DON'T BE FOOLED BY MISLEADING MARKETING HYPE.
How is it possible that obesity and heart disease is on the rise when "health-conscious" food manufacturers are loading up our supermarkets with "healthy foods?"
The answer - MISLEADING FOOD LABELS. We have been inundated with misleading food labels such as; "lightly sweetened" this and "all natural" that, all of which sound like healthy food choices but are not. Food manufacturers don't "break" any rules, but they certainly bend them.
The following are some common misleading food labels and how to navigate around them:
"Lightly Sweetened"
This misleading label is usually applied to: cereals, nuts, crackers and many beverages. The FDA has strict regulations concerning the use of the terms "sugar free" and "no sugar added" so marketing companies came up with "lightly sweetened" or "low sugar", which the FDA has no ruling over. Example - Fiber One Caramel Delight Cereal has 10g of sugar per serving which is the same as eating 2.5 teaspoons of sugar. That doesn't sound lightly sweetened to me!
Don't be fooled: If it has more than 4 grams (1 teaspoon) of sugar per serving it's not lightly sweetened.
"Sugar free"
This is self explanatory right - Not exactly. The FDA permits manufacturers to put this labeling on products that contain less than.5 grams of sugar per serving. Most products that are sweet but have the "sugar free" label usually contain sugar alcohols. Sugar alcohol is derived from sugar, which cannot be completely absorbed by the body and therefore has about half the amount of calories as regular sugar.
Don't be fooled: The down side of sugar alcohol is if you consume a high amount of them it can cause bloating, gas and diarrhea. If a "sugar free" diet is something you want to continue, Probiotics* can help reduce these symptoms.
* Living microorganisms that are believed to help the immune system and digestion in humans. The most common way to take probiotics is in supplement form or as an additive in fermented foods such as yogurt.
"Good Source Of"
This means the product contains between 10-19% of your daily requirement for a particular nutrient. In the case of fiber, this may be misleading. Many food manufacturers are adding "isolated" fiber to many products that have never had fiber before such as: yogurts, ice cream, drinks and processed foods to make it appear healthier. There is very little evidence that "isolated" fiber provides any of the disease-protective benefits that the real soluble and insoluble fibers do so if you're looking for more fiber try and eat more "whole" foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Don't be fooled: If you see the words "inulin," "polydextrose," and "maltodextrin" listed in the ingredients, you are eating "isolated" fiber.
"Enhances Your Immune System"
Most of the products that state this "claim" either contain probiotics that improves your digestion or has vitamin C. A healthy digestive track does in fact lead to a healthy immune system, but if the product is loaded with sugar it will negate any positive immune health you will get from eating this product.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that has been known to strengthen the immune system against some pathogens. Make sure you check the prices of these products so you are not over paying for these "immune boosting" items that are relatively inexpensive in supplement form or in fruits and vegetables.
Don't be fooled: Stay away from high sugar content that naturally impairs the immune system. If you really want to strengthen your immunity and improve your health eat more legumes and vegetables which contain antioxidants such as vitamin e, selenium, vitamin C Zinc, and consume probiotics in supplement form so you get a higher dose of healthy floral bacteria with zero sugar.
"All Natural"
We have all heard and seen this term, YET this is probably the most misleading of them all. The FDA and USDA have set no definition to the usage of this term and are used completely at the manufacturer's discretion. Okay, I may be exaggerating a tiny bit. There is one exception - meat and poultry. Other than those two, its fair game!
Don't be fooled: The rule of thumb I like to go by is if I can't pronounce the ingredient or is not naturally found in nature then it's probably not natural.
For example if the ingredient list says "partially hydrogenated", "modified", or "mono or diglycerides" or contains an ingredient that does not grow in nature and therefore it's not "all natural".
"Nothing Artificial"
This is not as prevalent as it used to be, but it is still out there. This is not a specific claim but it is usually a claim that is stated on the front of the product. This one is difficult to pin point because there are so many different possible claims, but once I tell you what to look for you will never fall for it again! Manufacturers can trademark a phrase on a product with the purpose of providing brand distinction. These trademarks are not nutritional claims but they are made to look like them.
Don't be fooled: When you see a possible claim on a product make sure to look at the end of the claim for a little "R" or a little "TM". If you see either one of these, it's a trademark and not an actual claim.
"Made With Real Juice"
This claim makes you believe that it comes straight from the fruit to your store. Majority of the time this is not the case. Most juices come from concentrate, which really come from fruit, but it is highly processed and pasteurized. This destroys most of the nutrients leaving mostly sugar and making it not much healthier than a can of soda. Many beverages say "made with real juice", some "percentage of juice", "no sugar added" or no "high fructose corn syrup" contain lots of sugar and this is just great marketing to get you to think it's healthy.
Don't be fooled: There are not many positives to drinking juice unless you're looking for a sugar rush. Most of the healthy ingredients from fruit and vegetables are in the fibrous material that the juicers throw out.
If you must have juice I would recommend juicing it yourself to preserve some of the natural nutrients of the fruit.
"99% Fat Free"
You see this on many food products ranging from milk and soups all the way to cold cuts. So 99% fat free is an extremely low fat product right? Wrong - they are flat out deceiving you!
Let's take a look at 2% milk. It says here that there is 122 calories per serving and 43 of those calories are from fat. If you do the math 43/122 = 35.6%. How is that possible and where do they get the 2%? They are able to do this by using weight instead of calories. If you do the math, 5/244g = less than 2%. So they are correct in saying it is 1% fat but that's according to weight, but the body works on calories, not weight when it comes to food.
Don't be fooled: Take the calories from fat and divide it by the calories per serving. This will give you the true percentage of fat.
"Low Fat"
According to the FDA this means it contains 3 g or less of fat per serving or for a meal, 3g of total fat per 100g and not more than 30 percent of calories from fat. This one can be a little deceptive because of the food industry's definition of fat. The FDA defines "fat" as triglycerides so when the food industry creates the emulsifiers monoglycerides and diglycerides (composed of fatty acids) to help give it a smooth texture and increase shelf life it does not have to report the calories under "total fat".
Don't be fooled: Look at the ingredient list and if you see monoglycerides or diglycerides, make sure it is listed no higher than 4th on the ingredient list to ensure it's truly a low fat product.
"Reduced Fat"
According to the FDA this means that the total fat has been reduced by at least 25% compared to the original formula. This sound great, however many food companies will dilute certain products with water to reduce the fat content and then add salt and sugar to compensate for lack of flavor.
Don't be fooled: Compare the sugar and sodium content of the original item to the "reduced fat" item to make sure they didn't replace the fat with additional sugar and sodium.
"Light"
This means 50% less fat or one-third fewer calories than the regular product. This is great, but a lot of the times when we think something is healthier we tend to eat more of it! Make sure to check the sodium and sugar content to see if it's gone up in case you eat several servings so you don't overload on salt and sugar.
Don't be fooled: Look at the sodium and sugar content on the nutrition facts and compare it to the original product. Also look for mono and diglyceride's on the ingredients list and check the serving size compared to other similar products to truly see if you are getting the healthiest item.
"Trans-fat free"
This claim sounds pretty self explanatory correct? Not exactly, the FDA allows companies to make this claim as long as their product contains less than.49 grams of trans-fat per serving.
The American Heart Association's recommended daily intake of trans-fats to be no more than 1% of your daily calories, so if you're on a 2,000 calorie diet, that's only 20 calories which equates to just 2 grams a day! A couple of servings of "trans-fat free" servings and you are already over your daily recommended limit. To be sure it's trans-fats free, look into the ingredients list and if you see "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated oil", "shortening", or "margarine" it contains trans-fat.
Don't be fooled: Look at the ingredients list and if you see monoglycerides or diglycerides it contains trans-fats that the manufacturer is not required to list. Also check the serving size as manufacturers will manipulate the serving size to keep the product under.49 grams of trans-fat per serving.
"Low Sodium"
A manufacturer cannot put this on any labeling unless the products contain less than 140 mg of sodium per serving. Manufacturers know that salt, sugar and fat are addictive, so when they reduce one of them they just load up on the other two to keep you coming back for more.
Don't be fooled: When you see this labeling compare the fat and salt content to similar products to see if you're truly purchasing a healthy product. Don't forget to double check the serving size as they may manipulate it to achieve the 140 mg of sodium per serving.
"Reduced Sodium"
This is less meaningful than low sodium, as it means the sodium level has been reduced by 25% or more.
For example, a can of soup that originally has 520 mg of sodium has been reduced to at least 390 mg of sodium. That is significant, but many of us have the mind set if something is good for us then more must be better. Look at the serving size so if you eat a whole can and its two servings, your sodium intake jumps up to 780 mg which is more than half the recommended daily intake.
Don't be fooled: The same as "low sodium". Check the fat and sugar content to see if they just loaded up on those two. Also check the ingredients list to see if "hidden" fats like mono and diglycerides are closer to the top of the list.
How To Eat Healthy
As you can see manufacturers have a very deceptive way of selling more products. They're always trying to increase profits by either adding addictive ingredients or synthetic ingredients to increase the shelf life. Unfortunately both of these ingredients come at our health's expense.
The rule of thumb I like to follow is to eat unprocessed or unrefined foods, also known as whole foods. To make sure a product is a whole food, look for a short ingredient list and if it contains anything that you cannot pronounce it's most likely not a whole food. After the ingredients list I then look at the nutrition facts to make sure the product is low in calories, calories from fat, sodium, sugar, carbohydrates and high in protein and fiber. If you follow the same steps I do and disregard the marketing hype on the front of the package you will be certain that you are eating the healthiest product.
Reading the nutrition facts and ingredients may seem tedious and time consuming, but your health is worth it. Over time you will know exactly what to look for and it will become second nature to you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Tracy
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