I first stumbled upon this a few months ago but let it slide, now curiosity has gotten the best of me. Food labels are very vague. Natural flavors. Artificial flavors. Artificial colors. Even with a lot of research, I still can’t crack the code of what these colors and flavors are exactly. I’m sure manufacturers love it this way. A food manufacturer is allowed to stretch the facts on a label up to 20%. When the lies stretch 20% then the FDA begins to investigate. Who is really checking all these labels? It takes a lot of work to break down a label and I know it’s not “economically practical” for the FDA to check every food manufacturer to make sure their label is factual. That's why the FDA only has to check to see if there is a label, not if it's accurate.
Things your label may lie about:
Calories:
That low calorie treat you’re enjoying may be lying about its calories. 100 calories may be 120 and 400 calories may be up to 500. And it’s legal.
Sugar:
People are watching their sugar and food manufacturers know this, so they find sneaky ways to label sugar. High Fructose Corn Syrup, white grape juice concentrate, dextrose, corn sugar, cane sugar, maltodextrin and the list goes on. http://commonsensehealth.com/Diet-and Nutrition/List_of_Sugar_Names_and_Sugar_Facts.shtml
Omega 3:
My health rule is: if it makes a health claim, it’s lying. I have a strong belief that anything made in a factory cannot be healthy. Omega 3 fats are a big trend and the FDA allows food that have a source of the healthy fat to advertise their heart health although this may be a lie.
Serving Size:
This is not really a lie but more of a stretch of a truth. My mother used to buy these frozen pizzas that were about 6 inches long and 3 inches wide and my sisters and I used to eat one pizza each, until we found out that the serving size was 1/3 of the pizza. Food manufacturers label their serving sizes correctly but package them incorrectly. Who is really going to count 10 chips as they’re eating them or drink 1/3 of a soda? No one is going to do that. Very few people follow the serving size on junk food.
Made with real (insert ingredient)
Which ingredient? How much? Manufacturers love this label because it allows them to toot their horn but still make a horrible product. The makers of Canada Dry Ginger Ale have been proudly advertising that they’re al natural and they use real ginger. Maybe I’m blind because I don’t see ginger on the label.
Fat and Salt content:
When I’m reading a label, I find it weird when the food manufacturer states that an ingredient adds a trivial amount of fat or salt. Who decided it was trivial? Your scientists? When a manufacturer does this, they’re usually masking something else, like how bad it really is for you.
The food manufacturers do not care whether or not you know the truth because more than half of the people who know it, still buy the food that is bad for them. The only way to control what you eat, is to avoid processed and prepackaged foods, eat more fruits and vegetables, and cook at home.
Whole grain contents:
Do I have to state my golden rule again? If it has a health label, it’s probably lying. In many ingredients Unbleached wheat flour is the main ingredient but whole-wheat flour is further down on the list, indicating that the product contains relatively little. When reading labels, I find that the healthy item they’re claiming is farther down the ingredient list than I like, which means there is very little of it. Interesting fact: potassium bromate, a dough conditioner found in commercial bakery products and some flours, is a major, but hidden cause of thyroid dysfunction. This ingredient may be used even in whole grain breads. Mmm hmm.
Fiber:
Americans are calling for healthy food and they want more fiber, so what do they get? More fiber. Except that these fibers are manufactured and do very little for you. The fibers advertised in many foods are mainly "purified powders" called inulin, polydextrose and maltodextrin.
Free Range chicken:
The new battle cry is: how dare you keep those poor chickens chained up all day, so the food manufacturers said, we’ll let them out and tell you about it. What does “free range eggs or chicken” mean anyway? This means chickens must be granted the luxury of exactly five minutes of "access" to the outdoors every day. Notice that doesn’t mean they actually get to roam free, this may as well mean they open the door and if the chicken wants to roam free, it’s free to roam.
Tastes Like Medicine (but may kill you while it's healing you)
Notice a trend here. The FDA allows food manufacturers to make certain pre-approved "qualified health claims" about the health benefits of nutrients in food and manufacturers take it and run touchdown. For instance, food makers can't say that their product "helps reduce the risk of heart disease" without FDA approval, so they say that it "helps maintain a healthy heart." I’m sure the FDA would approve anyway but who wants to go through all that.
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