Now that the 2017 Shonkys have been awarded with (as usual) no corporate reps to receive their accolade, the march of shonkyness continues. Maybe starting an early watch list with our prospective ‘nominees’ (and why) might cause some of them to raise their game (however unlikely).
Choice staff distil the most deserving toward the end of the Shonky Year, but why wait for the 2018 Shonkys to be announced when we can share our shonky experiences now?
Choice criteria for Shonky nominees should be considered for a mention, and is at
The biggies in the link are that a nomination has to meet one or more of the following Shonky criteria:
Fails a standard
Poor performance on CHOICE tests
Hidden charges
Lack of transparency
False claims or broken promises
Consumers are worse off because of it
Consumer confusion
Poor value for money
Consumer frustration, or just plain outrage
‘We’ (eg Choice) can prove it, and
It affects a lot of people
I doubt this kick-off will hold muster, but it must be poor value for money, although only an extra few dollars.
It is reported as costing double for the same ingredients as regular Vegemite, but in different proportions, packaged in a limited edition (for now) of 490,000 jars sold in (drum roll) unnecessary packaging and having a gold lid.
Limited editions elicit higher prices, and Bega could be missing out by not numbering those jars and charging even more. Imagine what collectors might pay for the first or last jar if they did that!
Imagine how grand a jar of Blend 17 will look next to a jar of Vegemite, next to a jar of iSnack 2.0 in the curio cabinet.
Maybe Choice should also run a campaign for the anti-Shonky companies, namely those who change they way they do things to make things vastly better and are industry leaders (e.g. push out warranty periods for goods which forces others to follow, voluntarily sets the benchmark for not adding additives to processed goods. etc).
There was a time in the past when CHOICE had an awards ceremony to recognise positive behavior and products, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
From @passerbye123 it seems the IGA sourced Baked Provisions bakery line should easily qualify with banana without banana in addition to the cherry slice without cherries. Although neither banana nor cherry product is listed.
It appears their products are only available in NSW/ACT and WA. Choice might send some shoppers out to have a look
… colours, flavours, preservatives yet no cherries, its enough to make you cherry red in the face, with no cherries. Even the alleged chocolate company Cadbury (who have forgotten Christmas and Easter but understand Halal (but not Kosher)) puts a significant percentage of glace cherries in their cherry ripe bar - along with a host of other numbered crap …
Essentially the name of a food product should relate fairly directly to the ingredients. If the key words in the name aren’t represented in the ingredients list then surely it is effectively false advertising. I’d be very surprised if we can’t find many examples of this …
Interesting Website Francine - we went through a similar journey ‘Dengate style’ after being told by a psychologist we could medicate a child, but she also said “there is another thing you can try” … what a ride !!
Be careful not to confuse the NBN (and the political garbage that surrounds it) with the resellers. From what I have heard, a large proportion of NBN problems come from the system Our Great Leaders designed for the NBN and resellers, and from the way that resellers are seeking to ‘make a buck’ within that system - which itself encourages plenty of buck-passing.
Is this anything like Blend 43? If I remember correctly, that brand was claiming that 43 beans were used in each jar/mug/carafe/10kg tin…? I wonder what one gets 17 of - beer barrels scraped per jar? (Apologies for anyone who has not yet heard that old fable about how Vegemite is manufactured.)
My nomination for a Shonky would currently be this nation-wide non-binding ‘survey’ of whether some people should or should not have the right to call their life-long love match ‘marriage’.
Another Nestlé Group product possibly to add to the list is Nestlé Milo * Cereal which has 4 out of 5 health stars and contains 26.9 g of sugar per 100 g. Serving size is 30g which has an average quantity per serving of 8.1g of sugar (before adding reduced fat milk).
* Milo is a Registered Trade Mark of the Nestlé Group
Though Nesquik (also a Registered Trade Mark of the Nestlé Group) makes no claims re health stars it is about 95% sugar and on the packaging/tin it prominently states “Good to Know Milk is an excellent source of calcium. Adding milk to NESQUIK provides a good source of calcium essential for building strong bones and teeth in growing children^.” and about a further 2/3 down “^ When NESQUIK and milk is consumed as a part of a healthy diet containing a variety of foods.” is not so clearly displayed. But still 95% sugar and what if you don’t add milk as the hint only suggests if you do it will be a good source of calcium.
Perhaps members of the Fast Food Groups should receive Shonkys for many of their products. The article linked to here must give some “food for thought” in this regard:
Wouldn’t that just be all of them? It’s an interesting question, whether there is such a thing as good fast food. I go to Subway now and then and have as much salad as I can in the roll, but I know the sugar and salt levels are probably beyond silly … still it ‘feels better’ than a double quarter pounder with bacon … basically a congealed fat salt and sugar morass. But really, is anything ok? seems like it’s all comfort food to me, that is, until you are clutching at your chest …
If visiting Subways just ask for a Salad instead of the 6 inch. It comes in a bowl no bread, costs an extra $2 than the sub you want. And request they go heavy on the salad, mind you they are supposed to put salad to the equivalent of a footlong in the bowl and only the meat and cheese is the 6 inch amount. If you want to double the meat it is an extra $1.50.