Course:FNH200/Assignments/2025/Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies - Regular vs Reduced fat
Very briefly introduce your products here[1].
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Briefly introduce your food products (Optional)
We compared Chips Ahoy! Original Chocolate Chip Cookies with the Reduced Fat version, both widely sold in Canada. These similar products allowed us to explore how a small fat reduction affects nutrition, taste, and marketing.
Post pictures (Mandatory)
Chips Ahoy! Reduced Fat Images
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Chips Ahoy! Original Images
Ingredient lists (4 points)
| CHIPS AHOY! Original Chocolate Chip Cookies, Resealable Pack, 258g | Chips Ahoy! R/fat Cookies 13z |
|---|---|
Contains: Wheat, Milk, Soy |
Contains: Wheat, milk, soy Contains a bioengineered food ingredient |
| CHIPS AHOY! Original Chocolate Chip Cookies | Chips Ahoy! R/fat Cookies | |
|---|---|---|
| Fat Substitutes | None clearly identified. | Canola oil and palm oil used as primary fats (not fat substitutes, but different fat sources possibly contributing to the "reduced fat" labeling) |
| Sugar Substitutes | None clearly identified. |
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| Additives |
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3. Roles of fat substitutes, sugar substitutes, and/or additives used in terms of the functional properties they contribute to the product
The “Chips Ahoy! Original Chocolate Chip Cookies 258g” list no specific fat or sugar substitutes. Whereas, “Chips Ahoy! Reduced Fat 13z”, the fat is reduced, but not replaced with alternative and the cookies use full-fat cream. These cookies also use caloric sugars (sugar, fructose, high fructose corn syrup). Not low-calorie or artificial. In this case as there are no such substitutes present, there are no functional properties attributable to them.
In terms of additives, lecithin is a phospholipid. Lecithin is a naturally occurring emulsifier commonly found in egg yolk and soybean oil. So soy lecithin should be used as an emulsifier to blend the ingredients, like oil and water, for good texture and stability and to ensure that these ingredients do not separate. The cookies also have several additives such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), ammonium phosphate, and ammonium bicarbonate. Baking soda is commonly used to contribute to the cookie's rise. Working in combination with the fats, these additives contribute to the aeration and as the fat holds the oxygen, commonly used additives like sodium bicarbonate can amplify volume or create structure.
Furthermore, in addition to the earlier additives, the specific chemical nature of "artificial flavour" is not detailed. Popular flavor enhancers are monosodium glutamate (MSG) or maltol, so if one is used at a low concentration here, one can assume that “artificial flavour” is being used to provide a specific taste profile to the cookies. Caramel colour, as a colouring agent, is added to provide or tailor the cookies to a specific and desired visual appearance.
The flour used is unbleached enriched flour, which contains added nutrients such as niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (Vitamin B1), riboflavin (Vitamin B2), and folate (folic acid). The functional property of these additions is to enhance the nutritional value of the flour. Although salt is considered a fundamental ingredient, salt also could function as an additive or flavour enhancer here. When baking cookies specifically, salt brings out and balances the other flavors. Salt draws moisture to the surface of the dough, helping evaporate water and enabling higher temperatures, ideal conditions for the Maillard reaction.
4. Compare and contrast the lists of the two products and explain differences
Similarities:
Both products have the ingredients:
- Caramel Color: Both use "caramel color" for coloring
- Salt: Both contain salt.
- Sugar: Both contain sugar.
- Wheat Flour: Both contain wheat flour.
- Ammonium Phosphate & Baking Soda: Both contain these as leavening agents.
- Palm Oil: Both contain palm oil/modified palm oil.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips containing Dextrose, Cocoa Butter, and Soy Lecithin
Differences:
- Sugars:
- Original: Contains "Sugars(sugar and/or golden sugar, glucose-fructose)"
- Reduced Fat Alternative: Contains "Sugar", "Fructose", and "High Fructose Corn Syrup". Fructose and HFCS may have been used because they contribute to moistness and tenderness which mimics the some of the function of fats
- Flour Type and Enrichment :
- Original: "Wheat Flour”
- Reduced Fat Alternative: wheat flour as in the original version, the reduced fat version contains unbleached enriched flour. The enriched part of the flour indicates that vitamins have been added back into the flour, specifically B1, B2, Niacin, Folic Acid, and Iron.
- Chocolate Chips Composition :
- Original: "unsweetened chocolate", "milk ingredients". Unsweetened chocolate is 100% chocolate
- Reduced Fat Alternatiive : "chocolate", "milk", "dextrose". Just chocolate could imply that it's been sweetened.
- Presence of External Soy Lecithin:
- Original: Soy Lecithin is only listed as in ingredient within the "semi-sweet chocolate chips"
- Reduced Fat Alternative: Soy lecithin is listed twice, within and the semi-sweet chocolate chips and again as a standalone ingredient. This additional eternal soy lecithin acts as an emulsifier to help distribute the reduced fate evenly and improve texture
- Specific Leavening Agents:
- Original: Includes "Baking soda," "Ammonium phosphate," and "Ammonium bicarbonate." Ammonium bicarbonate contributes to a crisp texture.
- Reduced Fat Alternative: Lists "Leavening (baking soda, ammonium phosphate)." The absence of "Ammonium bicarbonate" suggests an adjustment to the crumb structure, potentially aiming for a slightly different texture to compensate for fat reduction.
- Primary Fats/Oils Used:
- Original: Uses "Shortening (vegetable oil, modified palm oil)." Shortening is a solid fat blend.
- Reduced Fat Alternative: Lists "Canola oil" and "Palm oil." Canola oil is a liquid oil, often used for fat reduction due to its lower saturated fat content. The combination of liquid and solid fats contributes to the desired cookie consistency with less overall fat.
Labels
Nutrition Facts
- Original product (per 2 cookies / 29g): 140 calories, 7g fat (2.5g saturated), 10g sugar, 1g protein, 85mg sodium
- Reduced fat product (per 3 cookies / 33g): 150 calories, 6g fat (2g saturated), 11g sugar, 2g protein, 140mg sodium
Despite being labelled as "reduced fat," the second product has one gram fewer of fat but more calories, sugar, and sodium. Customers expecting a generally healthier alternative can be misled by this.
Ingredient Order
The two products comply with Canadian rules under the Food and Drug Regulations (C.R.C., c. 870) by listing components in decreasing order by weight. Common ingredients include: wheat flour, sugars (such as high-fructose corn syrup or glucose-fructose), chocolate chips, vegetable oils or shortening, baking agents (e.g., baking soda, ammonium phosphate), artificial flavours, and colours (e.g., caramel colour).
Some of these ingredients also act as fat and sugar substitutes:
- Glucose-fructose mimics sweetness in reduced-fat products.
- Shortening can be used to replicate the texture lost when fat is reduced.
- Emulsifiers and artificial flavours assist in preserving the sensory character when natural fat content is lacking.
Allergen Warnings:
Both labels clearly state: Contains: Wheat, Milk, Soy. This meets the Canadian Food Allergen Labelling Regulation under Health Canada/CFIA rules.
Claims
The front of the reduced-fat product states: “25% less fat than the original.” However, according to the Nutrition Facts, the amount of fat has decreased from 7g to 6g per serving, which represents a 14.29% reduction, rather than the 25% reduction stated. This violates labelling integrity expectations by making the claim numerically inaccurate and possibly misleading.
Compliance with Food and Drug Regulations
Compliant: No implication for prevention, treatment, or cure of diseases listed in Schedule A (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc).
Compliant: No indication of harmful, adulterated, or unfit ingredients. No evidence of unsanitary preparation or storage.
Section 5 – Misleading Labelling:
Potential Non-Compliance: There is no real nutrition data to back the "25% less fat" claim (only a 14.29% reduction). Section 5(1) forbids any inaccurate, misleading, or deceptive labelling that gives a false impression of the food's composition or value; therefore, it might be in violation.
Section 7 – Sanitary Standards:
Compliant: There is no indication that the products were manufactured or stored in unsanitary conditions.
Personal Choice (5 points)
Please submit your individual component of this assignment on Canvas to protect your privacy and your personal opinion
References
Please use the Wikipedia reference style. Provide a citation for every sentence, statement, thought, or bit of data not your own, giving the author, year, AND page.
Note: Before writing your wiki article on the UBC Wiki, it may be helpful to review the tips in Wikipedia: Writing better articles.[2]
- ↑ Sample Reference
- ↑ En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Writing better articles. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles [Accessed 18 Jan. 2018].
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