MARLBORO - WINSTON - L&M - CAMEL - PARLIAMENT - KENT - CLASSIC

She said it reminded her of candy cigarettes. Ive got a couple thoughts on the apple French fries and candy cigarettes. According to the article in The...

Apple slices that look like French fries. What will they think of next?

Thats the newest offering from Burger King. That story was on the front page of The Packer, a business newspaper for the fruit and vegetable industry, who hands me my paycheck, every couple of weeks.

I overheard a co-worker laugh when she saw the story. She couldnt believe that the restaurant would try to entice children to eat healthy by making it look like unhealthy food. She said it reminded her of candy cigarettes.

Ive got a couple thoughts on the apple French fries and candy cigarettes. According to the article in The Packer, the apples are sliced red apples packed in containers that look like the BK French-fry box. The slices will be an option with all kids meals.

Unfortunately my children are past eating a kids meal, but if I had smaller munchkins, as a mom, I would welcome the apple slices. I checked with the Burger King restaurant in Louisburg and the gal there said that BK restaurant will begin offering the apple fries sometime this winter.

Several restaurants, especially those that cater to children, like fast-food restaurants, are improving their menu selections and offering healthy options. In fact, McDonalds and Subway both offer apple slices, but Burger King has gone the extra mile to make the packaging more appealing to children.

I know that studies show that if children start out eating healthy, that most likely, they become healthy-eating adults. While I admit Im probably not the most healthy-eating person around, Im not awful either. At least I dont drink pop on a regular basis. I can probably count on one hand the number of pops I have in a year. My big downfall is cookies.

But times were different when I was a child. And its not that my mom didnt try to serve us healthy foods, but we were allowed some pretty weird things. Like the candy cigarettes. If my children asked for those, Id just give them 'that look'.

But do you remember that candy? I think they still make them. I loved candy cigarettes as a child. My dad was a smoker and I guess I must have thought it was cool to “smoke” a cigarette just like Dad.

And we didnt get candy cigarettes very often. Mom probably didnt buy them for us, either. My little brother and I probably only got them when we scraped together enough change to buy them ourselves.

One of my favorite candies is still a favorite today. I love Tootsie Pops. Remember that old commercial, “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop? The world may never know” and then the owl chomps down on the sucker. Tootsie Pops are my favorite driving candy. If Im getting sleepy while Im driving, I turn to my tootsie. I dont bite before its time and that sucker is good for 20 minutes down the road.

Maybe next time Im driving and get sleepy, I may have to run through the nearest Burger King and try out their apple fries. No matter how silly apple fries seem, they still have to be better than candy cigarettes.