Misleading Food Labels
Nearly 59% of consumers have a hard time understanding nutrition labels. Walk down the supermarket aisle and look at the front of all the food packages. No doubt you'll see a range of misleading labels and enticing imagery plastered on the front - 'superfood', 'gives you energy', 'made naturally', 'real ingredients', 'lite'... Most of these food labels are completely misleading and devoid of nutritional meaning.
All natural - Don’t be fooled, all natural doesn’t exactly mean all natural. The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t define it, although food makers won’t get in trouble as long as labelled foods don’t contain added colours, artificial flavours, or "synthetic substances” that means there’s room for interpretation. A food labelled “natural” may contain preservatives or be injected with sodium. Some natural products will have high fructose corn syrup and companies will argue that since it comes from corn, it’s healthy.
Serving size - A ‘serve’ size exists to help the consumer understand the appropriate portion size for a product. Researchers also found more than two-thirds of sugar-based confectionery had a serving size smaller than their package size, even though these products were packaged and designed to be eaten in a single sitting.
It’s unrealistic to expect that people will read the serve size and only eat one twelfth of what’s in the pack,
It happens all too often, and that's because serving sizes are wildly inaccurate reflections of what we consume. Companies intentionally do this so that when you glance at the package, the nutrition info for their product looks better than it really is. Serving sizes listed on food packaging may be giving people the wrong impression about how much they should eat.
Multigrain - When shopping for healthy bread and crackers, look for the words whole grain or 100% whole wheat. It’s not enough if it says multigrain or made with whole grain.
Whole grains, (which include popcorn, brown rice and oatmeal), have more fibre and other nutrients than those that have been refined, a process that strips away the healthiest portions of the grain.
Don’t go by colour alone, some darker breads or crackers have caramel colouring and are no healthier than highly refined white breads.
Sugar free - Sugar free doesn’t mean a product has fewer calories than the regular version; it may have more. (Although food makers are supposed to tell you if a product isn’t low in calories). Sugar-free products have less than 0.5 grams of sugars per serving, but they still contain calories and carbohydrates from other sources.
These products often contain sugar alcohols, which are lower in calories (roughly 2 calories per gram, compared to 4 per gram for sugar), but compare labels to see if the sugar-free version is any better than the regular version. (Common sugar alcohols are mannitol, xylitol, or sorbitol).
Zero trans-fat - Trans-fat is bad for your heart, and the ideal intake is zero. But products that say no trans-fat can contain less than 0.5 grams per serving. If a product says 0 trans-fat on it, it isn’t at zero. If the consumer were to have two servings, then you would get a good amount added to your diet.
Check for words on the ingredient list such as hydrogenated oils and shortening, which mean trans-fat is still present. There are some products that are more likely to contain trans-fat than others.
Free range - Although a food label may say free range chicken, don’t assume your bird was scampering around. There are no requirements for the amount, duration, and quality of outdoor access. What it’s supposed to mean is that they are out running in a field. But what it really means is they just have exposure to the outdoors.
Fat free - This is a notoriously misleading label. Just because it says it’s fat-free, doesn’t mean it is. Packages could say it’s fat free, but be loaded with sugar, and sugar-free products could be loaded with fat.
Check the label for calorie content and compare it to the full-fat version.
Light - A food label may say a product, such as olive oil, is light, but manufacturers have been known to use the term to refer to the flavour rather than the ingredients.
The wording on light products can be confusing for consumers, but it is important to read the nutritional facts.
To be considered a light product, the fat content must be 50% less than the amount found in comparable products.
Cholesterol free - Cholesterol free, doesn’t necessarily mean no cholesterol. Cholesterol-free products must contain less than 2 mg per serving while low-cholesterol products contain 20 mg or less per serving. Foods that say reduced or less cholesterol need to have at least 25% less than comparable products.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
Take control of your life, rock on!
Until next month, Evie xx
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