There is no denying that Girl Scout Cookies are delicious but when you find out what’s actually in them, you might think twice about eating them ever again.
I used to be a Girl Scout and if I knew what I know now about food and nutrition, I would have boycotted selling them until the ingredients changed.
We all know cookies are cookies and they are a treat that isn’t meant to be “healthy.” But, the cookies I like to eat have basic ingredients – flour, sugar, butter or coconut oil, baking soda and eggs. If you’ve been to any grocery store lately, you’ll see that there are tons of options that are just that. So, why is it that the Girl Scouts get little girls to hawk these cookies year after year that are filled with artificial and questionable ingredients?
Just take a look at the ingredients, they speak for themselves!
Sugar made from GMO Sugar Beets
The sugar in Girl Scout Cookies doesn’t all come from sugar cane, but instead from genetically modified sugar beets. This type of sugar can contain glyphosate residues from the Roundup weed killer that is prevalently used on them. Glyphosate was deemed a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO), and is also linked to kidney disease, birth defects, and autism. If you think a little bit of herbicide residue in your cookie isn’t something to worry about, consider this, soon after Monsanto got approval to market GMO sugar beets for public consumption, they requested that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) increase the limit of allowable glyphosate residues in sugar beet roots from 0.2 ppm to 10 ppm – that’s a 5000% increase! Given the prevalence of Roundup-Ready crops in America, just how much of this stuff are we really eating? Not to mention glyphosate pollution of our water, soil and air that is affecting us all.
High Fructose Corn Syrup
There are two versions of of Girl Scout Cookies made by 2 different bakers. Although the ingredients are nearly identical, one version of the Thin Mints cookie (and some other cookie varieties) is sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup. This sweetener can be contaminated with toxic mercury and has been shown to contribute to type II diabetes, especially in children.
Partially Hydrogenated Oils
The Girl Scouts use a sneaky FDA loophole to claim all of their cookies contain “0 Grams Trans Fat” per serving, while some of them (including Thin Mints made by Little Brownie Bakers) actually contain partially hydrogenated oil with artificial trans fat. They get away with this because the FDA allows any product is labeled “0 grams of Trans Fat” to contain up to 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving (which is only 4 Thin Mints). Yet, the Institute of Medicine says that no amount of trans fat safe to eat because trans fat is linked to thousands of cases of heart disease. Please note – The FDA is requiring all food manufactures to remove trans fats by 2018, but food companies can still petition the FDA for a special permit to continue using it.
Enriched White Flour
This type of flour has been stripped of natural nutrients so it has no redeeming qualities and is essentially dead food. So, they enrich it with synthetic vitamins (niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid) that are not naturally derived. These fake nutrients are engineered in a lab from such things as coal tar, ammonia, formaldehyde, GMO bacteria, and petroleum.
Artificial Flavors
The type of flavors used by the Girl Scouts is a top secret man-made concoction of chemicals. Not only do you not know what chemicals you are really eating when you eat artificial flavors, but they are linked to allergic reactions.
Class IV Caramel Color
There are 4 different types of caramel color used by the food industry, and Class IV caramel color is added to some Girl Scout cookies like Thin Mints. Class IV caramel color is made from ammonia and contains the byproduct 4-MEI, a known cancer risk.
And if Thin Mints are not your favorite Girl Scout Cookie, Samoas are even worse!
And if you like Tagalongs – here’s the deal with those:
Do we really need to buy these cookies to support the Girl Scouts?
When the Girl Scouts come knocking, consider a donation or volunteering for the Girl Scouts instead of buying these cookies. Please also consider signing this petition started by a little Girl Scout asking for organic and non-GMO cookies!
Voting with your dollars is not always popular or easy but surely sends the right message to these bakers that continue to use these controversial ingredients.
If you know someone who is selling or eating Girl Scout Cookies, please share this post with them. The more people that know the truth, the better!
Xo,
Vani
I’ve been making my own version on girl scout cookies for awhile now, they taste better and I know what’s in them, and my sister can have them because she has celiac’s disease!
Would love to have your receipe.
I don’t have the recipe off the top of my head, but i found most of them on pinterest, and tweaked them. You can find me on pinterest JDpsu, the recipes should be under either Paleo or Things I have actually done 🙂 🙂
Me too please 🙂
I haven’t purchased Girl Scout cookies in years. I am Gluten intolerant, but react as bad as celiac. So, who knows if newer tests would show celiac. I’ve been reading that Glyphosphate/ Roundup damages the gut & is causing more celiac these days.
I don’t have the recipe off the top of my head, but i found most of them on pinterest, and tweaked them. You can find me on pinterest JDpsu, the recipes should be under either Paleo or Things I have actually done
Several years ago, Girl Scouts introduced gluten-free choc. chip shortbread cookies, but they were HORRIBLE! Last year, however, they tweaked the gluten-free recipe and called them “Choc. Chip Trios” because they contained 3 favorite ingredients: choc, chips, peanut butter, and oatmeal. They are actually very tasty, and a great gluten-free option. Though after reading this article, I can’t vouch for the absence of any other potentially dangerous ingredients that might be present in them… 🙁
I would love recipes for Girl Scout type cookies too please!
I don’t have the recipe off the top of my head, but i found most of them on pinterest, and tweaked them. You can find me on pinterest JDpsu, the recipes should be under either Paleo or Things I have actually done
Greetings from Las Vegas☀️ Love if you’d share your recipe as well . Yummy
I don’t have the recipe off the top of my head, but i found most of them on pinterest, and tweaked them. You can find me on pinterest JDpsu, the recipes should be under either Paleo or Things I have actually done
I have the recipes i use on Pinterest (JDpsu). they should be under Paleo and/or Things I have actually done 🙂
That’s really great!! Could you share your recipe?
Wow. Its amazing how many people comment to protect the poor innocent non profit org. Hey its not like they did not know they were forcing the girls to sell junk that was harming the health of their customers for the last 3 or 4 decades. The information has been out there for a very long time now how harmful these ingredients are.
The real question is why have the Girl scout organizations not taken a leadership role decades ago to sell only cookies made with healthful ingredients? This way they could have been teaching the girls a real sense of values that would serve them well as adults. In this way we could all take pride in buying from the Girl Scouts.
The Girl scout organizations have sold out to large business a long time ago and fully deserve to be boycotted. They are not teaching our girls high moral standards, and that is a shame which they should all collectively be held accountable for.
I quite buying girl scout cookies decades ago. Whenever approached, I tell them I will be happy to buy a dozen boxes of organic cookies. Clearly they have never, taken me up on my offer. Why support an organization of such low moral values.
I agree w/Jim. I will, however, donate the cost of a box to help the local chapter
Excellent comment! I fully support what you’ve said here. It’s time to get the CORPORATE CONTROL out of our lives – especially our children’s lives. It’s time for each of us to take responsibility for what we know, do and teach.
I think it’s quite a far reach to say the girl scouts have low morals and aren’t teaching the girls high moral standards. It’s not an evil empire. I wish the cookies were better nutritionally too, and hope they jump on the bandwagon, but don’t be a jerk to the poor little girl showing up on your doorstep. You can donate to the troop without purchasing cookies.
TOTALLY AGREE! The whole sales process is an educational learning experience for the scouts!!!! They learn social skills, math skills, marketing with creativity and they LOVE IT. If you are on a strict eating regime and don’t eat the cookies, AT LEAST donate to the Girl Scout program instead of snubbing them. I’m proud of my Girl Scout and I LOVE THIN MINTS!!!!!
As usual, no one wants to take any responsibility for pedaling an unhealthy product. Where is the integrity of the parents?
We had to quit Girl Scouts for this very reason. These cookies go against everything I’ve been fighting for to keep my autoimmine disease at bay and keep my family healthy. It was a very diifcult choice since we live in a tiny town with very little to do but I just could NOT have our daughter selling these.
Really you people need to look past a cookie. How do you think they get the funds to do the things they do. What is in the cookies has been out there for years. You should have never joined if you didn’t have a clue.
And what do the Girl Scouts really do?
When my daughter was involved, they charged for everything and gave nothing for free. It was the mothers who ran the local chapters that deserved all the credit. It’s all hype.
I was sick of having my children used as shills to sell candy and other products for the benefit of schools, sports, church, anything they wanted to raise money, even though we also had to pay to belong to them.
The Scouts are a corporation, and the people at the top are living off the profits, just like any other corporation…and being supported by little kids. It’s disgusting.
That’s to bad that you had your daughter quit Girl Scouts because of the cookie sales. Any scout is allowed to opt out of selling cookies if they choose. There are many other fundraiser choices out there. That’s kind of like keeping a child out of school b/c they serve horrible gluten/sugar filled foods. You can’t shelter your child from the way our society eats (which I do agree is quiet horribly) but educate, educate, educate.
Pat you are on the money. I was in the same dilemma with my daughter selling Girl Scout cookies. Kinda funny how when she was a Brownie they sold more and as they got older it was easier for people to say no.
Totally agree the organization is using child labor to support their “mission.” And yes they don’t give anything for free.
Pat you are on the money. I found the same thing when my son joined Boy Scouts. The den mother even decided to opt out of their popcorn sales and got in trouble.
Glad Food Babe posted the reality of what is in these cookies.
Could some one tell me if Pillsbury or Gold Medal all purpose FLOUR is a safe brand for baking.
Hi Frank,
I quit using Pillsbury a while back when I read their ingredients. I found a wonderful (non-bleached) flour that is also, 100% organic! It’s called King Arthur. They have many different types of flour, but I bought their All Purpose organic, non-bleached flour and have been very happy with it.
I hope this helps. 🙂
Beth
Thank You Beth I know this Brand I will change to it .for some reason I have gone into Baking mode .
Frank,
I wouldn’t use King Arthur flour. I just found out yesterday that all of the flours are enriched with the same fake (lab created) vitamins that are in the Girl Scout cookies. I was so upset because I’ve been buying their brand for years and just never thought to really look because I trusted them. I found Hodgson’s all natural, unbleached, unenriched flour yesterday. It’s about 5.00 for a 5lb bag on their website. I bought a case (6). Hope this helps!
Frank,
I was alarmed at Jen’s comment and called King Arthur. They do NOT put anything she mentioning in their 100% Organic All Purpose Flour. This is what is listed on the bag:
Certified 100% organic wheat flour. 100% organic malted barley flour.
You can’t go wrong with their organic line, so if you want to steer clear of what she is mentioning, get their 100% Organic flour.
Beth
Not “ALL” of their flours are enriched. Always buy organic.
You need to purchase organic flour to ensure it is good. If you ever read up on how flour is processed you will never want to use any other. My sister thought she had an issue with gluten but after eating my bake goods using organic flour she had no issues which shows it was the herbicides used in processing the flour that was the real issue
Conflict of interest…. Noticed in many of the comments … knowing how foods are made and what happens to our bodies, including what types of cells are produced as a result of eating …will empower us to avoid illness and disease. Spraying poison on food, using harmful chemical to extract vitamins and bi-products results in breakdown of our cells. This is a complicated way to illustrate the start of mutated cells (cancer). I hate it when people want to call something “good” when clearly all the components at work are not good, girl scouts or not, knowing what is present is half the battle. Knowing how to act after learning, is the other half of the battle. Being upset with the wrong person over this information is wasting precious energy. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HOLDING THE FOOD SYSTEM TO A HIGHER STANDARD? WHAT BENEFITS ARE THERE TO HAVING TWO STANDARDS OF FOOD, ORGANIC, AND LESSER QUALITIES? ALL FOOD USED TO BE ORGANIC IT NATURALLY OCCURS THIS WAY. It seems clear to me that business has a conflict of interest, when in my opinion, health and the people that need it should be the only interest. Thanks for hearing my thought process on this matter!
For whatever reason, menopause has taken away my sweet tooth. I crave no sugar anymore (yep, I’m a freak!) so, no worries, I will no longer be contributing to the delinquency of my precious body. When I am stopped by any girl scouts at the grocery store, I just say I already purchased them from a family member. Those little girls are innocent pawns in this game, and I will not insult them by saying, “Ewwww, no way” to them. Happily, I just walk on past the cookies-for-sale table, make no eye contact (!), and bless menopause. Woot Woot! Thanks for your detective work, though…full disclosure is a beautiful thing!
I’ll still buy and eat these babies until I feel sick. LOVE these cookies!
Yup and each 1 takes time off your life.. great investment
Welcome to Darwin’s waiting room.
Will you be looking into Boy Scout sales of popcorn? A father of a Scout hit me up for a purchase of their popcorn outside of a Lowe’s store this past year. I asked him if the popcorn was organic. He looked befuddled. I wanted to explain GMOs and glyphosate (which Lowe’s sells by the pallet as Round-Up, along with other herbicides that will damage Scouts’ growing bodies) but decided the question alone was a good start and walked off.
Well if you feel you want to buy these to help support the girls, here’s a better idea. Write them a check this way they will get the full amount instead of having to sharing it with the baker and you’ll both be better off for it.
… and it’s unfortunate that in the “corporate” structure of Girl Scouts, girls or troops that don’t participate in BOTH the Fall Fundraiser (selling nuts and candies) and the Spring Cookie Sale are not allowed to do any of their own fundraising projects that are better aligned with their own convictions. Kind of hypocritical from an organization that claims to empower girls and to be “girl-led.” My daughter, for one, doesn’t like selling the cookies, but considers it the ‘price of admission” to the other healthy and empowering programming that Girl Scouts provides.
A heads up for all who follow Food Babe. Grocery Stores are using more Propylene Glycol in their brand items from the deli or in the deli area. Last night my wife purchased a loaf of Food Lion French Bread. We have been eating it for some times and I , who have a severe reaction to Propylene Glycol, have until last night had no problem. We read ingredients and had come to rely on this bread having no PG. Before I could finish eating I began to tighten up in my chest and pain in my back. Congestion like you would not believe. Off to the bath room to cough up the congestion. I pulled the bread back out and read the label. There it was Propylene Glycol.
I can not eat a Wall Mart Cup Cake or any of their sweets with icing because in the icing and flour mix they use PG. It is in food coloring where as years ago it was not. Though some will tell you PG is not a problem. It is. I would love to put the stupid doubters in my shoes with a PG reaction I wish they would ban this stuff. I am at a point where I can’t eat in a restaurant because PG is being used more and more. .
I know you wouldnt want to eat at any restaurant since youre not back there to see each item used.
Im happy and sad that the cookies ingredients were investigated. Happy this was brought to national attention (kudos FOOD BABE! This was a gutsy issue to take on!) and sad that I wont be buying their cookies this year. Lets hope the girl scouts dont eat the unsold boxes….what am I going to tell the sweet little girl scouts at the Walgreens front door, when I cant buy the cookies? I’ll have to think about that come back….
One of the things I really appreciated about Food Babe’s GS Cookie Investigation was that she let us know she had been a Girl Scout. THEN, she suggested giving a DONATION or VOLUNTEERING for the Girl Scouts.
Giving a cash donation for 2 boxes of cookies and letting them know I can’t eat GMO ingredients & pesticides is something I tell them in a polite way. Then I give them the money for the two boxes & say they can gift the ones I paid for to someone else if they want.
I don’t want anyone else to eat that stuff either, but others may choose not to care what they eat. If the girls are interested in what I’m talking about concerning the ingredients of their cookies, they’re getting a great education by looking up Food Babe who certainly supports their organization!!!! My support is for the girls doing something on behalf of their group they believe in. Thanks Vani.
you could just make a donation, or not…they make a billion dollars a year in cookie sales. (I read it in a newspaper).
Thank You for your info regarding the cookies. Just another good reason to not buy the cookies. Girl Scouts of America gives monies to Planned Parenthood from the sale of those cookies. Abortion and the political unrest of Pro Life groups should not be involved with the Girl Scouts.
Please do not confuse this issue with other UNRELATED issues … I and others may agree on why we should boycott GS cookies and disagree on other issues, such as the one you are attempting to insert. Do you appreciate congress surreptitiously inserting unrelated riders into important bills?
Girl Scouts does not give money to Planned Parenthood. It started Over 30 years ago when there were some partnerships for education because there were so many girls from single parent homes but that relationship was completely severed in 2004.
There is NO relationship whatsoever with Planned Parenthood.
I don’t buy them. I used to sell them, but I won’t eat them. Ick. I’m not even tempted by them because they are filled with indigestible, unpronounceable who-knows-what. If you want to support Girl Scouts, volunteer. Don’t donate unless you are comfortable with the PACs and other groups their money supports. The girls will benefit from your time and talents more than from your money.
Thankfully eating whole foods has really taken away my taste for stuff like this. I still like sweets, but find a small amount of high quality dark chocolate, or some really good fruit usually does the trick. I just wish the Girl Scouts could find something better to sell!
Hey Food Babe,
Thank you so much for all you do for us.
Your hard work is very much appreciated.
You are one brave soul.
Please send pictures of your yard after the parents of the local Girl Scouts finish rolling your home and yard with the not so famous toilet paper.
I Hear the Boy Scouts are working on a new Demerit Badge.
I am not a big eater of sweets, but I am a big sucker for Girl Scouts Cookies and Thin Mints are my favorite.
Looks like I’ll just donate cash from now on.
Thanks for this long overdue post. I don’t by the hydrogenated boy scout popcorn either. I always give them a donation, but it comes to them at the cost of having to listen to me rant about the garbage ingredients in what they are selling g.
Well said! Keep spreading the message, your voice might be the first or only one they hear!
Food babe you crazy girl
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs
Girl Scout cookies succumbed to big corporations who put PROFIT ahead of health and use little girls to do it. SHAMEFUL!!
Why can’t the cookies be healthful like WALKER Shortbread Cookies. Just sugar, butter and flour. It’s a start to minimal….
I totally agree! I bake banana bread and ginger spice banana bread from scratch using only gluten free flour and organic flour. I also make my own bread. It would be better if the cookies where made like this( homemade) then people may buy more. It is sad the industry for Girl Scouts cookies put in as a “marketing tool to sell, sell, sell for their profit not the girls! That is what is wrong with the USA food supply, full of artificial ingredients, dyes and chemicals! This is why people eventually develop all sorts of illnesses such as allergies of the worse kind! Think about it go to the doctor every so often to get medication enough to keep you going back for more! Food make you sick, go to the doctor and get the medication. The cycle continues over and over again! The FDA really do not help all the time because that industry allow a lot of dangerous foods to slip by to the consumers!The United Kingdom and other countries do not want for from the USA because it is full of S- Chemicals!
Hi Vani,
I knew about these cookies
A long time ago , & stopped
Buying them. Most of the
Commercial cookies have
One or more of these
Ingredients , so make your
Own.
I agree with Vani wholeheartedly! BIG FOOD in America has gotten away with too much for far too long. As a former Girl Scout, if I had known then what I knew now about the cookies, I seriously doubt I would have sold them. Young girls should not be asked to be contributors to obesity rates, which is a real problem in the US especially. Asking them to clean up their cookies is a simple request. If they don’t, then boycott. Until we as Americans refuse to buy into the garbage BIG FOOD dishes out, then we’re all contributors as well.
Well spoken Carolyn
Food activist are doing what they can to bring about awareness. But it’s up to the individual to do some research as all. My advice is to use research from independent research labs not research labs that are funded by Big Industry. Also with the revolving door of Chemical/Big Food/Big Beef & etc company CEO’s into the FDA, USDA & EPA. You pretty much have to become educated on this matter to look out for your family as well as yourself because there isn’t anyone else doing it!
I was a Canadian Girl Guide back in the 1950’s. We sold those chocolate, vanilla cream filled cookies. They tasted delicious.
Fast forward to 2016. I bought a box last year from a local group and tasted them and threw them in the garbage. You can taste the chemicals and that’s all you can taste!! Well perhaps I should say that’s all I can taste. I’ve been on straight homemade foods all my life. So my taste buds are pretty clean.
I now give a donation straight to the Girl Guide/Scout group. It gives them more money and cuts out the middle man and hits Monsteranto where it hurts.
Thanks for all you do Vani, take care and be well!
Victoria
Vani,
What would you recommend?
Are we actually giving tax dollars to the FDA? They certainly aren’t
protecting us. Methinks they are on the government payroll and
the lobbyist payroll. How good is that?
Thank God someone and I’m glad it’s the Food Babe, finally exposed those poisonous Girl Scout cookies. It makes me sick to see those darling little girls trying to sell those things, giving the impression that the cookies must be wholesome like the girls are. I ate some once about 20 years ago before I became knowledgeable about ingredients. NEVER AGAIN
Vani, Thanks for your efforts of keeping everyone informed!! It’s real simple.When you eat the cookies you eat cookies that are not healthy for you. Wake up Girl Scouts at least offer choices that are organic and with less sugar in them or lose many customers.
Vani, whenever you get a chance would you be able to find out if Panda Express uses organic vegetables or not? Also the meat they use, Im sure its not grass fed beef or free range chickens right? The sauces as well, probably sugar up the wazoo!
Thanks food babe for exposing that! I have a plan and I am submitting my all natural vegan flourless mint chocolate cookie that is so healthy and tastes great, and asking them to replace their thin mint with my recipe and have it be their first healthy cookie that they sell and to advocate nutrition and health for our youth and the world. Wish me luck! I am a manufacturer of all natural vegan desserts and a vegan cashew cheese spread /dip/sauce just now getting into the market place. I just came from the fancy food show in San fransisco and will be at expo west in March. Hoping to be an exhibitor in Nyc in June! Please visit my booth!
Brooke, if I promise to buy yours in addition, would you share just the mint-chocolate cookie recipe, along with where I can purchase your food line? Im just dying to try some, especially now that Vani convinced me to skip these basically toxic Girl Scout cookies from now on? I’ll still donate directly to the scout organizations but will get my cookie fix from homemade versions starting now 😀
Hi Steve ,
Thanks for replying to my post. Please follow me on Facebook and keep checking my website as I am still in the process of getting my online store up for purchases. My email is [email protected]. Please email me so I have your email and I can keep you updated and until my store is ready you can place your order. Thanks for your interest, and please help spread the word !!
Hello Food Babe,
I LOVE IT! I love all this truth coming out on the variety of toxic ingredients in foods. I was a Girl Scout and am saddened to see it peddle it’s oh-so-unhealthy cookies via young girls who probably don’t know they are pawns in the larger, greedy corporate conglomerate. Girl Scouts – Clean Up Your Act! I will not support you until you do.
Dear Food Babe – thank you for your dedication and bravery in bringing the truth out.
The Girl Scouts couldn’t afford to use certified organic and non-gmo ingredients. They need to sell their classic cookies otherwise the organization itself will cease to exist. They used to sell some healthier items like roasted nuts in the Fall but stopped due to the high cost of the product and low sales. Cookies are a huge seller for them and the majority of the public would hate a change in the recipe. People won’t just donate money without getting something in return. Don’t let the Women of the future suffer because of a cookie recipe dispute. Support the Girls.
My children are long since grown and, as of yet, I have no grandchildren. When my children were young and began to be involved in organizations like the girl scouts and school activities that required each child to sell a certain amount of cookies or wrapping paper or popcorn, we faced a dilemma. Everyone that we knew had kids and they were ALL selling stuff ALL the time. It was comical in a way because, basically, the parents were just trading money back and forth and trying to figure out what to do with the stuff they really didn’t want to begin with! So, we would ask the head of each organization how much profit they would receive from what our child was required to sell. Then we told them that we would write them a check for that amount. We received some harsh feedback once in a while but usually that was an acceptable arrangement. We also volunteered a tremendous amount of our time. We did not feel that it was teaching our children the values that we wanted them to learn if we allowed them to sell inferior products or goods, or things that might be harmful no matter what the cause was. Nor did we feel good about selling to people who would feel pressured to buy things because it was the girl scouts or the church or the school or whatever.
So, having said all of that……. food with bad ingredients is bad food, no matter who is selling it or what the cause they are trying to raise money for is. When the girl scout organization starts selling cookies made from organically sourced ingredients, I will buy a box of $12 cookies. Until then, I will not.
And, I would like to add, I don’t think any of us are out to get the girl scouts or any other worthwhile organization. I don’t think that bringing attention to bad products or refusing to buy them or reporting about them should be construed as such.
Vani, I thank you for reporting what you’ve learned about the things that we buy to eat in this country so that I don’t have to research every bite that I put in my mouth myself. And thanks to all the people who comment for adding their knowledge as well.
Everyone I know buy these cookies, which is great to support the organization. It’s probably cost prohibitive for them but do they have plans to use healthier ingredients in the future? Maybe a little Food Babe pressure would make them consider better recipes 😉 They’re cookies so they’re never going to be ‘healthy’ but they don’t have to use GMOs!
Thank you your article regarding Girl Scouts cookies but you should not only expose Girl Scout cookies but expose other cookies made by the same company (Kraft ). Those cookies have the same or worst ingredients as the Girl Scout cookies. The ingredients in these cookies along with kraft’s others cookies are gmo which are harmful to our bodies. So you should not choose to expose only Girl Scout cookies. These cookies are source for fund raising for this group.
Thank a lot, Food Babe… Last year I bought a case… Yes, a case of those gems: “Thin Mints”!! I gave some away and I froze most of them and ate them thru out the year!!
All the while feeling so good about supporting the girls. Even donating copies for the military!!
What you revealed is awful!!
I will NOT eat them this year….but will donate to the troop!
Soooooo sad.
Thin Mints have been a part of my life for a gazillion years!!!! YIKES!!!!
Having been a girl scout leader for three years my girls made the choice not to sell again after the first year after how long it took to go door to door to sell cookies (not being able to collect money meant I was financially responsible for whoever changed their mind or could not be reached again for delivery — crazy), how little we actually earn from each box (here in north texas we made about 45¢ a box about 5 years ago), competition with other troops who may have already been through the neighborhood (too many different levels of troops in the same area). Along with changes of the program that really lost the old girl scout experiences (and is more like school with workbooks) I have washed my hands of the whole organization. If people really want to support your local girl and boy scouts, a flat donation makes a larger difference for their extra activities like camping.
THANK YOU Vani!!! I have been involved with Girl Scouts forever, as have my girls. I have been very concerned about the horrible ingredients in their cookies for a long time now, yet I have encouraged my girls to sell them only b/c it’s how they earn money for their troop. I did call the G.S. bakery to make them aware of how unhappy I was with the partially hydrogenated oils (and that was before I even knew about GMO’s and all the other chemicals!). They basically thanked me for my comments, and nothing was changed the following year or after. It’s time these bakeries stepped up and developed a healthier product for our future generation, as well as others who have purchased these cookies for years. Thank you for bringing this to the public’s awareness!!!
About 20 years ago, when my daughters were in girl scouts, the leader boycotted the cookie sales because of the tiny amount of money that actually comes back to the troop. I can’t remember the percentage but I was shocked. We sold magazine subscriptions instead. You think you are supporting the girls but you are really supporting the company who makes the cookies.
I am a Girl Scout Leader who has a Troop that sells over 20,000 boxes of these Girl Scout cookies that you are bashing. And I m a health food nut who eats 90% organic.
Might I share that IT is not about THE COOKIE . . . IT IS ABOUT WHAT THE COOKIE DOES. The Girl Scout Cookie Program Teaches 5 Key Program Skills to our Girls who are ages 5 to 18 — and those skills are 1) How to Set Goals 2) Decision Making 3) Money Management 4) People Skills and 5) Business Ethics.
I have taken girls as young as 5 and as old as 14 — they couldn’t look someone in the eye and speak to them — and at the end of cookie season they had self confidence and had paid for their summer trip. We sent cookies over seas to the Military and donated a portion of our profits to the military.
If you are telling me you never eat anything that is slightly ‘dirty’ in its ingredient, then I will call you a liar. There is not a person out there who eats perfectly clean.
Girl Scouts is an organization with a mission to raise community leaders — cookies are its biggest fundraiser — There is no single non-organic cookie on the market that is a clean cookie — so stop picking on the Girl Scouts. They truly have done the best they can to remove the most offensive ingredients there are (by the way — unless you are grinding your own flour — it’s all dead) and contribute to reforesting the palms as well as using recycled boxes.
So give the Girl Scouts kudos instead of the thumbs down. There are many other things you should be going after. I can’t believe a grown woman would seriously put down such a worthwhile cause.
They can learn these great skills without pandering unhealthy GMO junk food. Snacks CAN be healthy and the GS could set an example.
I really can”t see how you can get safe Organic unless it is grown in side away from the Chemtrails that thy have been Spraying from plans, I think the people that are concerned have some how tested some of these clouds and have found some bad thing in them this could be part of our food problems not counting what Food babe has found I guess I will just have to give up the baking idea until I feel save about it.I will say everyone should look into the Chemtrail spraying ,the study groups are trying to stop the spraying but the Government say”s thy are not spraying ,but thy are not being honest .you tube chemtrail and see ,make up your own mind .I think thy are killing us.I know I sound like a nut but there are a lot, of us.thank you again Beth and Jen we our just trying to keep our self and our Families Healthy.Keep up the great work Food Babe everyone Loves You.
Not only do you have to be wary of what’s in your cookies, you also have to be wary of what your purchases support. I haven’t seen the HALAL certified markings on girl scout cookies, but if you see HALAL certified on any product label, I don’t recommend you buy it. Checkout http://www.barenakedislam for some frightening information about HALAL certified products. I already bought a lot of these products, not knowing what HALAL certified meant. See the American Chains with HALAL offerings.
I am saddened that these Girl Scout cookies are so completely harmful. I imagine the Boy Scout popcorn is as well. I won’t be eating these products. As a Curved Bar Scout and former cookie seller, however, I will continue to support Scouting monetarily and in other ways, both Girl and Boy Scout programs. Their record for turning out leaders and activists and solid citizens is unparalleled. You yourself, Vana, received the benefits of the program, and now you are a force for positive change to be reckoned with! The corrupted mainstream press, with tacit and sometimes legal support from government officials at every level, has vilified Scouting organizations for trying to keep their youngsters from being preyed upon by pedophiles and they need our support now more than ever. Since when did “Be Prepared” as a motto become a threat to our nation’s so-called leaders? Since they have betrayed us at every turn, in every administration, about the GMO issue and so many others. Our future depends upon leaders and change agents such as yourself, and Scouting is the seed-bed for nurturing these youngsters.
I’ve refused to buy these cookies for years and told the children that I’d buy nuts if they would sell them instead of cookies.
Girl Scouts do sell nuts in the fall
……my …… started with those cookies back in 1986 when my daughter was in the 1st grade. Stopped eating them when my person(me) became vegan in 1995.
My daughter was a g/s from 1st grade until she graduated from high school. Now my 10 year old is a g/s and she, too, is delivering poison to others. I have had a conversation with my daughter, but it is hard to communicate to someone that you-yourself said was good for her, but now not for my granddaughter.
My spiritual community is highly focused on dismantling Monsanto on a very spiritual height. It will take a little while to completely crumble, but it will be done!
We are working diligently to get the word out. We went as far as creating a food cooperative to inform the communities on making healthier choices.
Difficulty at the beginning, but the great one never sleeps.
Monsanto and all his cohorts will reap what they have sent out into the universe in a BIG!
Peace!
Thank you food babe for speaking truth.
I think this is just a way to slam Girl Scouts. No one buys cookies for their health. I will always buy cookies from Girl Scouts.
‘Fats are fat and Sugars sugar’ Wow that’s completly the WRONG attitude. When you buy a product like this you support these ingredients going into All products. When you buy ‘Natural’ junk food with a certification(Non gmo project or organic) your supporting products that prohibits the use of ingrediants like hydrogenated oil and artificial flavour. And that support extend to all products. If you want to support girl guides just donate money. People need to stop demanding something in return for charity. If your can’t afford to donate a few dollars without something in return than mabey you shoulden’t be purchasing cookies anyway.
Who would’ve thought it. Guess I’ve been eating poison for 30 years. Wonder why I’m not dead?
Girl scout cookies are not nearly as good as they used to be, so I haven’t eaten any in a long time. Now I am really glad of that.
Just a quick note about the chemistry — as far as I know, there’re nothing called 4-MEL in caramel coloring, I suspect you are talking about 4-MEI (the I is for imidazole).
I want 4 dozen!