让垃圾食品不再“垃圾”

    玛氏公司（Mars）是著名的M&Ms、星河巧克力和士力架等产品的制造商。但是这家公司的发言人拒绝对此发表评论。

    奇异产品的构想来自于万圣节之后的父子争辩。三年前，布隆纳的儿子12岁大。父母拿走了他的大多数糖果“战利品”。尼基对父母表示抗议，但父母告诉他，糖果吃多了对他的健康不利。尼基不服气，转而向网络寻求帮助，最终却发现父母的说法是对的。因此，尼基在接下来的两年里着手探索能否抛弃垃圾食品原材料生产出美味的糖果。

    尼基运用他父亲在商业界的人脉关系和经济来源，联系了食品和营养学方面的专家，一位著名的厨师，以及Khosla等风投公司。慢慢地，布隆纳家庭创立并发展起来一家公司，并汇集了来自宝洁（Procter & Gamble）、家乐氏（Kellogg）、谷歌（Google）和高迪瓦（Godiva）等公司的经验丰富的人员。首批产品于今年夏天投放市场。奇异品牌公司希望能够将市场拓展至甜品饮料和其他产品领域。

    Khosla公司合伙人萨米尔•库尔称，奇异品牌对Khosla的投资来说非常重要。Khosla进行的可持续性投资越来越多，对食品和农业领域给予了越来越大的关注度。他说：“我们准备从糖果开始，并给人们抛出一个价值主张。我们必须通过有意义的方式来影响变革。”

    奇异公司能否完成自己使命？且让我们拭目以待。耶鲁大学（Yale University）吕德食品政策与肥胖中心（Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity）主任凯利•布朗内尔对乌坦的一些担忧表示赞同。他说，奇异品牌的最终影响在很大程度上依赖于消费者对其产品作何响应。布朗内尔博士称：“假设产品只比垃圾食品好10%，但如果消费者认为这些产品要比垃圾食品好40%，那就会造成不好的结果。消费者食用同等的量才是明智的。”

    我桌上就摆着一堆“奇异”糖果。我正努力关注其传达的节制饮食的信息。一位同事停下来拿起一个糖果棒，我费劲口舌地向他解释奇异品牌的价值观。然而还没等我说完，他就走出房间，在走廊里对我喊了一句：“我可不是为了健康才去吃这些东西。我就是想吃点巧克力而已。”

    译者：李柰/汪皓

    A spokesman for Mars, the maker of M&Ms, Milky Ways and Snickers, declined to comment.

    Unreal emerged out of a father and son dispute following, appropriately, Halloween. Three years ago, when Bronner's son Nicky was 12, his parents took away most of his trick-or-treating spoils. When Nicky protested, his parents told him candy was bad for him. Unconvinced, Nicky turned to the Web, only to find out that his parents were right after all. So Nicky embarked on a two-year quest to find out whether tasty candy could be made without junk.

    Using his father's business world connections and pocketbook, Nicky contacted food and nutrition experts, a renowned chef, and investors like Khosla. Little by little, the Bronners built a company with veterans from Procter & Gamble (PG), Kellogg (K), Google (GOOG) and Godiva. The products were first introduced this summer. Over time, Unreal hopes to expand into sweetened beverages and other products.

    Samir Kaul, a partner at Khosla, says Unreal made sense for his firm, which has been making a growing number of investments in sustainability, with an increased focus in the food and agriculture sectors. "We are going to start with candy and give people a value proposition," he says. "We have to affect change when we can in meaningful ways."

    Whether Unreal can fulfill its mission remains to be seen. Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, echoes several of Wootan's concerns. He says Unreal's ultimate impact largely depends on how consumers respond to its products. "Lets say the products are better by 10%, but if consumers think they are 40% better, then it's not going to be good," Dr. Brownell says. "If consumers respond by eating the same amount, they will be better off."

    As a pile of Unreal's treats sits on my desk, I'm trying to heed the implicit message of moderation. When a colleague stops and grabs a candy bar, I do my best to explain Unreal's mission. Before I finish, however, he walks out the door, and from the hallway, he blurts out: "I'm not eating it to be healthy. I just want some chocolate."