Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Auntie Anne's Pretzels


Appears Clean



Auntie Anne's pretzels can be found at malls and airports. My kids love them. We do their plain soft pretzels with salt and butter or the cinnamon sugar ones. We also get their lemonade sometimes. The lemonade has corn syrup though. I would not be comfortable with any of their other menu choices.

Auntie Anne's used to be listed in Feingold's fast food guide but mysteriously disappeared from the guide a few years ago. Not sure why. I e-mailed Auntie Anne's and below was their response. 

I also have a recipe for homemade Auntie Anne pretzels. They taste just like the real thing but better (and cheaper). :) We freeze the leftovers. Haven't made them in a while since we went GFCF. My oldest son has been asking for them though. 



Company Response:

"In response to your question and concern, Auntie Anne’s pretzels do not contain any artificial flavors or preservatives; however, many of the toppings and dips applied to our pretzels, do contain artificial flavors and preservatives. The following pretzels would not contain any artificial flavors and preservatives: Original, Cinnamon Sugar, Garlic, Jalapeno, Sesame Seed, and the At Home Baking Kit. Also, the following dips would not contain any artificial flavors or preservatives: Plain Cream Cheese and Sweet Mustard.

In response to your question and concern, Auntie Anne’s pretzels do not contain artificial colors; however, many of the Lemonade/Frozen Lemonade Mixer products, the Cheese Sauce, and Hot Salsa Cheese Sauce contain artificial colors.

In response to your other questions, the regular lemonade does not contain any artificial colors and the butter we use is just clarified butter, no artificial colors or preservatives.



In response to your question and concern, products served at Auntie Anne's stores that contain corn syrup include the following: Caramel Dip, Heated Cheese, Cheese Sauce, Hot Salsa Cheese Sauce, all Shake and Latte products, Lemonade/Frozen Lemonade Mixers, and Coke products.  

The pan spray that we use on our dough bowls and rolling counters does not contain the preservatives you mentioned below, but our Pepperoni Pretzel products do contain BHT and BHA.

For specific allergen questions related to Auntie Anne’s products please contact Customer Service at 1-877-778-9588 or e-mail us at nutrition@auntieannesinc.com."

And as a side note, I saw the founder, Anne Beiler on the show, "Secret Millionaire." She is an ex-Amish. This is probably why we see such simple, real ingredients in the original soft pretzels and not the typical slew of chemicals. She left the Amish to marry her non-Amish husband. In 1988, she started Auntie Anne's pretzels selling her original soft pretzels and lemonade in a booth at a local farmer's market which soon led to franchising. She then sold the company in 2005. 



4 comments:

  1. In my humble opinion, this line of thinking is quite skewed to the common American perspective... and that is dangerous. Specifically, when people can look at a pretzel and consider it anything beyond garbage (for lack of a better term), there is a misunderstanding at the core.

    Of course a snack is a snack, sure... but if you are dealing with children, it may be wiser to raise them on a conscious, whole food perspective.

    Lets briefly analyze the key components to a pretzel and why they are no good for you, and surely worthless for children. And this goes for all things like "organic" cheerios, cereals, breads, etc. They are all processed grains, devoid of the nutritious parcel of the actual grain. They Are Processed. They Are Simplified. There is nothing of value here, hollow calories.

    These types of packaged, processed carbohydrates will spike your insulin levels, slowing metabolism. There's an entire metabolic process that gets severely stunted due to processed carbs.

    If this is about eating healthy, and raising a family on conscious food choices-- the simple guiding principle should be 1) seek whole foods, 2) avoid processed/simplified carbs, 3) avoid packaged foods when possible.

    Types of snacks like this will not leave us satisfied specifically because they are devoid of protein, fats, and nutrients. When our bodies receive proper protein, fat, and nutrients we will feel 'satisfied'. However, snacking on nutrition-void foods will see you 'feeling' hungry very shortly after--even if your body did receive 500 calories-- because your body did not receive the nutrients it really wants.

    Side by side test (well, not side by side, but you know): 1 pretzel from Annies, and 1 apple with peanut butter. See which one keeps you feeling full/satisfied longer.

    I hope this helps. My best regards. =]
    -Lee

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  2. Hi Lee. I agree with you. I'm not sure where you got the assumption that I only feed my kids processed "garbage." Our family does the Feingold Diet, so we avoid dyes, artificial flavors, and certain preservatives in our processed foods. We do try to eat whole foods as much as possible but when we are at an airport or mall, I let my son get an Auntie Anne's soft pretzel as a treat. All things in moderation.

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