Food companies often make health claims for their products — and, unfortunately, most of the time they're not just about helping people get healthier — they're about selling products. As part of Diet Detective's continuing effort to expose the truth about the foods we eat and lead you to healthier choices here is one manufacturer's latest health pitch.

Fruit Undressed by Del Monte (www.fruitun dressed.com)

Claim: "Fruit that is stripped down to its bare goodness" is good for you.

Fact: Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is a good thing — that's for sure. And the simpler it is to eat fruit, the more likely you'll be to eat more.

Fiction: Contrary to the claim, many of these fruits are not better for you bare.

Concern: There are two main issues I have with these products. The first is the added sugar in many of them. For instance, a 1/2 cup of Del Monte Pineapple Chunks contains 70 calories, along with 15 grams of sugar and no fiber, whereas 1/2 cup of cut-up pineapple contains 41 calories, 8 grams of sugar and 1.2 grams of fiber — significantly better all around. Not all the Del Monte products have added sugar, but many do.

The other problem is that removing the peel is not always a good thing when it comes to fruit. "It saves us time when we're talking about grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, mango and pomegranate. But removing the peel on fruits like apples, peaches and pears is a bad thing because it is removing healthy fiber," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of The Flexitarian Diet (McGraw-Hill, 2008).

Bottom line: Buy fresh fruit that has all its fiber and no added sugar. How hard is it really to prepare an apple or a peach? Yes, pineapples and grapefruit might need a bit of extra work, but many markets sell cut-up fruit — a better option. If you do buy these products for convenience, save yourself and your family excess sugar and empty calories by not consuming the syrup.

Charles Stuart Platkin is a nutrition and public health advocate and founder of www.DietDetective.com.