Food Labels

If someone from 50 years ago were to travel through time to the present day, they wouldn't recognize most of the foods in our modern-day grocery stores. We've been busy tweaking our foods to comply with the whims, trends and science of the moment and in the process, we didn't notice the deterioration of our collective health. With much of our health "knowledge" coming from market-driven big-food companies, the difference between "functional", "Franken" and fraudulent foods has become blurry.

I'm going to try and offer some tips on how to differentiate and give some examples of each (based largely on opinion - I'm open to suggestions as always).

Have you noticed how many products have Omega 3 added? Omega 3 is the new health food buzzword - but have we been mislead by marketing hype?

Lois Smithers has written a fascinating exposé showing how confusing labeling of Omega 3 foods is undermining our health.

This is a guest post from Kerry McLeod of eBrandAid.

It seems that juice manufacturers are capitalizing on our culture's obsession with weight by putting their juices on a "diet!" Just walk down any juice aisle and find many of your favorite juices in low-calorie, sugar-free varieties.

We're all looking to cut calories - but are these emaciated juices sacrificing nutrition for fewer calories?

Chicken is a great source of lean protein - and is a staple food for many healthy eaters. However labels and marketing slogans for chicken products can be very misleading.

Let's take a look at a few culprits:

100 Calorie packs are great for portion control - but the excessive price of these packs is not so great.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has compared the costs of 100 Calorie packs against the bigger portions and found price increases of over 200%.

No one can debate that trans fats should be eliminated from the diet. Research has found that trans fats have been linked to multiple health issues including elevated coronary heart disease risk and lowering HDL levels, higher abdominal fat levels and even infertility.

In 2006, in response to the health consequences of consuming trans fats, the United States FDA required that all food manufacturers would have to list the trans fat content of their foods. This was a great start, but many people are unaware that there is one major loophole with this new regulation.

UK lobby group CASH has compared the level of salt in sandwiches with potato chips (or crisps as they are called in the UK).

Their discoveries may surprise you.

Frito-Lay is about to start using a health claim on some of its foods. The application to the FDA will allow some Frito-Lay foods to state the following:

Design company Andrew Andrew are selling cookies that have the nutritional information printed directly into the cookie.

99% fat free has to be one of the most idiotic labels known to mankind - particularly when applied to a carbohydrate food. Just this morning I was reading a "healthy food guide" I picked up from the supermarket. It turned out to be an advertising feature. One product featured was jasmine rice - claiming that it was "99% fat free".

An Australian parents group (Parents Jury) is going after food manufacturers - in particular those who use "fat-free" labels.

Once upon a time food came without labels. There were no supermarkets, no plastic packages, and no-one cared about carbohydrates, fats, or calories. Sugary treats were delicious luxuries - a rare indulgence.

How times have changed.

Most consumers take just 4 seconds to browse over food packaging before making a choice.

That's the window of opportunity a manufacturer has to convince you to buy their product. Here's how they do it:

Australian health authorities have undertaken the first serious analysis of nutrition labels - and found them to be very inaccurate.

UK advertising regulator Ofcom has unveiled new restrictions for food and drink advertising. The rules aim to curb advertising of junk food targeted toward children.

Will the regulations make any impact?

A New England grocery chain has introduced a new labelling system for it's food. The labelling uses a simple star system (like movie reviews, for example). Hannaford Bros give the foods 1 to 3 stars, indicating a nutritional value of good, better, or best.

Cry-babies.

That's the word that comes to mind when I read about a "Food Giant Revolt". It seems that many of the big food companies are not happy about a new labelling system being rolled out in the UK.

Most fridges are filled with half-used foods. Many of us rely on the "smell test" as proof of edibility.

There are now new labels that will visually show the age of an item.