So in the fearless tradition of FreakyTrigger food scientists the years over (Food Science Day III coming soon), it was not enough to just boggle at the existence of Skinny Water from poor billboard ads. No, i had to try some and report back.
So I tried some, and am reporting back.
PRICE: £0.99 from Superdrug
TASTE: It is just like one of those flavoured waters from Tesco’s. Except pleasantly pomegranate flavoured, and without too much artificial sweetener sharpness. Actually rather nice for a flavoured water (akin to saying one of the more comfortable circles of hell). But pretty refreshing and cooling when cold.
PACKAGING: Still eye burningly fluorescent, with blues, yellows and pinks making it next to impossible to read the copy on the bottle (for good reason one discovers soon). Not sure if the bottle ACTUALLY fluoresces under UV light as unfortunately Cross Kings had none. But quite satisfying to use as a dancing aid.
CLAIMS: All the claims noted last week, plus the suggestion that it is the “perfect compliment to a healthy lifestyle”. A couple of DID YOU KNOWS about its “active” elements:
“L-Carnitine is found naturally in the body where it assists in turning fat into energy.”
“Chromium has been shown to assist the body to burn carbohydrates and reduce sugar cravings”
Admittedly cyanide also reduces sugar cravings. It reduces all cravings. Still I didn’t eat after drinking it: whether that was due to the Skinny Water or my unique lack of hunger all the time is up to question. What is not up to question is the real (vague) scandal of Skinny Water. Which is in its nutritional information. Where we discover that a bottle of Skinny Water is 8 Calories and has 1 gram of sugars in it. Making it 8 times more fattening than Diet Coke.
OK 8 calories is not much, but notably this water is a lot less skinny than actual water. And can 8 calories be described as “virtually no calories”?
CONCLUSION: What surprised me was the price. It was as cheap as any other flavoured bottled water product, and as such did not feel like a rip-off. Do I buy into any of its claims? Of course not. But it hit the spot when I was dog thirsty, and you know what: its probably those 8 calories which made it more palatable than most flavoured waters (tho note I wuv pomegranate). So not the worst new product in the world, but take it with a pinch of salt.
Actually don’t cos then it will be Salty Skinny Water and nasty.