Food Labels

Imagine yourself walking in the supermarket or grocery store. You’ll see aisle after aisle of packaged food with various labels. You can almost feel them shouting nonsense at you. You get attracted to them by the words “all natural” or “low in fat” etc. , but what most people forget is that more than 50% of those labels are misleading. In 2003, there was a study by the Costumers Association. They found some foods branded as “light”, had up to seven times more fat then those who branded as “low fat”. Nearly 59% of consumers have a hard time reading nutrition labels. Surely I personally think that it is completely unacceptable that this sort of things happen because they mislead costumers and that is unfair.

In the first place, the rules about labeling need to change. It is not strict enough, the current rules are that you need to mention the ingredients but not the exact quantities. That means that there is room for interpretation. In that way, brands can lie about the quantity of fat and sugar. Some people say that not al labels are false and that most of the brands are fair, but how can we know what label is true and will not mislead the consumer? I am sure that if brands would be honest about what’s in their food, you would be surprised. It is true that you kind of have an idea of how much fat there is in a burger or pizza, because it contains a lot of fat. On the other hand, when a brand says that their pizza is “low in fat” people will believe it and forget that there’s still some fat in it, sometimes even more.

Secondly, we need to find solutions for this labeling problem. Professor Mike Rayner, an expert in health of Oxford University came up with a new labeling system. This will help the consumers to make healthy choices. Rayner wants a standardized nutrition profile with stars on it. The stars will tell you the overall healthiness of the food. For example, a 3 star food is less healthy than a 5 star food. It could be argued that you don’t have an exact idea about it because they are stars and not numbers or percentages. However, I would like to point out that it’s a standardized system and you will have a better view on the situation.

In conclusion, it’s unacceptable that brands mislead consumers with their labels. Nowadays it’s hard to make sure you’re eating healthy or all natural. People may not forget that not everything on the labels is correct. It is important to keep reading the labels and to compare with other brands!


Can you trust food labels?  (2015, December 30), Telegraph food
     Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/can-you-trust-food-labels/    
                                                                                                                           
16 most misleading food labels. Retrieved May 8, 2013, from Denny Deza
     Interact website: https://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20599288,00.html



Rojin Tarif Akki  (22 May 2019)


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