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Personally, I feel like it was an overreation to get so upset. A LOT of products can have traces of sugar and still be low carb. Ranch dressing, some brands of mayo, packets of Splenda have maltodextrin... To each their own, but I wouldn't worry so much about a trace here and there.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I guess i should have really thought about it before tossing it out. I was just so ticked off! I was never a big fan of 'natural' peanut butter, but at this point i can't be picky. I'd rather ditch the hydrogenated oils.

Gee, i wonder if i can still take the junk from the garbage and mail it back to the company with a complaint?

Does the company make anything that you would eat? It wouldn't take much energy to write them a letter, explaining everything (and mentioning that you do like x product). They might send a sample or coupon!

I can't hack the natural peanut butter. I've tried three brands<bleh> I'll take a trace of hydrogenated oil for the texture, and since I've cut the vast majority of them from my diet, I figure I won't drop dead from occasional peanut butter.

I would have tossed it, but that's because I do my best to do Atkins by the book (one exception-- I didn't cut out caffeine completely). Some people can cut corners and still lose, but I can't.

Stick to natural peanut butter and you'll never need to worry about anyone adding sugar or trans-fats.

checking out my bottle of carb options steak sauce...sucrose...sucrose....sucrose...nope, don't see sucrose. i see SUCRALOSE. that's splenda.

don't see corn syrup either!

I think you're smart to do so, SFMOM. Studies have shown that as little as 1 gram of transfat per day can cause problems.
I don't think that a small amount of corn syrup would cause a huge problem but if you are sensitive to sugar in any form it's wise to avoid that as well.

there isnt any sugar in the peanut butter either

That is the reason why I do not buy nor eat any of that processed stuff.

Sure you can. They might get the hint if you mail it back to them but before you do decide to do that do you really want to incure the mailing costs for sending it back?

Of course you could always peel the labels of the jars, mail them those with a letter and the offending substances circled on the label and tell them what you did with the stuff in the jars and how ticked off you were.

I think the point here is that companies are slapping "LC" on their labels and assume that none of us give a hoot about anything but the carb count. Trusting consumers we are, we assume that they'd give us a quality product that aligns itself with the concepts behind LCing.

And talk about reinventing the wheel. I can understand making an alternative ketchup or steak sauce, which is usually sweet. But Carb Options (I think that's the brand) Alfredo sauce? That cracks me up. They want $5 a jar for it.

Moral of the story: regarding trace sugars and hydrogenated fats, decide for yourself what you are and aren't willing to eat, then read labels and see if a product fits into that. Trust the greedy processed food companies about as far as you'd throw them and don't let them dictate what's "okay".

</rant>

Perhaps the ingredients are different if manufactured in the US. My version was made in Canada. The ingredients were in the middle of the ingredient description....corn syrup, modified cornstarch, sugar...blah.blah..blah..

Anyhow, time to let this thread die i think!

To be fair to the companies, they are bringing these products to market much much cheaper then current low carb products. Why, because they are using mass production and some common ingredients. They don't add sugar on purpose. They add worchester sauce to the steak sauce. Now, for the tiny bit they use do you really want them to come up with a whole new worchester sauce that drops the carbs by 0.1, but adds 25 cents per bottle? I don't. Since they used the comercial worchester sauce (and other base ingredients) they have to put the ingredients on the label.

The point is, there is 1.2 grams of carbs in the steak sauce. 1.1 would make no significant difference. You have to put the amount of an ingredient in perspective. Sugar itself is fine, lots of sugar sucks.

I certainly don't expect these companies to go to extremes, I want good tasting low carb products at a reasonable price. I want the prices to drop more in fact. I am sick of paying $8 dollars for a small bottle of barbeque sauce from other companies, I will use the $4 bottle of carb options.

brobin