I love the blog Food Politics. Marion Nestle talks about what's going on behind the scenes with food. Sunday, an interesting point was made about "front-of-package" labelling. The food corporations want to be able to put whatever they want onto the front of their packages -- you want to know why?
As Marion Nestle puts it: "Front-of-package labels are a tool for selling, not buying. They make highly processed foods look healthier."
Tools for selling.
And yet we sometimes forget that.
Milk - it does a body good. -- maybe or maybe not...but you have to take it with a grain of salt if the Dairy Council (ie the people selling the milk) are telling you this.
Do you really think Pepsi Co., the company that makes Lays, cares if you choose the Baked variety or the regular? I bet they don't. Call me pessimistic but I think they just want your money -- they don't care about your health.
Here's the problem with the label reading we are all trying to get so good at:
Sometimes we take a shortcut and assume the conclusions that are reached on the front (ie easier to read) side of the packaging are actually true. Just because something says it's healthier, doesn't necessarily mean it is. And how disgruntled are you going to be when you figure out that all the time you've been eating rice cakes, Lean Cuisines, and baked chips, you could have been having snacks and meals that actually taste GREAT, leave you more satisfied, and put you in better health?
If you couldn't read anything about the food you were eating, it would all come down to how it tastes and how it makes you feel. If it tastes great and leaves you fully satisfied, doesn't that seem like it would be a healthy choice?
No comments:
Post a Comment