[I]f you want to save a few bucks, there are some healthy alternatives that cost less, like frozen orange juice.
"Frozen orange juice concentrate is basically the same as the carton orange juice that you buy from the store," said Delia Hammock, nutrition director of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute.
According to Hammock, consumers can replace milk from the dairy case with shelf-stable milk.
"Shelf-stable milk is the same as regular liquid milk," she said. "It is pasteurized a bit longer and it tastes a little bit different, but it's the same."
Oh, where to begin? I'm not a milk drinker, but the idea that milk that has been sitting on a shelf for weeks is as good as a fresh jug of milk is absurd on it's face. Not to mention this idea that "It is pasteurized a bit longer and it tastes a little bit different, but it's the same."
Well, if it tastes a little bit different it's not the same, is it? Milk is pasteurized a bit longer and it tastes a little different than orange juice. I suppose they are the same too.
But maybe worse than her lack of taste, is her complete ignorance of what things cost at the grocery store. If she'd either go shopping or watch the Price is Right, she'd know that her other pieces of advice are no good at all.
For instance, buying "shelf-stable milk" (there's a focus-group marketing term if there ever was one) might be more efficient if one is stocking up for the Great Milk Disaster of '07. But if you're buying it every week, you'd go broke taking this lady's advice.
According Peapod, a 32 oz. box of Parmalat is going to run you a cool $2.39, which means junior will suck down 60 cents worth of milk with his bowl of cereal. Buying the real thing at the same site would cost $4.39 per gallon, for a cost-per-serving of less than 28 cents.
In other words, if you take Delia's advice and buy shelf-stable milk to save money, you'll pay twice as much.
Great advice, Delia!
For instance, buying frozen OJ is not cheaper than buying the same thing at the store. At Peapod, they are offering a 12 oz. can of Minute Maid OJ concentrate (which makes a 48 oz. pitcher) for $2.29. Compare that to Minute Maid's 64 oz. carton (also from concentrate, by the way) which is on sale this week for $2.69. A little math shows that an 8 oz. glass of the frozen OJ costs 38 cents, while the same size serving from the carton costs just under 34 cents.
(Eight ounces of the better-tasting Tropicana--which I buy because it's not from concentrate and therefore belies the suggestion that it's "the same as the carton orange juice that you buy from the store"--costs me 45 cents, by the way.)
Tags: Good Housekeeping Good Morning America consumer prices milk orange juice
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