The most disturbing part about lunch (w/ update)
The most disturbing part about lunch may be settling in with your Atkins bar w/ black coffee and then idly reading the ingredients, only to notice it contains “hydrolyzed collagen“…
And then recalling this story about some collagen on the world market being harvested from the bodies of executed Chinese political prisoners…
And then retching violently for half an hour or so.
Is this a Soylent Green moment, or am I overreacting? Chinese company reps reportedly say it’s nothing to “make such a big fuss about”.
Here’s what I asked the folks at Atkins Nutritionals:
Hello,
I noticed that an Atkins Advantage bar that I ate has ingredients listed that include “hydrolyzed collagen”.
Would Atkins Nutritionals be willing to publicly release the name of its supplier of hydrolized collagen?
The reason I ask is that there has been a considerable degree of public concern over collagen supplied to the world market by Chinese companies who reportedly harvest it from the bodies of executed political prisoners.
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Brad Spangler
And their response:
Dear brad_spangler@…….com,
Thank you for your interest in Atkins products.
For this type of inquiry, we recommend that you contact Atkins directly by email at AtkinsSupport@Customerfirst.com.
Thank you,
Mike
Consumer Services
Atkins Online Store**Please do not reply to this message**
I thought I was contacting Atkins directly — but okay. Second message sent, identical to the first.
Personally, I had assumed they would be eager to immediately confirm that they are not knowlingly feeding me processed human remains. I understand that there’s a perverse incentive to not provide any useful information when you work in customer service. This, however, seemed kind of fundamental.
But, heh, what do I know?
UPDATE: Response from Atkins…
Share ThisWe do not use Chinese Collagen, but we can not share our source as this is proprietary information.
