I bought some I can't believe it's not butter - spray. It says it has 0 calories. Does this mean I can really use to my hearts content? Or is there hidden calories or hidden no no's in there somewhere?

You're smart to wonder about ICBINB! As always, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

ICBINB has tons of calories, so beware. If you look at the ingredients, it's all fat. The "no-calories" label is really deceptive and misleading, IMO. See, the government allows a manufacturer to say that a product has no calories if there are less than 5 calories in a "serving". A "serving" of ICBINB is something like a 1/3 second spray (I can't remember but it's very, very small). If you use more than one of their "servings", the calories start to add up fast.

According to its label, there are 904 servings in a bottle. How many of us could actually manage to get 904 servings out of one bottle?

From the ICBINB web site:

ICBINB is nothing more than flavored oil in a spray bottle. The whole bottle has about 900 calories and 90 grams of fat in it.

Wow! That is interesting.

The same thing goes for Pam and all the cooking sprays, so beware!!!

If you use the Misto sprayer, a one second spray is supposed to provide 1/4 tsp of oil. Using olive oil, that's 10 calories. I think a one second spray is fairly reasonable, so maybe you could use this and assume it's the same for Pam/ICBINB?

Meg, Heather, Scenestealer:

OMG! No WONDER I didn't lose weight on WW - I was showering everything I ate with ICBINB and my Misto!

For dieters, that is SUCH important information you all pointed out. It doesnt' seem right that these supposed 'health-food' products are sabotaging some of us..... This makes me want to riot!!!

I totally agree! We dieters rely on nutritional labels for accurate information, and yet it's perfectly legal to pull a stunt like this and completely mislead the public. Here we are, trying to eat healthy and lose weight, and you'd think the government would try to help us, wouldn't you?

My friend once went to a nutritionist who told her that the worst thing you can use is ICNB spray. Probably because of the hidden calories and fat and also because it's all chemicals. You're better off using a small amout of butter or olive oil because then atleast you know what you're getting.

I actually found this information on the "Hungry Girl" website a while ago, and since then I always count my sprays, and I have created a custom entry in FitDay for ICBINB spray. I use it very rarely, though, because I believe the old adage... "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!"

well i never thought about the cooking spray lol.. but i bet its stiull better then using and sppon of oil to cook with i spray so i dont have to add oil or butter when cooking it is better though. but never thought aboutthe calories in it lol.. but then i spray only a little and cook for 4 so how much am i acftually getting not much i bet

ICBINB and stuff like that I believe comes under the "no more than 5 zero point foods a day that are not vegetables" adage they now say in WW.

Ennay - I'm so glad WW is educating folks about that. It was some years ago that I was in the program and I don't recall any guidelines on spray butters/oils...Although I must admit a little part of me knew it was probably too good to be true; but sometimes we just ignore what we don't want to know .

Thank you all for your replys. That is just terrible that they are allowed to list as a no calorie food when they are lying! And I bought 2 bottles of the stuff too! I was so looking forward to making a baked potato and REALLY getting crazy with the butter! lol!!! I *love* the butter spray too. I knew it was too good to be true!

Thank you all again!

Well, to be fair, they do list a serving as 1/3 sec spray, and some brands also have a little graphic for the calories in longer sprays. But it does go to show that careful label reading is an important tool of the vigilant calorie counter.

I use the olive oil cooking sprays mainly because it is easier to use less fat than it would be if I were to pour olive oil into a pan. But a misto would accomplish the same thing. (I need to buy one).

I've been using Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread for a while now. Does anyone have any good/bad info on it? The nutrition label seems straight-forward. One tablespoon has 45 calories and 5 fat grams. I only use it once or twice a week for cooking, but I'd rather not use it at all if it is in the same group with ICBINB.