Ok, I am going to say this one more time. Nutritious food does not naturally grow in bar form.
I have never been a fan of “diet” plans whose “plan” is for you to give them money for the rest of your life. Did you ever notice that the skinny girl who used to be fat in the diet shake ad mentions that she still drinks her lunch every day? Or that the big weight loss club wants you to be a member for ever and oh yes don’t forget to buy their frozen entrees? These plans make that guy who lost weight eating fresh sandwiches seem like a genius; it’s the only sustainable plan, and he’s also the only one who seems to keep the weight off. And note: all these plans involve you giving them money; only the sandwich guy’s plan can be done without paying someone. You can figure out how to make a sandwich at home, right?
In the beginning, the Atkins Diet was about eating plenty of protein, adequate fat, minimal carbohydrates, and no refined sugar. In the practical realm, this meant plenty of meat, dairy products, legumes, nuts, and non-strarchy veggies — anyone who says no veggies are allowed does not know what they are talking about — but no junk food. It helped people be honest with themselves and say “I am on a diet, therefore I cannot have cookies and cake and candy.” The protein helped people keep from feeling hungry all the time. People lost a lot of weight doing this. Because little pre-processed food met these dietary criteria, people ended up eating relatively unprocessed foods: cheese instead of Cheez-Whiz; roasted nuts instead of Chex Mix; steamed veggies instead of “vegetable mix with creamy sauce”; hamburger without bun instead of Hamburger Helper.
There are two basic problems with this. For the dieter, the problem is that food must be thought about and prepared. Dinner was more complicated than sticking a frozen pre-cooked meat-wad in the microwave. On the go food was an even bigger issue, given our hectic daily lives and the fact that many low-carb foods require refrigeration. Just about the only diet friendly item you could keep in your desk drawer was a package of nuts. Never mind that this “problem” actually kept you from eating calories you probably didn’t need.
The other problem was even more serious, at least to the big food conglomerates. There were entire aisles of the grocery store that low-carb people weren’t even going down! Entire categories of food they weren’t buying! This could negatively impact profits.
Atkins Nutritionals is the company founded by Dr. Atkins in 1989 as essentially his promotional arm. Around this same time, according to the site’s timeline, they started selling vitamins. By this time, Atkins himself had already been writing books on diet and nutrition for well over a decade. By the turn of the millennium, they were selling meal replacement bars. At present, they sell meal replacement bars, low carb “candy” bars (never mind that dieters shouldn’t be eating candy), quick breakfast foods (apparently a hard boiled egg or a hunk of cheese or some lunch-meat is too complicated), supplements, and “quick cuisine” (mostly baking mixes). They also have “partnerships” with such companies as TGI Friday’s and eDiets.com.
They solved the “no pre-prepared foods” problem themselves. And one must assume they made some money doing it.
Made. Past tense.
Due to a combination of reduced popularity of the diet and increased competition, Atkins Nutritionals filed for bankruptcy. This is a debt restructuring type of bankruptcy, and contrary to what the LA Times says, not a going away forever type of bankruptcy. According to the company, they will adjust their focus and continue onward.
The bottom line is that they misread their market, over-expanded, and tried to sell stuff people did not want or need. It’s one thing to have one of those bars in your desk in case you just can’t get away for lunch. It’s another thing for that to be a regular meal.
With a handful of exceptions, diet food is not about making you skinny, it’s about making some company rich.
A few things in closing: what some real diplomats have to say about Bolton, a bad idea with a great tagline (unless you like libertarianism turning to anarchy, in which case enjoy!), consumer spending rising faster than consumer incomes although some of the rise was thanks to GM’s employee price for everyone promotion, and finally Medicaid now covers a third of the population, meaning a single payer health care system is a lot closer than anybody thought.