Why does my SOYJOY bar contain butter?

Ingredients are listed on the wrapper, but they are under a flap.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss SOYJOY bars, and two items at Costco Wholesale, frozen acai pulp and the wonderful, preservative-free smoked wild salmon.

SOYJOY -- baked whole soy with dried fruit and other ingredients -- is one of the snack bars I rely on to still hunger pains when I skip lunch.

But recently, when I looked at the ingredients on the wrapper, hidden under a flap, I was surprised to learn that butter is used to make the Mango Coconut and other SOYJOY bars.

That explains why they taste like cake to me. The wrapper declares the bar is now "moister and fruitier."

Butter is listed after ground whole soy beans and raisins, meaning its in the third highest proportion in the bar.

Two others bars I always carry with me are from Kashi and Kirkland Signature, the house brand at Costco Wholesale, and neither contains butter.

I've been trying to avoid artery clogging butter for decades, and that's why I favor ethnic restaurants, most of which don't use it.

Asian Indian restaurants are the exception.

I'll probably stop ordering SOYJOY from Amazon.com when my supply runs out.

And why is the name written in capital letters? Maybe "butter" should also be in capitals instead of hidden under a flap.
 

Among the frozen fruit at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack are Grade A California strawberries, bottom left, perfect for making smoothies.

I'm still looking for the frozen acai pulp I read about in The Costco Connection magazine a few weeks ago, but my Costco Wholesale in Hackensack doesn't seem to have any.

The article specifically said customers would find frozen acai (AH-SIGH-EE), a super food from the Brazilian Amazon, next to the frozen wild blueberries.

I saw a 6-pound bag of frozen strawberries, and I bought one for $9.39 or a bit more than $1.55 a pound.

This morning, I made a smoothie with the strawberries, a little orange juice, vanilla soy milk and mango juice.

Disregard recipes that call for ice cubes, which only water down the smoothie. 

 

A snack of reduced-fat Swiss cheese, smoked wild salmon, Dijon mustard and Earthbound Farm organic spring mix. Roll it up and pop it into your mouth as a deconstructed sandwich.

One of my favorite items at Costco Wholesale is the Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon, which comes sliced and sealed in plastic in two separate half-pound servings.

Once, the sliced salmon was sold by weight, but someone figured out how to package exactly 1 pound of this rich, delicious wild-caught fish.

It's $15.39, the lowest price around, and free of preservatives.

But the system isn't perfect. The other day, I found myself tearing at the salmon, trying in vain to find where it had been sliced. 

Then, I turned over the slab, and the slices came away easily.

The slab had been placed on the black cardboard backing upside down.

I use the salmon in frittatas, in salads, and as a snack rolled up with sliced, reduced-fat Swiss cheese.

In about three months, fresh sockeye salmon fillets will be appearing at my Hackensack Costco. 

Can't wait, but I'll really enjoy the smoked sockeye until then.