Wholly illegal.

"No artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, or additives. No hydrogenated fats or oils. No trans fatty acids," says the label of Wholly Healthy Truly Natural All Butter Golden Pound Cake, available in natural-food stores.

Oops. Is it possible that the folks at Wholly Healthy don't know that it's illegal for labels to use the word "healthy" unless it meets the government's criteria for a healthy food?

It doesn't matter that pound cake is made with organic evaporated cane juice instead of (essentially equivalent) sugar, that its wheat flour is unbleached and unbromated (it's still not whole wheat), or that it's made with whole eggs or "pure" (as opposed to impure?) corn starch and butter (instead of also-damaging hydrogenated oils). It doesn't matter that, as the label explains, "from taste to the way our body digests it, we believe that butter is a better alternative."

What matters is that, by law, "healthy" foods must be low in saturated fat (1 gram or less). A slice of Wholly Healthy has 8 grams of sat fat (40 percent of a day's worth)--the same as wholly unhealthy Sara Lee All Butter Pound Cake. And healthy foods must have at least 10 percent of a day's fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, or iron. Like most pound cakes, this one doesn't.

Sounds like Wholly Healthy needs a good nutritionist ... and a good lawyer.

Wholly Healthy: [phone].