I am sooooo depressed. I can't eat vegetables plain. I have been using the "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray" on my veggies very liberally. (Plus on popcorn). I probably go through 2/3 to 1 bottle a week.
After my .1 pound weight gain (small I know, but I was on the program 100% and it's not TOM), my JC consultant warned me that there are 900 calories in the bottle. I couldn't believe it so called the company and she is correct.
I can't figure it out. If there are 904 or 226 servings per container and 900 calories in the bottle, wouldn't this equate to 1 to 4 calories per serving? This makes me sooo angry. How can they get away with that? Arghhhh.
Molly McButter doesn't work for me. I will try butter buds. Any other ideas?

Try using other spices and a small amount of the spray on your veggies.
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Paprika (if it's less than a year old it actually has quite a kick)
Chili powder
Thyme
Oregano
Even some hot sauce.

Lemon tastes GREAT with many veggies (i.e. asparagus, broccoli) and/or lemon pepper.
Cumin is wonderful w/ carrots.

One of my FAV things to do with veggies is roast them! Cut them in large pieces, & roast in single laryer at 450F for 30 minutes or until slightly charred looking. Lightly drizzle w/ balsamic vinegar if you like, and maybe a small pinch of salt & cracked pepper. My favorite veggies to do are colorful bell peppers & whole garlic cloves! I always make a huge batch, because even my kids love 'em.
Try tossing the veggies into some low sodium broth for a tasty & filling soup. I sometimes take my spinach tortellini and add extra spinach, onion, mushrooms & garlic w/ some broth for a HUGE pot of tasty soup.
Saute some veggies and add to your entree. The chicken fettuchini is really improved when you add veggies to it (I like carrots, sugar snap peas & broccoli), sorta like primavera.
Just be creative!
Best Wishes,
Angela

Good ideas - thanks for your suggestions! I am going shopping this weekend so will try some of your suggestions.

So would this be true for PAM or other so-called calorie free cooking sprays? My grocery store carries "calorie free" vegetable cooking spray & olive oil flavored spray. I wonder if they are in fact free foods? The label says to spray the oil flavor on veggies & salads.
Lies, all lies!! Well, I hope not.

I looked this up:
1. Fat-Free Non-Stick Cooking Spray
This is the one I love to mention at a diet consultation. The lie is so blatant its comical . . . or . . . in my opinion . . . criminal. I hold up a can of Mazola Non-Stick cooking spray. It says right on the can, "for calorie-free fat-free cooking." I point out how the nutrition label says there are 0 calories in a serving and of course 0 grams of fat. I then read aloud the ingredients. The only significant ingredient is liquid corn oil. I hold up a container of Mazola Liquid Corn Oil. We see a very different nutrition label. This one says 120 calories per serving, 120 calories from fat! It's not only not Fat-Free, it's 100% Fat! Here's how they get away with it . . .
The FDA labeling law says that if there's less than 1/2 gram of fat in a serving, a food can be labeled "Fat-Free." The catch is, nobody regulates what the food companies refer to as a serving size. If you look at the spray can, it refers to a serving as .2 grams. That's 2/10 of a gram. Is there less than 1/2 a gram of fat in .2 grams of fat? Of course! There's less than 1/2 a gram of anything in .2 grams. To show you how absurd that referenced serving size is, .2 grams would equal 1/3 of one second of spray! It's complete and total deception that allows pure fat to be labeled "Fat-Free."
2. Fat-Free Butter Substitutes
There are many butter substitutes claiming to be "better than butter." As an example . . . I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! It says "fat-free" all over it. You know what to do. Go right to the ingredients. Hydrogenated oil. That's fat. Pure fat. Better check out the FDA regulated nutrition label. 5 calories per serving. How many calories from fat? 5! Another example of the reliability of our friends at the FDA in delivering "truth in labeling." I Can't Believe It's Not Butter . . . but it is FAT! As a matter of fact, from a health standpoint, hydrogenated fats are more harmful than the saturated fats butter would provide. That doesn't make butter a good choice, but if you're trading it for something that contains just as much fat but gets its fat from a source that can cause cell damage . . . I'd have to say butter's better.

Fat free salad dressings are great on cooked veggies.

Thanks for the information Sammo! I found out what you mentioned in your post, that less than 1/2 gram of fat can be called fat free. I also found out that less than 5 calories can be called 0 calories. The company of the ICBINB spray figured out just how big of a serving size they could put on the label and still be under 1/2 gram of fat and under 5 calories and call it fat free and calorie free. Basically a 5 spray serving size (what they say you use for topping) really has .4 grams of fat and 4 calories. However, they can call this "fat free" and "calorie free". It even says "zero calories" on the front of the bottle! It may be legal but it is definitely unethical.
I have known about the nonstick sprays for awhile because they are basically oil and propellant (air). However, since the butter spray contains water as the first ingredient, and oil later, I assumed a minimal amount of oil was used to add some flavor. I was obviously wrong.

The company's number is (800) 735-3554 if anyone wants to verify this. Make sure you ask them how many calories are in the entire bottle, as they will try to tell you how many calories are in a serving.

Most fat free salad dressings are NOT calorie-free. They are usually about the same calories as reduced-fat dressings, but replace the fat with starch. So, 2 Tbsp of LOWfat Ranch dressing is 1 fat exchange, where 2 Tbsp of NOfat Ranch dressing is 1 starch exchange. Which is fine, as long as you know what you are using and how it fits into your menu.

Wow! What an eye-opener! I use this stuff all the time..and very librally. I am going to have to cut way back. Shame on them for the deceptive labeling.
Thanks to all for the great information. I hate to think of all the extra fat and calories I was unknowingly consuming.

quote:

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Originally posted by emerald_green:
[QB]
Try tossing the veggies into some low sodium broth for a tasty & filling soup. I sometimes take my spinach tortellini and add extra spinach, onion, mushrooms & garlic w/ some broth for a HUGE pot of tasty soup. /QB]

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Emerald Green, I never thought of doing this but thanks so much for the great tip!!!! I will be making this tonight!

OK, you guys have finally convinced me. I love the ICBINB spray but I'm no longer willing to risk the extra fat grams. My kids love it though and since they are not overweight I will continue to buy it for them to spray on broccoli, corn on the cob, etc. Ellen mentioned the Molly McButter sprinkles and I bought some but haven't tried it yet.

I have tried roasting my veggies lately. I use nonstick spray, which I realize is oil and air, but I have some control over it unlike the butter spray so I am using minimal calories.
I like my veggies well done, so if you don't you might want to cut the cooking time in half. It works well with asparagus and carrots, but cauliflower gets kind of crispy (which may not be bad if you want a crispy snack).
Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Spray bottom of pan lightly with nonstick spray.
Put veggies in pan and spray lightly with nonstick spray.
Sprinkle veggies lightly with Spike seasoning.
Asparagus - 20 minutes.
Carrots - 30 minutes.
Cauliflower - 1 hour.
Very yummy!

I love roasted vegetables! My favorite combo is eggplant chunks, thick-sliced zucchini, red pepper chunks, and onion chunks. Very Italian! I roast the eggplant separately from the rest as it cooks pretty fast. You can eat as is with a little salt, if desired. Or, sprinkle with any combo of garlic salt, basil, balsamic vinegar, etc.

I love Greek food and once asked the chef what seasonings they used (we loved the veggies on the kabbobs). Now I season my roasted veggies this way and my hubby and I LOVE it! Cut in large wedges tomato (the big beef eater ones), red onion, red bellpepper, and button mushrooms. Season with garlic powder, cumin, allspice, salt and black pepper. Lightly spray with olive oil and broil untill the onions are slightly blackened on the edges. YUMMMMM! Great with anything grilled.

For those of you who don't want to give up the butter spray, I saw response to a question on "Ask the Dietician" where the dietician replied that 1 tablespoon would be 1 limited free exchange.

Interestingly, just a few days ago, there was a story in the paper about the FDA urging more accurage calorie counts on labels and reconsidering what can be labeled "low-calorie." I bet this would fit into that plan. Check out the article.

I did try the Molly McButter sprinkles on steamed veggies this weekend and they are GOOD! I actually think I like the taste better than the ICBINB spray. Thank you for the suggestion EllenWheels! I can definitely live with this stuff. And if I end up saving a few calories and fat grams that's a good thing! I'm glad this is working out because I was bumming out big time about what I would do without the spray.

Thanks for the article Copy editor. I think this does apply, as the article says something about products misleading individuals to overeat due to ridiculously small serving sizes.

I just wanted to take this time to thank all of you who took your time to research the information posted here on spray butters. I am a Jenny Craig Centre Director and had no idea the false implications of "Fat Free" butter substitutes. I not only use it I have been suggesting it to my clients. So again thank you sooo much for your research and information. I'm very disappointed to learn this but I guess its the old saying my mother taught me...nothing in life is free.

Wow! I am so glad I opened and read this today! I am a HUGE fan of ICBINB in fact I've been using it rather liberally myself as has been mentioned. That explains why my weight loss has slowed down over the past few weeks maybe.
I am also greatful to read that the JC Dieticians say we can have 1 tablespoon as an exchange. I might try the Molly McButter idea - I didn't see that loop - can someone let me know what the deal is with Molly McButter?
Thanks.
SW - 255 1/21/04
CW - 183 1/21/05
Goal - 155-160

All labels are per serving. If 5 sprays are 0 calories. How can you expect 20 sprays to be 0 calories?
It's called reading the fine print. It's not deceptive advertising if they tell you what the serving size is. It's called marketing.
This just goes to show you how all of us don't really know what a serving size is.

Actually, if a product has under 5 calories per serving (ie. 5 sprays) then the FDA allows that product to say "No calories".
There is NO fine print on the ICBINB bottles, it does not state that there are 900 odd calories in the bottle, all it states are 5 sprays = 0 calories.
Someone may very well expect 20 sprays to be NO calories, as one serving says its "0" for a serving.
IMHO, I can definately see why some people can mistake this product for being completely calorie free.
Just my 2 cents.
~Emma

Scary! I use this stuff everyday. May as well have been enjoying an actual serving of margarine instead...

no where on these bottles do they say in fine or regular print that there is any calories in the bottle, if there is 0 calories in a serving and you keep spraying numerous 'servings', you are led to think that 0+0+0+0=0. its crazy! really shouldn't be legal

I'm glad I was able to "open some eyes", but I guess the old saying "If it sounds too good to be true - it is" - I guess we should all beware. Good luck everyone!

FYI, I went to get my bottle, it states-
O CALORIES PER SERVING, and an asterisk with additional info.
If you read the back of the bottle it tells you WHAT A SERVING IS.
Just like all food tells you on the package what a serving size is and the calories.
So if 5 sprays have 0 calories, might you not think, hopefully, that more than 5 sprays might start to add up?
Yes, I know 0+0+0+0+0=0. However, if you DON'T READ THE FINE PRINT YOU DON'T HAVE ALL THE FACTS. We all know what happens when you assume!

Lastly using almost 1 bottle a week, aren't you concerned at all about all the artificial ingredients, ie chemicals, you're putting into your body?

Yes, ofcourse it states what a SERVING IS. And no, there is NO REASON why someone who ISN'T aware of FDA guidlines to assume that 20 sprays does NOT equal zero calories!
People shouldn't "hopefully" think that more than five sprays adds up - just because the guidlines state that ther CAN be more calories in it, doesn't mean EVERYONE will know that.
There is NO FINE PRINT saying that over five sprays HAS calories in it.

Wow. Very eye opening topic. Thanks everyone. I don't use the stuff much, but do use fat-free Pam once in awhile. Now I'm glad I haven't been using more of it!
Pixie, I LOVE your idea on the Greek style vegetables! I'll have to try that. I'll eat anything REMOTELY Mediterranean flavored. It's my favorite cuisine in the world.
Polly.

While we're on the subject, keep in mind that Splenda is not completely calorie-free. There are 90 calories per cup of Splenda granulated. They list the serving size as a teaspoon, therefore getting to say 0 calories.
So just keep in mind that if you're using Splenda (which I do all the time) that you're not getting off scott-free.

i have the bottle and i did look at it, it does not say anywhere that once you spray however much, adds on calories, it still says zero, the only thing i assumed was what it told me, 0 calories. so to ask you your own queston outtolose, if 0+0=0, why would anyone ever think that 5 zero's would add up to an actual number?!! its actually humerous that you even said that

Just read a one second spray of cooking spray, ie. Pam, contains 7 calories.

Now I'm bummed! I just started using Olivio spray and I LOVE it. I think it tastes so much better than ICBINB and I'm sure it falls in the same category as all of these other "fat-free, calorie-free" items. Like losing weight isn't hard enough!
I think I tried Molly McButter years back and wasn't crazy about it - maybe it's improved since then. Thanks for the lesson in "label-reading".

Longhorngal - I don't know about you, but I think for me it would be extremely difficult to consume a cup of Splenda in a day. LOL.