Grocery shopping with my mom was always a painfully long event when I was growing up. My mother scrutinized every label before an item was plunked into the cart. As annoying as this was at the time I eventually grew to appreciate how smart it was and what a great service she was doing for our family by being an educated food consumer. I too am a label reader, much to my five year old son's dismay, and gratefully. The most important things I learned about this from her were these:
1. The fewer the ingredients, the better.
2. You should be able to identify every ingredient- if you cant, its not really food.
3. Stay away from products excessively high in salt, sugar and fat.
4. Stay away from artificial colors, flavors and presevatives, they are poison.
5. Stay away from hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, they clog your arteries.
6. And NEVER trust the claims on the front of the package!
Food labels should be honest, clear and informative.. but all too often they are not. Though label reading has become second nature to me, I have come to realize that for many people, even if they intend to buy the healthier option are falling prey to the misleading claims- advertising ploys- food manufacturers place on the front of the packaging... and never make it to the backside.
In a recent trip to my aunt's home- who regularly watches and feeds my 5 year old son after school- I perused the pantry to find a healthy snack to take with us on the road. What I noticed was a label reader's nightmare. Artificial cheddar goldfish crackers boasting "Made with whole grains!", Sugary Jiff peanut butter claiming to be "All natural", Juice boxes stating "Made with real fruit juice!" but only 10% and also containing high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors and flavors, "All natural" apple sauce loaded with sugar... My obviously Aunt meant well, but she made the mistake of trusting that the healthy claims made on the front of the packaging meant that the food product was truly natural or organic. A trick I'm sure many people fall for.
Here is the truth behind a few of the most common and alluring health claims found on the front of food labels:
Natural, All Natural and Natural Flavors
This is probably the winner for most misleading claim of all. It's not what you might think- It bears no relationship to "organic". It has no real legal definition or set of standards. If there are some ingredients that originated in nature, no matter how they have since been refined and mutated in the process, a food manufacturer can slap that lie on the label. These products may still be loaded with sodium, corn syrup, trans fats, preservatives and genetically modified foods. Even MSG can be slipped into a product unbeknownst to the consumer under the blanket title of Natural Flavors.
Whole Grain, Made with Whole Grains, Multi-grain:
Unless it states "Made with 100% Whole Grains" (a claim regulated by the FDA) a product may be and often is made with mostly refined or enriched flour with a small amount of added whole grain. When buying a Multi-grain product check out the ingredient list and make sure that "whole" precedes every grain listed.
Made with Real Fruit or Fruit Juice
Again, unless it states made with 100% Real Fruit or Fruit Juice, then it isn't and likely contains oodles of sugar, artificial flavors and colors. Red 40 and Blue 1 have been tested extensively and found to be neurotoxins that cause ADD and other behavioral issues!
Your best bet? Eat less processed, packaged food. Look for products labeled USDA Certified Organic. And if you can, buy from small local farmers whom you can ask about how they grow, feed and medicate their produce, meat and dairy.