[jled]

I just discovered this store- in Massapequa, New York. They have all this great diet stuff and the problem is I bought these amazing biscotti, and the bag says they have only 8 ( yes, thats eight) calories for 3 of them. They also only have 2 carbs per serving - the 3 biscotti. I bought them in 3 flavors- almond, chocolate , and coconut, and they are so good that I find it hard to believe that they have so few calories. If you ate the entire bag, it would only be 64 calories!!! The store has been open for years and years, so they should be reputable. The brand on the bag is the name of the store- Stay Slim. They sell lots of other products- cheesecake muffins and things like that. I just don't want to find out that they really have lots more calories as I eat them like crazy!!!! All the different bags say the same thing. They ingredients are wheat flour, egg whites and cocoa powder, with sugar being the last ingredient. Anyone else ever have them????

[Jennifer 3FC]

Hi there, I couldn't find anything on the internet about it. Where is the store located? (address) I have a friend in Long Island and I'll ask her to pick up a package and send it to me.

[jled]

The location ia 4948 Merrick Road in Massapequa, in the Stop & Shop shopping center. Their phone number is 516-799-5050. I keep eating these biscotti and am expecting to find out they have more calories than they say- like on the Seinfeld with the fat free yogurt )))

[MrsJim]

How big are these biscotti if they're only 8 calories? How much does the entire package weigh?

I must say that I'm very skeptical...I mean just taking the ingredients you listed into account:

A TEASPOON of sugar has 16 calories (and 4 carbs). (A teaspoon isn't much BTW).
A tablespoon of cocoa is 19 calories (3 carbs) (unsweetened Hershey's European Style cocoa powder)
One eggwhite contains 17 calories
A quarter-cup of flour is 114 calories (24 carbs).

I know I'm a HUGE skeptic, but I find it hard to believe that the calorie count is accurate unless these are itty bitty. The lowest-calorie cookie I've come across are some sugar-free meringue cookies (basically eggwhite, Splenda and some sugar alcohols) and the times I've sampled them, I've personally found them less than satisfying...

[Jennifer 3FC]

I found one post about that store. It was on a bridal site, and one of the women said that she gets 2 pt muffins from there regularly. She says the store is supposed to be a weight loss center, something like WW.

Will you look on the back of the bag and see who the manufacturer is? It might be a large company that makes it for smaller stores to buy with their package on it. I forget what that method is called, but it's very common in food manufacturing. Anyway - if this one company makes it on their own, I'd also be leary of it. Unless they are matchstick sized biscotti, the calories just aren't adding up.

[MrsJim]

And it wouldn't be the first time that labels on 'diet' or 'low-cal' items have been 'accidentally' incorrect - especially on items that are only sold locally or regionally (less of a chance of the FDA or some other authority catching on).

In his book Fat of the Land, Michael Fumento relates some instances where the labels were incorrect to say the least:

When [Marion] Nestle and fellow NY University researcher Lisa Young weighed a number of randomly selected single-serving packages of cookies, muffins, and brownies, they found that virtually all weighed more than they said they did, providing as much as 100 to 175 more calories per package more than they claimed. CNN did an analysis of a product sold in the New York area called a "Skinny Roll", which claimed to have one gram of fat but proved to have twenty-one. Rather than the 125 calories claimed, it had 438. When confronted, the manufacturer - a company called Genesis Two - said it was no longer selling the Skinny Roll, then changed its story to say it had a new Skinny Roll with new labels. But a lab analysis found it still had three times the fat and calories claimed.

[MrsJim]

Originally Posted by Jennifer 3FC

IWill you look on the back of the bag and see who the manufacturer is? It might be a large company that makes it for smaller stores to buy with their package on it. I forget what that method is called, but it's very common in food manufacturing.

I think you're referring to private labeling.

I'd be REALLY interested to have the exact info of the FDA-required "Nutrition Facts" label that SHOULD be on the package - including serving size (not just number of pieces but weight - probably in grams) etc.

[Suzanne 3FC]

Jen, I agree that it is some sort of weight loss center, I found this name online:
Stay Slim Weight Management Club Of Massapequa Inc but no further info.

Maybe they are mostly egg whites, and are more like a meringue than a true biscotti. Miss Meringue cookies are extremely low in calories. Perhaps this company used less sugar and added a little wheat flour to make them resemble a biscotti.

Jled, please do post any information from the package, including any description, manufacturer, and the rest of the nutrition label. We're very curious

I completely agree, too, I loved that Seinfeld episode and think of it often when reading nutrition labels!

[MrsJim]

Originally Posted by Suzanne 3FC

Maybe they are mostly egg whites, and are more like a meringue than a true biscotti. Miss Meringue cookies are extremely low in calories. Perhaps this company used less sugar and added a little wheat flour to make them resemble a biscotti.

Huh - that was my thought as well, although my idea of a biscotti is a very dense product, not a meringue...

[jled]

The bag says :
Distributed by Stay Slim, Inc. Queens, NY 11416- no other info about manufacturer at all
the ingredients are:
Wheat flour( Malted Barley flour, Niacin, Iron, PotassiumBromate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid) Egg whites, Water, Sugar, Almond Flavor, Baking Soda

This was from the almond flavor bag
It says serving size- 3 biscotti on the nutrition label- looks like a regular FDA food label- servings per container - about 8
weight of the whole bag is 16 oz.
Calories 8 per serving????? There is also 18 mg of sodium per serving and the label says 2 Carbohydrates. each biscotti is small, but not tiny- about 2 and a half inches, but very light and crumbly tasting. They are pretty good for dipping in diet hot chocolate or soy milk. I still don't believe the calorie count though, I called the store yesterday, and double checked that its not a mis print or something and they confirmed the calorie count again- but they could not know or be lying!!!!!

[Jennifer 3FC]

Well, unless you happen to have a lab in your house that you could do the tests to verify it, which you probably don't , then you'll have to watch the scale very carefully. Unless they are very light - like popcorn, or the meringue cookies MrsJim talked about, I think there's a mistake. With flour and sugar, that's not very easy to squeak out 8 calories. How many grams are in a serving? Does the bag say? Or does it have a total weight for the contents of the bag?

I'll see if I can get my friend to go by there and pick up a bag. If so, I'll let you know what I think about them.

[MrsJim]

I have a hard time believing that there are only TWO carbs in a product that contains flour and sugar, which of course are both 100% carbs.

DISTRIBUTED by Stay Slim...? That doesn't say MANUFACTURED by...? hmmm.

Personally I think they're either being VERY creative with the calorie count OR attempting to slip 'under the radar' of the FDA, since they have no website and do not appear to be marketing their products outside their area.

Hmmmm that would make an interesting investigative story for your local newspaper or TV news station (hint hint... ) Why not shoot the local news an email saying "I was wondering about these 8 calorie cookies...are they the real deal?" or words to that effect. Then THEY could do the testing. And personally, it kind of makes me skeptical about the other products they're selling.

So how much are they charging you for a bag of eggwhites and flour anyway? Just curious...

[MrsJim]

Originally Posted by Jennifer 3FC

Unless they are very light - like popcorn, or the meringue cookies MrsJim talked about, I think there's a mistake. With flour and sugar, that's not very easy to squeak out 8 calories. How many grams are in a serving? Does the bag say? Or does it have a total weight for the contents of the bag?

Jen - according to her post above the weight on the label is 16 oz. with 8 servings (3 pieces in a serving). So basically they're saying 2 oz = 1 serving of 8 calories.

It just DOESN'T MAKE SENSE to me...after all ONE baby-cut carrot has 8 calories (thanks Meg for that statistic!). I have a very, very, very hard time believing a product with a 2-oz serving size that lists flour as the first ingredient and sugar as another ingredient would only have EIGHT calories...hmmmmm....