Exposing False Advertising (Drinks Edition) | How To Cook That Ann Reardon

These brands have been sued for allegedly lying to you. Did you fall for it?
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Hi I am Ann Reardon, How to Cook That is my youtube channel it is filled with crazy sweet creations made just for you. This week we are looking at false advertising in drinks, court cases where brands have been fined or sued for misleading advertising. Have you been duped? Join me for creative cakes, chocolate & desserts, new video every Friday.
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[@angellcakess]

I absolutely love Ann and this channel, there is so much false information out there and having Ann debunking it is a great way to educate and inform. I have been watching for a long time now but my son who is now 10 loves to watch with me and has been watching old videos too so he's learning that certain channels should've be trusted and can often be heard shouting at them 🤣 Thank you so much Ann and Dave and the boys for all you do!

[@charlieoscar2339]

Agreed! Thank you Anne and thanks to your entire family!

[@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay]

I disagree with corporations being made to babysit the general public. If you aren't smart enough to do your own research, then you deserve whatever you get.

[@hollya6408]

@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay it’s not babysitting it’s just not lying to consumers

[@helentee9863]

​@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay why are you trolling? Are you being paid by a large corporation?!

[@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay]

@@hollya6408 And thus the further dumbing down of society

[@doc5441]

love that story of 2 students embarrassing a multinational giant company!

[@scottydu81]

I had never heard of it. Black currant was largely banned in the US

[@johnnye87]

When your school science experiment leads to a $270k fine

[@kira-chan9676]

​@@scottydu81 Wait, what? Why would someone ban a normal, edible fruit? (I'm from Germany and we have those in pretty much every garden)

[@girlboymusic]

@@kira-chan9676 Because the blackcurrant plant can carry a fungus that kills trees that are important to the US timber industry. It was only banned nationwide till 1966, but some states had their own bans on it till later.

[@MylkT1023]

@@kira-chan9676 Its because of the lumber and logging industry. It carried a fungus called White Pine Blister Rust which damaged and killed white pine trees. Back then, White Pine was a VERY lucrative lumber source and when it was "found out" that this fruit carried the fungus, Capitalism did as Capitalism does and had it federally banned. It wasnt until this year actually that black currants nation wide were no longer banned

[@dolphin64575]

The fact that A&W said "made with aged vanilla" definitely lead me to believe that real vanilla beans were involved in the process SOMEWHERE

[@FranNyan]

I'm sure somewhere, someone compared the vanillian to the real thing and went "eh, close enough." That counts for corporate~!

[@silkvelvet2616]

Kind of like cocoa is involved in the manufacturing of Hershey's chocolate, somewhere..... I hear they go through one truckload a week but they produce way more than cadburys did on 7 or more times the cocoa. Did, because kraft got there cheesy hands on the company and its never tasted right since.

[@ifeeltiredsleepy]

@@silkvelvet2616 Cadbury milk chocolate is 20% cocoa and Hershey's is 11% cocoa, but honestly, they are both kind of rubbish chocolate.

[@silkvelvet2616]

@@ifeeltiredsleepy Cadbury used to be better. I haven't bought more than ones thing from the label each year since Kraft bought them (no longer owners now afaik) and each year the quality has been worse. I barely buy chocolate at all now other than lindt a couple times a year because they've all been playing the cheaper ingredients game.

[@Silverizael]

If it had just said "Made with vanilla", I might give a bit more leeway, since vanillin IS just created vanilla extract. However, it said "aged vanilla" and, as far as I know, you can't age vanillin, it's a chemical taste extract, not a biological seed pod.

[@Empress-Angel]

I lost my mom to cancer last year, and I'm genuinely disgusted by these companies claiming their random products can prevent or treat cancer. The number of suggestions she got from well-meaning but confused family was overwhelming, and watching her doctors debunk all these "miracle cures" that she'd ask about broke my heart every time. These aren't just harmless little exaggerations to boost sales, they're outright lies that give desperate and ill people false hope and I'd love nothing more than to see every one of these ghouls sued out of existence. Edit: Thank you everybody for your kindness in the replies! She was an amazing person, and she'd find it heartwarming to see all this compassion from everyone. ❤

[@alexandrakonigsburg6474]

I'm so sorry for your loss and that you had to go through all of that. They really are ghouls and are so disgusting.

[@marthahawkinson-michau9611]

My mom had uterine cancer several years ago, and while she recovered from it with her treatments, she also tried basically any and every “alternative supplement” that made halfway believable false promises. She at least had the good sense to keep taking her treatments on schedule, even while trying every snake oil product that made wild promises. 99% sure her recovery had more to do with her radiation treatments than anything else. My deepest sympathy for the loss of your mom.

[@feistsorcerer2251]

Makes me think of what happened right after my kidneys failed. I was looking up information on Google to educate myself about the dialysis diet and what I was supposed to eat now. The paid for google ads were for "Miracle cures" for patients to supposedly "naturally heal" your completely failed kidneys. The top ad results on Google. So many people with no medical background would get false hope from BS like that. It could even encourage some people to stop things like dialysis or chemo and try snake oil instead. It has definitely gotten people killed, and the people who put out those claims should be held responsible.

[@sameppink9401]

It is flat out evil. There are so many snake oil salesmen out there trying to cash in on people’s desperation.

[@IiI_Gogeta_IiI]

The odd thing is it’s always these little companies that make that claim. You don’t see Pepsi or coke or even McDonald’s claim they cure cancer. Also I’m a very empathetic person so I’m sorry to hear you lost your mom to cancer and that she was hounded by people being parasites with the whole “it will cure cancer” I hate seeing things like that I can’t imagine being related to or being the person hounded like that.

[@NutyRiver]

I’m genuinely shocked to learn that a can of redbull contains less caffeine than a cup of coffee. I thought that was the whole reason people drank it, and why it was called an ENERGY drink.

[@paradise8023]

That claim is actually a bit misleading itself because they said "caffeine per 100ml". The amount of caffeine in coffee can vary wildly but a medium Starbucks cappuccino for example has 66mg compared to 80mg in a small can of Red Bull.

[@shopokefrignugget2027]

@@paradise8023 now you got me curious. that'd be 2 shots of espresso there but what about a typical cup of coffee of the same size as the redbull? The espresso that gives the cappuccino all the caffeine is really small, like a single mouthful, not even close to a whole can. Imma look into this now too since I always assumed energy drinks had tons more caffeine than a cup of coffee.

[@NutyRiver]

@@shopokefrignugget2027 hmm now that I think about it, even shots of espresso might vary wildly considering what kind of beans they are and how those beans were prepared. I don’t know much about coffee though so i had assumed Ann meant a cup of similar size to a redbull can with only espresso (no milk or sugar added).

[@alisaurus4224]

@@NutyRiver when i was working at Starbucks 20 years ago, we were taught that espresso has 35 mg caffeine per oz, with drinks containing 1-3 shots (unless modified by the customer) and the rest of the 8-24 oz of the drink being milk, water, ice etc. Drip coffee was only 10 mg caffeine per oz, but every oz of the coffee is caffeinated so there’s more per drink.

[@YamiKisara]

@@NutyRiver to my knowledge (and I'm by no means an expert) the type of beans and preparation don't change the caffeine amount significantly. Like, you would have some sort of a range, but not within dozens of mg, but more like a couple left or right. Even if coffee has more than a redbull though, the energy drink is much more dangerous, because the safe intake of caffeine within 24 hours is around 400 mg (for an average adult) - nobody's gonna down 4-5 cups of coffee (which is what the amount translates to) in a row, most people don't get that much down even throughout the whole day, but it's easy to down five cans, especially for children (for who the dose would be much smaller to boot).

[@marcusmiro7481]

I will never stop appreciating how you look out for normal people. Most people just join the grift machine once they get the audience size you have, but you have been unwavering in your ethics, and it's just really awesome to see. The entire commercial food landscape is hostile to consumer interests, so it's relieving to have a popular, visible person looking out for the masses.

[@ClanImprobable]

I so agree!

[@becky3983]

Imagine being exposed by a school science product

[@Amira_Phoenix]

That's a lol if I ever saw one

[@frenetic1057]

*project

[@davidwilson6577]

Don't have to imagine it. Fortunately the spattered chemicals only dissolved our clothes.

[@juvencus_]

The crazy part is that Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is commonly used as an antioxidant preservative. So it would have been very cheap to fortify the juice by supplementing it.

[@ottoneiii4353]

students are just people who are learning so it makes sense they can have an impact to society, in school you can partecipate in public competitions so in my city it was not unusual to see advertise, project of fountain or whatever made by students. they are the future, right?

[@troyjones1976]

Yes, I do feel like the phrase "made with aged vanilla" gives the impression that the product is made with vanilla.

[@riverAmazonNZ]

Absolutely. Though I am not surprised it turned out to be mostly artificial 🤦‍♂️

[@janeenschultz8502]

Vanilla extract at the very least

[@Hellsing375]

Definitely. I'd assume that it'd be mostly 'fake' vanilla flavouring but like at least a miniscule amount of the real thing. For there to be no real vanilla at all - that's just straight up lying. How would you 'age' artifical vanilla flavouring?!

[@mpol701]

Who cares its a hood drink tastes nice that's what matters

[@mpol701]

Good drink should of typed we don't buy such drinks for health we buy them for taste and how refreshing they are

[@Tarsha.C]

I remember watching the 'Ribena girls' science experiment on the news and Fair Go back in the day. It was awesome. Everyone was so proud of those two teenage girls who worked out that this huge company was fooling everyone.

[@YamiHoOu]

I remember this as well. They tried saying the experiment was faulty or something didn't they?

[@Tarsha.C]

@@YamiHoOu that's right! But the girls had repeated the tests and had teachers repeat them too

[@jasonhaven7170]

New Zealand for the win!

[@celo7carvalho]

The fact that Ann clearly chose to not take a sponsor for THIS video says a lot about her integrity. That’s why we love you girl ❤️

[@lebundon]

You do know she ran ads for kamikoto knoves right? Knives that are a scam. I would say they found how much money her integrity is worth.

[@dodikeren]

@@lebundon yes but blaming all good youtuber because they shill for products like Kamikoto kinda harsh. When they were offered sponsorhip, they probably only do surface level research and might miss channel that exposes the "scam product" you advertised. Kamikoto is even harder to prove scam for someone who is just using them daily uses. I can forgave any youtuber who put Kamikoto since it is reasonable that when they first tried the product, everything work as advertised as a knife. As long as the main content was good and informative, I could totally forgive that these youtubers sometimes fall prey to it in order to make ends meet.

[@katvtay]

@@dodikerenExcept she did claim she did her research on those knives. One month afterward, she still was defending sponsoring them, and that was plenty of time to see the knives she got are not the knives her subs would get if they bought them. That continued defiance was her sharking jumping moment.

[@heatherangel9700]

@@katvtay When / where was she defending sponsoring them? I didn't see that. Was it on KZbin or a different platform?

[@SioxerNikita]

Wtf are you talking about? I doubt it has ANYTHING to do with sponsorship

[@CWSoxfan719]

I would love to see you do like an explainer on the infamous McDonald’s “hot coffee” case. The real story is such a fascinating intersection of food safety issues and media criticism that I think it would be an awesome topic for your channel, especially if you are looking to do content on court cases! Cheers!

[@Rosemarie-YouTube-]

And it's also interesting to see how a clearly wrong company can have a media smear campaign used to make the actual victim needing skin grafts & seriously being injured turned into a laughingstock cause they didn't know that coffee could be hot. It was a way to get the public against the greedy lazy person who has come up with a frivolous lawsuit against an innocent company and to sully the potential jury pool into having a bias.... I remember hearing about it on radio stations going to school when it happened & every single time they made fun of her as if she was just exaggerating! Poor thing had to learn to walk again....

[@dodikeren]

I think the legal part had been sufficiently explained by LegalEagle. I think what I find most interesting is the fight in comment section that seemed that argue about ideal coffee temp. Some loudly argue that the new regulation made for bad coffee(despite probably no one in real world in US protested McD to bring it back). In any case just the coffee case alone would be too short for a video since she would only need to explain about brewing temp vs serving temp. But it's a good base to make a video about lawsuit involving food safety.

[@itsgonnabeanaurfromme]

You can just search for it

[@DreamPinkClouds]

I think Kendall Rae did a really good video on this case:)

[@DragonNexus]

There are already so many videos about that.

[@frith.calluna]

MLM companies are a *goldmine* when it comes to false advertising, fake health claims and blatant misinformation, with a lot of it being spread by "influencers" on social media. Would love to see you tackle some of those if that's a topic you'd be interested in covering!

[@chilanya]

yeah, you're right. i remember a co-worker getting entangled in Herbalife smoothie powder sales, and i felt so sorry for her. i read the leaflet with the outrageous "health claims" and reported them to a foundation that battles medical misinformation (Dutch Society against Quackery)

[@ratdaughter6450]

second this. herbalife made my mum very very ill. MLMs are toxic af

[@gamatwilit6538]

​@@chilanya MLMs are so predatory. I've seen stories of people being encouraged to take out loans to buy more product so the person above them gets a cut. And when they can't sell all the stuff they've bought they're just left with massive debt. Sad stuff

[@crowdemon_archives]

"Pour frankincense essential oil on your tires to extend their lives!" Both pointless and a waste of perfectly fine oil. >:C

[@lorabarajas3765]

Yes!

[@Tiagoroth]

My favourite case is from Vitaminwater where Coca-Cola argued that no reasonable person could be misled into thinking Vitaminwater was a "healthy drink", despite the name 😁

[@someonessidechannel1485]

I was under the impression it was about as healthy as Gatorade, which i mean is sugar water with some added electrolytes. Is it not even that much?

[@tylern6420]

havent heard that since brew talked about it

[@tylern6420]

ok i didnt sound clear enough i meant that i havent heard the name vitaminwater since brew had talked about it many months ago

[@oldvlognewtricks]

@@someonessidechannel1485 Gatorade also not ‘healthy’ in the everyday sense.

[@tirsden]

"Electrolytes" is just a marketing buzzword, much like "probiotics" and a bunch of other nonsense. Salt is an electrolyte. Water is best without anything in it, adding anything to it kills its usefulness.

[@loravura4782]

There are often a lot of segments about "frivilous lawsuits", like the Ellen segment you showed might have been. What's not often covered is that lawsuits are often the only way the US regulation is set up to handle these claims! Much love to you for exploring these.

[@mwater_moon2865]

And how many of them are totally justified, like the McDonald's coffee served at 200F/ 93C (because that's the temp it's most fragrant) that caused 3rd degree burns when it spilled on a lady's lap and the co tried to spin it "you ought to know coffee's gonna be hot...."

[@neverstoplearning7214]

@@mwater_moon2865 If I remember right she put the coffee on her lap between her legs , not in the cup holder, and the resulting action was how she got burned

[@MuffledSword]

She couldn't have used a cup holder as the vehicle didn't have one. They weren't always a standard feature.

[@dianakemp8877]

​@@mwater_moon2865 yep, the lady had to have skin grafts was permanently disfigured and eventually died in part due to the burns. she wanted a settlement so she could pay for the medical costs which were something like $20,000 but was only offered $800 so she took it to court and mcdonalds proceeded to run a smear campaign calling her frivolous and greedy

[@ashildrtheswift3028]

@@neverstoplearning7214 The coffee shouldn't have been that hot to begin with. Period.

[@xena91388]

Ann! You forgot to mention Canada Dry! The ginger ale brand Canada Dry has had "Made From REAL Ginger" written on it's labels for yeeears. Recently they had at least two class-action lawsuits, one that settled for $11mil because it doesn't contain any ginger. None. The ingredients are: water, sugar, citric acid, sodium benzoate, color, and "natural flavor"

[@danielthecake8617]

You're not very smart, are you?

[@blue-dabad33]

I was given some cans of Stoney ginger beer from a wedding and I felt so cheated when I saw ginger isn't listed anywhere on the ingredients, maybe I should sue too lol

[@hikaruxkaoruxlol]

To be honest, when I heard the 'made with aged vanilla' I just imagined them with bottles of vanilla flavouring that had been left on the shelf a little too long lol, I forgot that vanilla beans were a thing

[@theuncalledfor]

Vanilla flavouring is a chemical called vanillin. They would have to write "aged vanillin" if they didn't mean real vanilla. (Also I don't think aging vanillin does anything.)

[@GoodPersonTestWebsite]

🤣

[@cloudysaturnn]

Is it gif? Is it the sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun green brown brown green brown sun ☀️

[@literallyafishhook]

​@@cloudysaturnn are you okay man

[@tychopanda]

​@@literallyafishhook they just want attention

[@Azkadelya]

I would LOVE if you had more episodes like this, especially about the court cases that get slandered by the companies, like your redbull case or the case of the woman who sued McDonalds because she didn't know her coffee was hot! But in actuality she got horribly burned and just wanted them to pay her medical fees, which she had because the coffee was served at absurd temperatures.

[@sanachanto]

I second this!

[@PreciseSpace]

Yes! I hate hearing people make fun of that case when it was genuinely a horrible accident caused by mcdonalds' negligence

[@anonomooose]

Agreed!

[@Kio_Kurashi]

I remember that coffee case. When I heard about it I was like "Lady, how could you not know? All companies I know bring it to a scalding tempurature, so unless you asked for ice coffee you shouldn't have downed in one go." I never did find out the exact tempurature it was set to though to compare to other companies.

[@rhadamantesomething3020]

That poor lady got third degree burns. Third degree burns from just one cup of coffee (not sure how you're supposed to be able to drink something that hot)... Her lawsuit was absolutely justified. She was only asking for $20,000 too & McD offered her $800. She ended up taking half a million.

[@Moonglommery]

I love how Ann at this point is not only a baker, cook, confectioner, amazing mother, cookbook author, but is also versed in science, law and nutrition✨ The sheer power Ann wields is unmatched ❤

[@HowToCookThat]

ha, sheer power might be overstating it but thank you anyway ❤

[@camila1403]

​@@HowToCookThat you're still awesome tho 😍

[@mellie4174]

​@@HowToCookThat you must be drinking red bull😉😂

[@justbreathe549]

@@HowToCookThat No overstating at all, u are awesome! ❤️

[@Vanda-il9ul]

Sometimes when exposed to a product, a question pops in my head: "What would Ann say about it?" Ann, you broke me. Thank you.

[@shadowofkitsune]

In the case of A&W: I did think it sounded like they used real vanilla. I think it is the aged part that made me convinced of that.

[@benkitchen8088]

I’d say “aged vanilla” implies real vanilla is used because I couldn’t imagine someone aging fake vanilla

[@alenazwiep2996]

Yeah I'd like to hear them explain exactly how their vanilla flavoring is "aged"...

[@drebinhasyou]

Ann Reardon seems to be one of the only people online dedicated to the truth, and that’s incredibly refreshing and necessary.

[@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay]

I disagree with corporations being made to babysit the general public. If you aren't smart enough to do your own research, then you deserve whatever you get.

[@kayladean597]

@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay I'm not going to research every single product I buy before using that's too much work. Just tell me the truth dammit! It's not that hard!

[@DrTaunu]

Along with Coffeezilla and Karl Jobst, my unbiased info based on research are being covered. Edit: grammar.

[@helentee9863]

​@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay why are you trolling? Are you paid by a large corporation?!

[@sellingacoerwa8318]

"debunking" are as much of a cash cow as the bunk videos themselves, just look at the views. It would be nice if KZbin made as much of, or any, effort purging crap- sometimes dangerous crap like 5 minute crafts and such as they do banning say, as a example radfem channels with less than 100 subs.

[@Zazaaa27]

We are so blessed by Ann Reardon debunking and explaining so much. Even sacrificing her microwave and her husband’s steel stomach for it 😂❤

[@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay]

I disagree with corporations being made to babysit the general public. If you aren't smart enough to do your own research, then you deserve whatever you get.

[@Zazaaa27]

@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay I do my own research about important things but it’s impossible to research every singel thing you eat and drink especially if you are on a budget or in certain situations

[@helentee9863]

​@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay why are you trolling? Are you paid by a large corporation?!

[@Saphius-]

​@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay pretty sure that a company shouldn't straight up try to mislead you. There's a difference between babysitting and being honest

[@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay]

@@Saphius- "mislead" is subjective language and has no place in law.

[@PsychonautMonique]

My act of kindness this week was baking some delicious banana cupcakes with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting for my coworkers birthday today! She loved them and so did the rest of the office. Heck I'm gonna make even more this weekend to share with more people they were so tasty! Baking is one of life's greatest joys and I'm so happy to share my baked goods with the people I care about. 😊

[@gray_mara]

That's beautiful. It makes me happy to hear about people doing nice things for others.

[@gildedpeahen876]

It’s the best feeling when a friend or loved one eats your food and *loves* it. Truly is better to give than to receive 🖤

[@itsgonnabeanaurfromme]

Doing good shouldn't be announced. Ann merely said to do something kind, not for attention.

[@PsychonautMonique]

@@itsgonnabeanaurfromme she also didn't say to spread your own negativity to others so I guess everyone can keep doing nice things and telling people if they want! :)

[@ShintogaDeathAngel]

@@PsychonautMonique yeah, if nobody said anything about the nice things they did, you’d be forgiven for thinking the human race really was going to hell in a hand basket.

[@zeebee74]

I am a PhD Chemist at UBC and we have a lab where we analyze the amount of vitamin C content in drinks the students bring in. From what I've seen - most juices spike their product with Vitamin C for the shelf life because Vitamin C degrades over time. Also do a caffeine lab for Coke and Pepsi drinks (barely found any but could be due to the decarbonation process). Super cool story!

[@NotMykl]

Barley? Do you mean barely?

[@zeebee74]

Yes

[@Robbedem]

Coca Cola is very strict on the cafeïne content in their product. If you want to decarbonate cola, stir it a couple of minutes to get rid of most and put under a vacuum or in an ultrasonic bath for another couple of minutes to get rid of the last bit. If cafeïne content is reduced, it might be because of bad storage: keep it out of the sun and don't get it below 0°C or above 25°C.

[@Sailor_alan]

Ann Reardon is youtubes mum. Meant in the best way possible. Every video is like a big hug.

[@orzelgryf]

Ann is staritng to be a cullinary version of Legal Eagle, and I'm here for that.

[@profealrescate-negocios9092]

I would love a Collab!

[@elizabethdixon5536]

I got on to How to Cook That from Legal Eagle

[@mattcoffee78]

As a law student, I just wanted to say that the information in this video is spot on. Yet another great video, as expected, Ann!

[@HowToCookThat]

Thanks Matthew :)

[@Sig_P229]

You study false advertising in law school? I don’t remember that class in law school

[@beyond13reaper]

Stores that claims to have the lowest prices in 'my state/country' needs to be debunk by Ann. Stores like Walmart, Aldi, Jewel-Osco, Target, etc.

[@sapphiraice2959]

Hi Ann, a US viewer here. I thought you might like to know that A&W still has their "made with aged vanilla" labels on all their root beer products here - I always eye the root beer options at the store (old habits die hard) and I remember reading that label earlier this week. I personally always suspected there wasn't as much "aged vanilla" in their recipe as they claimed, but I still think they should get at least a fine and maybe have to change their slogan to include "and vanilla flavoring"... or put that last part in super tiny words with an asterisk at the back of the can like other companies do. 😅 I wish companies that advertised things like "helps fight cancer" were forced to stop selling that product and donate all their profits to date from said product to various cancer research funds. Too often, desperate people will get hooked on those products and refuse to listen even when the companies selling those products face legal action for being caught in a lie.

[@deliriouscheeto]

Red bull having less caffeine the coffee literally shocked me. I don't really drink energy drinks regularly, but I always thought they're supposed to have more than coffee. I guess it's just my flawed thinking though.

[@jen6373]

I agree about being surprised. However, I don't think it's your flawed thinking at all. There is definitely an implication that redbull does more than coffee. It's kind of interesting because I don't know of any examples of Redbull specifically comparing itself to coffee, but the "gives you wings" thing is so over the top that I think it makes people assume it's supposed to be like super coffee.

[@Atonement23]

I mean I think most do. The ones I drink has 300mg. I only drink then if I forgot my Pre-Workout before hitting the gym. That stuff quite literally makes you feel like you’re flying lol

[@sarahhenning5484]

it still might give you a bigger energy boost because of the amount of sugar that is inside. Usually people don't put that much sugar in their coffee, but the lawsuit was specifically about concentration and not general energy boosts

[@amoureux6502]

Based on just eyeballing labels over the years I think most of them have around the same amount as coffee. Bang is a big exception tho

[@MammaApa]

@@Atonement23 Sugar high

[@chewiegym2765]

To me, "aged vanilla" implies aged vanilla beans. I'm sure they're not the only company to do this, they just got caught. Thank you for yet another brilliant, informative video, Ann!

[@KiraKiera]

That Ribena ad activated nostalgia for me instantly - I'd completely forgotten about it!

[@katy333]

same here!

[@mpol701]

I drink lots of full sugar Ribena the other squashes sadly lack sugar and are undrinkable, I specifically look for high sugar content as I need it , tried a prime lime and lemon drink and that too was delicious

[@sonofagun4125]

I would love more videos like these Ann! I think with the rise of influencer culture many people are not learning about their consumer rights or to be critical consumers anymore, so it's good for people to see that companies should actually be held accountable for making false or misleading claims.

[@estherstreet4582]

I think a video focused specifically on influencer stuff and what is legal (but shady) and what's illegal would be very interesting, since this video only touched on it a little.

[@EastSider48215]

Yes, I believed A&W used real aged vanilla in their root beer, but I’d always assumed it was a very small amount. Sounds like they used virtually none whatsoever.

[@EppicGracie96]

I really hope this doesn’t get claimed and taken down by any of the corporations whose brands were shown. You’re doing good work Ann

[@addie1080]

its really cool that school kids were the ones debunking the amount of vitamin c in their drinks!

[@me-zb7qm]

I love how well-researched and well-edited this is. Ann is not only a food scientist, but also a great teacher

[@missadissa1]

For the A&W (which is my preferred rootbeer) I never thought anything of the "aged vanilla" but I would definitely consider it misleading if there's no actual vanilla bean in it, even if I personally don't care! Edit: looking it up, the term vanilla can be used to define artificial vanilla as well, so maybe it's not misleading.

[@MNeathway]

Does make me wonder how artificial vanilla flavouring would be aged!

[@iang0th]

Considering that artificial vanilla has to be labeled as such when you buy it directly, it's only fair that it should be treated the same way when used as an ingredient.

[@kashiichan]

​@@MNeathway This is the argument for me. How do you "age" artificial vanilla?

[@simonspacek3670]

@@kashiichan Put it in a bottle and forget about it for five years :D Jokes aside, what is "aged vanilla" anyway?

[@gwahli9620]

I'd assume there *is* real vanilla in there, but it is in homeopathic dosage aka "angel dusting".

[@LaniTayvl]

The New York court case against A&W is actually being waged by a lawyer who has spent many years filing class action suits against companies for not clarifying that they were using imitation vanilla (vanillin) flavoring. From what I had seen in the past, he hadn't gotten very far, so I'm surprised that a judge is actually taking any time with this one. I know a previous judge thought his claims against an ice cream company were frivolous as consumers were smarter than he was giving them credit for.

[@gutwrenchingdeaths]

I'm less than a minute in, and this video made me realise it's been ages since I was actually subjected to a TV advertisement.

[@franki1990]

Nightmare stuff we -hope we- left behind...

[@keiyangoshin3650]

I’ve learned years ago, thanks to Ann, how to ‘interpret’ product labels. I now have a much better notion of exactly what I’m eating and drinking. 😉 Thank you Ann. ❤️

[@kevinfulla]

Watching Ann's videos feels like attending a class with your favorite teacher and sincerely listening to her until class is over and you are looking forward for tomorrow as you will be hearing another interesting and educational lessons from her.

[@pureskill123]

I've been wanting to use one of Ann's videos for my classes. Her content is always SFW, family friendly, whatever you want to call it. They're also English classes and she has a very digestible voice. This is the one. Excellent upload Ann, thanks.

[@punchdrunkassassin]

I used to write advertising and there are an incredible amount of rules you need to abide by (in my country, anyways) - especially when you get into anything food or health related, or directed towards kids. There are also a fair amount of ways to sneak around those rules with weasel words, vague claims, etc. and a lot of companies think they're being pretty clever in doing so 🙄 I loved this video and would absolutely love to see more in this vein!

[@meepMepp]

This is actually so fascinating, it's kinda sad that i don't even think twice as much when i see untrue claims being made, cause i automatically assume that if it got into the commercial there has to be some truth to it. These are really good lessons of why to still be weary of advertisments

[@richjdnz]

I think Ann, you are becoming a bit of a national treasure. What a fascinating episode. I was so glad to see you pay mention to the New Zealand Ribena scandal. This was major news for quite a while over here. Who would have thought the "4x Vitamin C than oranges" claim was not true! My generation was brought up on the fact!

[@wandtpag]

Man I love your videos. I really wish there was that kind of debunking for cosmetics as well.... I live in Germany and I can say without a doubt that almost 30% of cosmetics should be pulled from the shelves (or pulled from online shops, way worse to control), because either the products are misleading, not labelled correctly or are dangerous... unfortunately the authorities are way to understaffed and there's no dedicated state agency that could enforce the rules... it's affiliated to other agencies that partly don't know the cosmetics legislation...

[@embee7434]

You could do it!

[@cloudysaturnn]

AND HER NAME IS CYNTHIA BOBINSKY 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@cloudysaturnn]

hello hello hello Hello Hello

[@atinemassare]

Does "Stiftung Warentest" no longer exist? I remember them testing sunblockers

[@nollypolly]

Lab Muffin does a great job with sunscreen and some cosmetics youtube.com/@LabMuffinBeautyScience

[@NotMykl]

Now there needs to be class action lawsuits filed against all the MLM companies and their huns for all the false advertising and falsehoods they claim.

[@WarriorofChaos20]

Love this! Can you also talk about why pistachio items like Pistachio Muffins and Pistachio Ice Cream are really just almond flavored?

[@ilovemalechickens]

WHAT!?

[@teaartist6455]

Not all of them but there's a lot that, at best, have tiny amounts of pistachio in them. Now, I will grant that you only seem to need about 10% to get a really strong pistachio flavour*, but a lot of them have much less than 5% and at that point you basically need to imagine your own pistachio into it. *based on the divine vegan ice cream brand I found. The only Pistachio ice that actually tasted like pistachios.

[@ChanceNP]

Probably because pistachios are much more expensive than almonds.

[@ShintogaDeathAngel]

@@ChanceNP I’m interested to know how similar tasting pistachios are to almonds. I’ve eaten both, but not recently enough that I can compare them. I’m wondering how much of what we’d really taste when eating a pistachio muffin, that didn’t contain much pistachio, is really psychological due to expectations. A sort of flavour placebo, if you will.

[@ashildrtheswift3028]

@@ShintogaDeathAngel As someone who's recently eaten both, they really don't taste similar to me. Only similar in the sense that they're both nuts

[@inoel75]

In Germany we have an annual price that is given to the company with the most misleading advertisment, the Golden Cream Puff (Goldener Windbeutel). I've never heard of any winner actually collecting the price, though. I wonder why 🤔

[@Iostars]

Ann's smile and videos are just so wholesome. It's like having a sweet aunt that you never doubted because she always educates you so gently and sincerely cares for your well-being.

[@michmash7888]

What timing! Our local school science fair is tonight! I had never heard the blackcurrent drink-science project story before…I’m not even sure that product is widely available in the US. Anyway, I’m going to show that to some of my colleagues when we get to the inevitable “is all this work worth it?” part of the evening. Not exactly an act of kindness, but it may be some encouragement. Thanks, Ann!

[@bboops23]

Black current is difficult if not impossible to find in the US. I imagine Ribena would only be available in an import market

[@mwater_moon2865]

@@bboops23 that's because black currents were illegal! They carried an invasive fungus on their roots that hurt native plants and were straight up outlawed in several states. But it would be fun to compare OJ from fresh squeezed with "natural" and something like Sunny D or Tang that's not even all oranges...

[@timogul]

One thing I hate in ads lately is where they go "I used to have this medical problem. . . and then I used this herb or whatever, and now I fell great!" The ad is not stating that the "supplement" _fixes_ the problem they talk about, they only _imply_ that it does by association. They set up the problem _next_ to their product, and next to statements of users claiming to "feel better than they used to," and allow the audience to draw their own obvious conclusions from that. Of course when the product does nothing, they can claim "well, we weren't saying it _fixed_ that problem. . ."

[@danyvaladez36]

11:39 Ann you are a legend, every time I hear this at the end of your videos I would always take it to heart but you actually saying you really mean it and is not just a catchphrase makes it feel even more special this time around. Great and interesting video as always!!

[@TheBestCat1290]

idk how Anne does it but she makes stuff like this really entertaining to watch

[@SweetestToast]

I learned about the Ribena story many times at school growing up, I studied food tech and lots of science. It was so cool to see other young girls using science to hold a big company responsible.

[@sayeedkizuk5822]

They weren't held responsible, they paid a slap on the wrist fine and kept on making profits by lying to people like all companies do

[@Tindome-ib6el]

That remembers me to a discussion we had with our boss over and over again, some years ago. He tried to loose weight, so he ate a big portion Kellogs special k every day for breakfast, because they advertised with extra low fat and therefore he assumed it is good for diets. We never managed to explain him, that fat in cornflakes isn't the issue in the first place, because all of them contain less than one percent fat. The issue is, that special k contains even more sugar than the regular one. That the regualar one also are not suitible for a weight loss diet didn't get through to him as well.

[@Angel_Billy4-30-23]

This is why I love watching your videos, being you're honest about everything you post and even if you don't know everything about the topic you're talking about, you still let your audience know that you don't know some things about said topic. But your videos are so entertaining and extremely informative. Please keep up the awesome videos.

[@mernae9888]

thank you so much for putting so much time and effort in your videos!! you can truely tell when someone genuinely cares about what they do. love you lots!!♥️

[@annabeckman4386]

Ugh! There is always something unsettling!! BUT thank goodness for Ann!! She is in our corner to educate and enlighten us! 👏👏👏

[@Kikiriku]

what about MOST beauty companies offering treatments for wrinkles that have NEVER been scientifically proven? Imagine how much money they make on simply lying to people! I know you mostly do videos about food but i would love to watch you talk about other topics as well. I feel like i can trust whatever you say because you try to be as honest and unbiased as possible.

[@sapphireseptember]

Ribena with no artificial sweeteners? 😲 Haven't seen that in years! The stupid 'sugar tax' has ruined things like squash and fizzy pop in the UK. 😭

[@imrunningsoda1350]

I am studying Food Science and I get a lot of knowledge and inspiration from your videos! Actually, watching your videos is what developed my interest in food science and helped me chose my major! Your videos display information in a lucrative manner which are very entertaining to watch! Love you ANN❤

[@MsSmontalvo]

I wish more companies/brands/etc got into trouble for this kind of thing. I always appreciate how clear and easy-to-understand you make this, and all other, information on your channel. Also, so far I love all of your content! I'm a new-ish subscriber, but have already watched a ton of your older videos. Keep up the great work! :D

[@billymacaraeg7761]

ohh 😯, actually I have the same gut feeling on marketing of foods bringing out wrong information in a way and just for sake of buying their products, and these ideas you've put out just hit it 🤩, thanks so much for sharing this to us ☺️

[@stephgreen3070]

You always do such a great job teaching and explaining. Your calm, thoughtful explanations are always educational. You’re a delight to watch! Thanks!

[@HowToCookThat]

Thank you so much!

[@kittyminxi3676]

I’ll never forget the Ribna scandal, and how they were taken down by high school students all because of a science project.

[@cockersplodie]

When I was growing up in the 70s, I was taught three things that pertain here: 1) if it sounds too good it is; 2) advertising is mere hyperbole; 3) caveat emptor. Has served me well for more than 50 years. Oh yeah - and the only people who win in a class action suit are the lawyers.

[@joshholloway4799]

This is so interesting. I learnt so much from this anne. I had no idea that coca cola and ribena were such big offenders in misleading advertising. Have a great week everyone!

[@Vickie-Bligh]

Thank you, Ann, for this very informative video. And thank you for your 'be kind' end tag. I've seen several instances of being kind over the past few days. It does lighten the spirit and brings us together as people. ❤

[@HowToCookThat]

that's so good to hear Vickie :)

[@riddhishah579]

Notification squad🔔✋ i always get so happy when u post! Also glad ur shedding light on important topics and not posting fake videos for views like many others!!

[@hollyneal355]

Growing up in the 90’s I straight up thought my bones would turn to dust if I didn’t drink milk every day. The 90’s milk campaign was STRONG.

[@BeckyAnn6879]

Yep, hobbyist reviewer here, and ANY time you receive an item from a company/PR firm, you HAVE to specifically mention that you received the item for review purposes. Even if they also pay you for the review, you HAVE to convey that message. If you DON'T, you are going to get HEAVY fines from the FTC.

[@AmethystEyes]

As a root beer lover, I respect that lawyer for suing A&W.

[@slythief6607]

I really enjoy watching you expose/debunk videos like these, the way you explain things is so relaxing and easy to understand. Also I can't believe Cola tired to claim that their product didn't rot peoples teeth xD

[@etoloser.e4241]

Yes PLEASE! Some more of this content pleaase. I've always love the bits from other videos when you explain food laws. Having a whole series from you would be a dream! Your explanation is always clear and easy to understand. :)

[@Gerry1290]

Deceiving commercials are everywhere I remember the most common in my country about filled brioches pillow shaped, the filling in it was 3 times minus than the packaging. Eventually they put the real fill also in the pack. Problem solved!

[@maker0824]

5:36 what a great editing choice it was to have a vertical block of text that doesn’t fit on screen that has text starting on top have the text scroll bottom up. Really friendly editing

[@helenivanic1628]

I love Fridays. Finishing a long day’s work, then relax to watch Ann’s awesome videos. ❤❤

[@HowToCookThat]

Enjoy!

[@smileygirl6457]

I'm so thankful for your videos Ann.😄🥰

[@HowToCookThat]

thanks smiley girl 😀

[@cdteddey]

Honestly thank you very much for making these videos. I've always appreciated what you do for people. And your statement at the end sent me straight to tears thank you for spreading the positivity we all need

[@Broken_robot1986]

Historical false advertisements would be cool to. Love you Ann!

[@ClanImprobable]

I love that you underscored at the end that you really mean be kind to others. Thank you so much Ann.

[@aura578]

I love that you're so dedicated to create new content and exposing the commercial lies simultaneously!! Bravo 👏 👏 👏 👏

[@alexafinishmydegree112]

Always thankful for your work! 💛

[@kalisederoche]

knowing you are out here taking care of us gives me peace 💚 thank u Ann!!

[@BornRemaining]

I used to always wonder how much vegetable mass it took to make my vegetable oil... Then I found out it's soybean oil. Zero actual vegetables, only seeds, and the label is always a big picture of lots of real vegetables like carrots and celery. How is it not false advertising to use labels that say "VEGETABLE OIL" over a background of actual veggies???

[@alexia3552]

05:42 the corrective ads really feels like getting in trouble with your parents lol, I love it

[@shannen7917]

I will rise to the call and make a concerted effort to do something unexpectedly kind for someone this week. Thanks for all the good you do in the world Ann!

[@BoliVic96]

It would be really helpful if you added a reference link of where you look up these nutritional values, for some foods they get tricky to find!

[@rafiaahsan02]

I love this video! It's interesting to see how many companies advertised their products in a misleading manner. I hope this becomes a series!

[@ClanImprobable]

Me too!

[@logankwiatkowski8283]

Your videos are just so well done, I’m 16 and I can remember watching you when I was probably 9 or 10, thank you for inspiring my cooking journey . ❤

[@anthonydejongh7053]

First off: thank you for sharing this video with us and all of the effort you always make in your fact checking! I want to share something very different, but what I also view as misleading...something we here in The Netherlands are coming across more and more lately: 'shrinkflation'. Product manifacturors offer the same packaging, but with a lot less product for even a higher price than the original. This is by no means illegal ( that I know of), but makes everyday grocerie shopping worse than finally admitting it is leg-week at the gym. Again thank you for this video!

[@rosesrcewl9689]

Always look forward to seeing these videos. Love you Ann!!

[@YoowlOwl]

I love information that is easily consumed and debunks misconceptions! Thank you for your continued work 😊

[@caffeine_kitty]

Gotta click asap when ann reardon posts

[@justherbirdy]

Ann, I love you and your videos. You break everything down so clearly, calmly, and informatively, and you always try to give people the benefit of the doubt rather than attacking. The way you look into things and do your research is such a great example for all of us in this world where the truth can sometimes be malleable. Thank you so much.

[@HolldollMcG]

Love this. The FTC and other such entities need to crack down on MLMs. I mean, those things should be illegal anyway, but holy crap, the health claims some of these huns make are WILD.

[@tammybrazeau1213]

OMG OMG I got my book today 😍 My hubby and daughter got it for me, Ann it's such a well written and pictured book. I can't wait to bake with it. Tammy from Ontario Canada 🇨🇦