed overpriced convenience crap when it is so easy to eat real food? I will never eat this shit, you can’t make me….I’m not an elitist, I’m simply happy….stick yo head in the microwave if you think my comment is offensive…..
- Ipo
  
  Contains sun blocker. Titanium dioxide.
  - rodeo
    
    In other words, white paint.
    - timquinn
      
      no, white pigment.
  - jwkrk
    
    Same thing that makes Oreo cookie stuffing white and skim milk appear richer. Interestingly, I believe that Titanium Dioxide doesn’t even have to be on the label because it passes through the body unaltered (info from a seminar I attended on paint). So props to them for being so up front about the ingredients.
    - atimoshenko
      
      Same thing that makes Oreo cookie stuffing white…it passes through the body unaltered
      
      So if one were to eat a sufficient quantity of Oreo cookie stuffing…
      - Antinous / Moderator
        
        Yes, you could shit rainbows.
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=517074855 Alecks Kim
    
    I assume you don’t use toothpaste or take opaque pills.
    - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
      
      Good thing people read labels nowadays. My toothpaste doesn’t contain titanium dioxide. There are choices.
      - EvilSpirit
        
        You still haven’t explained how the stuff is actually bad for you.
      - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
        
        People said that about lead. And asbestos.
        
        If you don’t need it and it’s made in a lab, it’s generally best to avoid it. Aluminium in deodorant anyone?
        
        I love oreos, btw, but that doesn’t change the principle.
      - Beanolini
        
        If you don’t need it and it’s made in a lab, it’s generally best to avoid it
        
        Titanium dioxide isn’t made in a lab, it’s dug up out of the ground.
        
        Aluminium in deodorant anyone?
        
        Not sure what your point is. Alum deodorants contain aluminium, and have a very long tradition. Alternatively, you don’t need deodorants, and they’re made in a lab.
    - Ipo
      
      I don’t use sunscreen made with lead white.
      Although it tastes better. Slightly sweet.
- Culturedropout
  
  I think I had that same chemistry set when I was growing up…
atimoshenko

Google says that Nutrisystem is a weight loss brand. I guess their method is to make looking enough to lose appetite.
- jwkrk
  
  Another approach is to replace the light bulb in your refrigerator with a blue colored bulb. It makes the food look less appetizing and can help some people cut down.
http://profiles.google.com/stephen.schenck Stephen Schenck

Food elitism is really annoying.

Is this a cage-free, farm-fresh, gourmand treat? No. Is it perfectly edible, safe, and part of a system desperately unhappy people are using to try regaining control over their bodies? Looks like it.

It must be easy to pick fresh fruit from the passing trees when you’re up on a high horse.
- atimoshenko
  
  Wouldn’t it make sense to have the volume of frosting be more like that shown on the picture though? I think it’s the apparent 1:1 bun-to-frosting ratio that is putting most people off here.
  
  Looking at the tone of and offerings on the website, I’m also dubious about just how much “regaining control over their bodies” the company actually allows “desperately unhappy people”. It’s all footnotes and not-actually-free freebies. “Exploitation” might be a more apt term.
  - http://profiles.google.com/stephen.schenck Stephen Schenck
    
    Really? Because the comments here are all about implying there’s something untoward about all those “ingredients” the package dare list, or the smart inclusion of a silica packet. I see sparse mention of the frosting.
    
    Oh, I’m not saying Nutrisystem is a GOOD system for losing weight, but it is what it is.
    - atimoshenko
      
      I think of it this way: delicious, nutritious, and cheap are three important characteristics of food. Hitting all three typically requires the presence of a good cook in the family (and maybe living in the countryside). Hitting two is typically straightforward and frequently encountered. Junk food is delicious and cheap, a nice restaurant or home assembled (i.e. simpler than home cooked) meal is delicious and nutritious, and something basic is nutritious and cheap. Because hitting two is relatively straightforward, hitting one will tend to elicit some criticism. Whether it is just delicious (e.g. molecular gastronomy at exorbitant prices), just nutritious (e.g. a stomach-turning health shake), or just cheap (this frosting-slathered, infinite shelf-life excuse for a cinnamon bun).
      - Antinous / Moderator
        
        The idea that junk food is delicious is sort of like the idea that meth makes you peppy.
      - http://profiles.google.com/stephen.schenck Stephen Schenck
        
        Antinous, I’m not sure where this ‘tude of yours is coming from, but it’s not helping you make your case any.
        
        Some people enjoy certain foods more than others. You may group all “junk” food into the non-delicious category, but it’s a big world out there with lots of opinions. Realize that people differ.
        
        And maybe I’m just totally misreading you, because you seem to be implying that you believe junk food to not be delicious, but methamphetamine ABSOLUTELY makes users peppy, so I’m a bit confused.
      - Antinous / Moderator
        
        Junk food is revolting. Claiming that it’s delicious sounds like a crackhead saying that he smokes because it’s fun, not because he’s addicted.
- Seraphim_72
  
  ” It must be easy to pick fresh fruit from the passing trees when you’re up on a high horse.”
  
  Actually it is a ladder, I can see how the four ‘feet’ through you off though. And yeah, if you use a ladder, your hands, your knees, etc to pick your food, it might actually be better for you.
  
  “Food elitism is really annoying.” Then why are you doing it?
  - http://mike71.pip.verisignlabs.com/ Mike
    
    When I was 8 year old one of my favourite hobbies was to pick wild cherries in the woods, climbing barefoot on cherry trees. Really a posh thing to do.
    What about picking figs with a tin can tied with a corn stem?
  - jackbird
    
    So when there’s 2 feet of snow on the ground you subsist on the root vegetables in your cellar and whatever you canned last summer, hoping the rats don’t get your flour and the shortening holds up till spring?
- http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
  
  Why is it annoying? You can still eat all the crap you want. No one is stopping you. Why does it bother you that some folks have higher standards? Stop taking it personally, no one cares.
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=718945058 Kirsten Spitzner
    
    Sounds like you do. I’ve never seen so much butt hurt in my life outside of conversations concerning child rearing and food choices. I’ve seen several replies from you and you’re all “stop taking it personally, no one cares”? Christ on a nutrisystem cracker.
  - http://www.fatjerry.com Dimmer
    
    Well, maybe because we have a few folks left on the planet who are starving to death, and they could be fed but for our fads. And over-consumption of meat of course.
    
    There’s nothing bad about hybrid foods: grow better; grow more abundantly; resist critters; last longer; rape less soil; require less infrastructure…
    
    But as long as we can have our vanity foods then FTW eh?
    - http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
      
      Yeah, I will take the blame for that. I try to eat organic when I can. I am a major asshole.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  You might want to examine your own diet, because something seems to be making your spleen swell.
- Peppermint
  
  I don’t see how preying on desperate people who are made so insecure about their body that they feel obligated to try every method under the sun to “lose those few extra pounds” is anything near a good thing…
  - http://www.facebook.com/shane.selman Shane Selman
    
    Not that I’m lining up for Nutri System, but I’m 6’2″, 250lbs, and I am *not* an athlete. If I lost 30-40 lbs, I would be much healthier and probably happier. We DO have a real weight problem in this country and the percent with a distorted body image is much much smaller than the percentage that really do need to shed some weight.
nixiebunny

If the Nutrisystem goal is to wean you off food by presenting this object as food, then they may well succeed.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Langford/12816097 Michael Langford

While some of Nutrisystem food is crap, that particular item tastes great once heated in a microwave. It’s all shelf stable, so resembles vending machine food a bit.

Cinnabun it is not, but it’s part of a breakfast you can have every day (you eat that with a fruit serving, such as strawberries or half a banana if I recall correctly

I found the breakfast food and lunch bars most appetizing, the lunch soups least appetizing (very bad cup o noodlesesque).

–

While I eventually stopped it, for someone who’s horrible at cooking (not me), and short on time, I think it’s a workable system.
- http://www.facebook.com/lharden1 Laura Harden
  
  You think so? People can get used to anything over time.
  - http://www.fatjerry.com Dimmer
    
    I see what Camus did there…
- http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
  
  Ever try eating a real cinnamon bun with breakfast? Probably save you money, and be twice as delicious, and equally void of any nutritional value.
http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

DO NOT EAT anything near me
Antinous / Moderator

Is Nutrisystem the one about which Graham Norton said it works just like bulimia, only bulimia tastes better?
- http://twitter.com/chriscoreline chris coreline
  
  holey fudge, Graham Norton actually said something i find funny. I must be loosing it.
blueelm

Lord Rob, if you are trying to lose weight hopefully this will work out for you, but if not, hope you find a way that includes more appetizing foods. That looks like a perfect combination of not filling and not pleasing, practically guaranteed to induce a mid-day binge.
Jake0748

Good thing they put that “serving suggestion” on the picture on the package. Otherwise Rob would have been all like, “hey, where’s teh two rasberries?” :D
Will Traxler

I would like to point out, you can eat anything and lose weight, it’s all about portion control and regular activity.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  That’s simplistic, and that “Professor of Nutrition” has a PhD in Exercise Physiology.
Culturedropout

When I decided to lose weight, I bought a used treadmill and started eating out of rice bowls in place of the garden-pond-sized bowls that came with our plates. That pretty much did it. Even if you go back for “seconds” you end up eating less. I used to live on vending machine food, too. These days, I’d as soon eat the wrapper as that ‘bun’.
dcorbett

I’ve always found the same disconnect between frozen pizza photos on the box and the final product. There should be some sort of ‘truth in advertising’ law against this!
RJ

Portion control IS a big part of healthy eating habits, but there’s so much more that has to happen before an unhealthy person can reach that point. Effective weight loss begins with an effective system. An effective system leads to tangible results. Results lead to a sense of accomplishment and self-control. Finally, self-control leads to the discipline needed to maintain better eating habits, which lead to better stress-coping habits, better exercise habits and so on. But it all starts with that system.

I can’t speak to Nutrisystem’s effectiveness (or lack thereof), but I can say that is one desperate-looking snack bun.
Peppermint

It took me about 10 seconds to realise that the thing inside the cardboard box and the picture of the cinnamon roll on the wrapping were actually related. I was puzzling at my screen, wondering what a moldy dog turd had in common with a cinnamon roll.
grs

Is it just me anthropomorphizing things, or is that bun actually frowning at you?
acidrain69

What does it look like after it’s heated? You know that stuff is supposed to melt, right?
Palomino

The only thing I see delicious in that photo is the glass of water and maybe a bite out of the granite counter:
Wikipedia:A worldwide average of the chemical composition of graniteSiO2 — 72.04% (silica)Al2O3 — 14.42% (alumina)K2O — 4.12%Na2O — 3.69%CaO — 1.82%FeO — 1.68%Fe2O3 — 1.22%MgO — 0.71%TiO2 — 0.30%P2O5 — 0.12%MnO — 0.05%
chgoliz

Eating a bun with icing for breakfast — whether from a Park Slope bakery or a vending machine in downtown L.A. — is not the way to lose (or maintain) weight.

Some protein and a piece of fruit (not juice) would provide much more energy without the mid-morning carb crash, for about the same amount of calories.
http://twitter.com/chriscoreline chris coreline

This comment thread contains:
100% RDA luls,
100% RDA witty snarking ,
60% RDA inspired trolling.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EP2SEPYCCZMRYIAERCXDLFIRWM AnthonyI

That’s not food.
stephenl123

I wouldn’t worry about the titanium dioxide. But potassium sorbate, sulfite, phosphate and acetate are not good for you.
mlw99

I’m reminded of Carl Sagan’s quote about how to make homemade apple pie from scratch. First, you need to create the universe . . .
- Quiche de Resistance
  
  if u want to…
sweetmel007

To everyone commenting about deception in advertising, please come out from under your rocks now and realize that NOTHING you see in advertising is real. NOT. ONE. THING (much like most of your facebook pages I’m sure).
Also, NutriSystem is a weight loss program and it’s there to help people, so lay off. If you’ve never struggled, than good for you. Not everyone has time to cook or prep food on their own. Not everyone can just exercise and watch what they eat and see results they want or need. Also, unless you are buying your food from a local farm, farmers market, bakery or local butcher, growing it yourself or slaughtering it yourself, you are most likely eating processed food.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Maybe the absence of self respect inherent in being willing to ingest this morsel is a bigger problem than any perceived weight problem.
  - tashencreb
    
    Maybe your absence of empathy for the people that need nutritional support is a smaller problem than your perceived know-it-all attitude. . . That is, unless we choose to open up this forum to cruel, baseless speculation. I don’t know you (and your burdens) / you do not know me. Neither one of us is likely equipped with the necessary magic powers to make blanket statements AND expect them to be the end-all, be-all.
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      I am being supportive. My support is to say, “Stop being so self-loathing about your weight that you’re reduced to eating this crap.”
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1515015318 Missy Pants

Back in 2008 (when we were all still on LJ instead of FB) my friend did a month long Nutrisystem trial. And would occasionally post updates on LJ. This is by far the best one:

http://elixxir.livejournal.com/479306.html

Nothing says yummy like freeze dried burger pucks rehydrated with hot water! Yum!

(She did lose about 11lbs on the diet, but also notes it was not worth the price.)