Knorr’s Poké Bowl with ‘loads of vegetables’ is extremely misleading

Foodwatch awards the Golden Wind Egg every year to a product that is enormously misleading. And Knorr’s World Dish Poké Bowl, inspired by Honolulu, is in the running for the trophy for the most misleading product of 2021.

Every consumer has the right to healthy, safe and honest food. But many producers take that with a pinch of salt and use hidden messages or misleading marketing tricks to convince consumers. As an independent food watchdog, foodwatch exposes abuses. Take Knorr’s Poké Bowl, for example..

Loads of vegetables?

With Knorr’s World Dish Poké Bowl, inspired by Honolulu, you have all the flavorings and the recipe for a nutritious Poké Bowl with loads of vegetables on the table, according to Knorr. But the only vegetable actually included in the package is 5% red bell pepper. In the topping mix.

Knorr does indeed flaunt a beautiful picture of a healthy Poké Bowl and an appealing mission to eat more vegetables and less meat: ‘We do that for ourselves and for our planet. Knorr helps you do so by inspiring you to make eating vegetables easier and more flavorful. Because a little more vegetables on your plate makes a world of difference!’, says Knorr.

Hot air at a high price

But when you turn the package around, you are in for a disappointment. Because apart from the 5% red bell pepper in the topping mix, you still have to add the rest of the vegetables yourself. When you open the package, you are also in for a disappointment; the size of the packaging gives the impression that the box is packed with healthy ingredients. But it is air, says Michiel Korthals, professor at the Italian University of Gastronomic Sciences, in AD. ‘It is hot air at a high price.’ The only things you find in the meal package are the sushi rice, the sauce mix and the topping mix. Knorr draws its inspiration mainly from marketing tricks, rather than from ‘Honolulu’.

Foodwatch director Nicole van Gemert is also not enthusiastic about what is actually in it. ‘Not wine vinegar but wine vinegar flavoring, soy sauce powder instead of soy sauce, and the lemon is also in powder form.’ With far too much salt, Korthals emphasizes. ‘This is a hastily cobbled-together product without any health benefits. Knorr wants to capitalize on the Poké Bowl trend in the cheapest way possible.’

Well, complaints about Knorr’s World Dishes are hardly a new phenomenon.

Vegetable and fruit gummies

Also in the running for the Golden Wind Egg: the ‘responsible’ vegetable and fruit gummies that Nicolette van Dam recommends eating 6 times a week. Healthy? Not really—the gummies contain just as much sugar as Haribo Goldbears…

‘Recyclable prawn cracker bags’

Then there is Conimex. The brand proudly displays ‘Recyclable packaging’ on its prawn cracker bags. And it does not stop there: the website now also features a major story about recycling and ‘the road to sustainability’. But the fact that it is separated does not mean that it is actually recycled. The chance of incineration is just as great. Instead of recycling the prawn cracker bags, Conimex is mainly recycling other people’s work. And there is not much sustainable about that.

Golden Wind Egg 2021: cast your vote

This is the 11th time that the Golden Wind Egg has been awarded to the most misleading food product. Last year, more than ten thousand consumers cast their vote, and the ‘honor’ went to Nutella Cups. Cast your vote this year too (again), because the more deception is exposed, the more honest, sustainable and healthy the products in supermarkets become. I’m torn between Knorr and the vegetable and fruit gummies. Which product are you going to vote for?

In December, foodwatch will announce the winner of the Golden Wind Egg 2021.

Also read:

• You’re being conned by your breakfast: whole grain isn’t whole grain at all
• Complaining elevated to an art form: those spareribs are far too spicy, I want my money back
• 19 times we were seriously fooled by misleading packaging