Food labels are the guidelines we have to rely on to choose healthy foods. But what if those labels are false and misleading? How on earth could you or I choose healthy foods, lose weight or reduce our risk for food related diseases? Here's an example; did you know that a product labeled "fat free" can actually be 100% fat? Would you be shocked to find that your "lean" ground turkey that is labeled "7% fat" or "93% fat free" is actually a whopping 45% fat? Well it's not only true, it gets worse. Shouldn't a food labeled "lowfat" actually mean that it is low in fat? Did you know that 2% lowfat milk is actually a high fat milk? That's right! It contains 38% of its calories in the form of fat. As consumers we depend upon the food industry and our government to give us "nutritional facts" on food packages, and they do; but in a very, very deceptive manner. How can you expect yourself, your spouse or child to lose weight and stay lean, if the very information you read on a package is completely false and misleading? What if all of your attempts to lose weight failed because a lot of the foods you thought were healthy, low in fat or even low in carbs actually weren't? Wouldn't that tick you off? Everyday, we see food products on grocery store shelves, in magazines or various advertisements using the new labels to deceive consumers.
So just how can these companies get away with calling high fat foods low fat and using deceptive practices over and over again? You can thank food lobbyists in Washington. They're paid big money to protect the interests of the companies they represent over you and your families health. Don't believe me; then read on. What you will discover just may shock you.
Before I explain what the definitions are for the food industry it might help to share with you my thoughts about why consumers will never be safe. When we went to school we were given the definition of words based on the English language. After all, we do live in an English speaking nation. We have clear definitions on what each word means. For example, "lean" means that you can be lean or lean on me, but no where in the dictionary does it say that you can be lean and fat at the same time! Yet, based on the USDA's own guidelines the definition of the word "lean" is that the food will have 10 grams of fat or less in a 100 gram serving. Let's get this straight. At no point during my childhood did the FDA or the USDA ever give me their set of different definitions for the word "lean." There are a lot of foods that have 10 grams of fat per 100 gram serving that are higher in fat than T-bone steak. Here's the problem, the USDA and FDA created their definitions for common, everyday words that we use. Consequently if the words they use don't match the ones in our English dictionary then it's as if they are speaking a foreign language on our labels.
According to the FDA the following terms have these definitions:
· "Fat-Free"- is defined as an amount so small that is will not have any effect on the body. If a food product has less than .5 gram of fat per serving, it can be labeled "fat free." Look at a can of Pam cooking spray (or any brand for that matter). On the front you will see the words "fat free" in a large font and in bold. Turn the can to the back and look at the "nutritional facts"; there are zero calories, zero calories from fat, zero fat grams and zero saturated fat. Now look at the list of ingredients. The first ingredient is canola oil; funny.isn't that 100% fat? How can they get away with labeling a product fat free if the number one ingredient is 100% fat? Here is the reality. look at the serving size. A 1/3 second spray is one serving! I challenge you to hold that spray down for a 1/3 second! You see, if you are ONLY using a 1/3 second spray you are getting less than .5 grams of fat per serving; "a negligible amount". How much cooking spray do you use? Don't get me wrong, I use this cooking spray all the time. And no, I don't use 1/3 second spray. Using this spray is by far a better choice then pouring oil in a pan. But this product is far from being fat free!
This same scenario holds true for the "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter Spray". The label makes the claims "fat free" and "zeros calories." I called the 1-800 number on the label, and their representative informed me that the tiny 1 pint bottle has a whopping 900 calories and a total of 90 grams of fat! Folks, that makes this product 100% fat! In fact, it's just as high in fat as butter.
"No added sugar"-According to the FDA, these products have no sugar added during its processing. Unfortunately, this statement may lead you to believe that it is a low sugar product. There are many no sugar added hot cocoas, juices, and ice creams that are naturally high in sugar. Interesting enough, "sugar alcohols" are not included! Therefore, while there is no simple sugar added to the product, manufacturers can add sugar alcohol to a product and still maintain that there is "no sugar added."
Here is another interesting fact about sugar. If a product is made from a monosaccharide or a disaccharide (a one or two chain simple sugar) the company is required by law to list it as a sugar. However, a polysaccharide (a multiple chain sugar) can be listed as a carbohydrate; not a sugar. While the company is not adding a simple "sugar" is there any reason to believe that they are not adding a complex "sugar"? After all, if those multiple chain sugars are eventually going to be broken down to one and two chain simpler sugars during metabolism, aren't they still adding sugar?
"Free Range" - According to the USDA, "free range" means that the producers have allowed the poultry to have access to an outside environment, even if it is only for a few minutes a day. In fact, whether or not the hen actually went outside is irrelevant! The only difference on the labels of those products that are free range and those that are not, is. you guessed it; the price!
"Organic"- The USDA defines "organic" food as food grown and processed without using most conventional pesticides; without fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients, or sewage sludge, without biotechnology; and without ionizing radiation. Consumers assume that pesticides are not allowed to be used in organic production. However, there is a list of permitted materials that can and cannot be used in production, many of which include the same materials that have been commonly used for decades. Just because a tomato is organic doesn't mean that it is ten times better than a regular tomato. Nor does it have a higher nutritional value. Organic growers are allowed to use something called short term pesticides. These are chemicals that don't stay in the environment for long periods. However, let me be very clear that I support the organic growers and without question can tell you that they have far less pesticide residue than non-organic produce. But once again, the end product is left up to each individual growers own code of ethics.
"Serving Size"- The serving size of a food is not what you happen to put on your plate and believe it or not, it's not the amount of a prepackaged portion. The FDA determines the serving size of many foods. A "usual serving"; or a reference amount allows for easier comparison for different brands of foods so that serving sizes are similar. Just because you buy a 20 oz bottle of soda, doesn't mean you should consume the entire beverage. Next time you reach for the chips, pretzels, beverage of choice or candy bar, look at the serving size. Chances are, you may be getting more calories, fat, and sugar than what you expect.
The original Snapple iced tea has 23 grams of sugar per serving. If you are like most people, the entire beverage can easily be consumed in one sitting. They list two servings per container. So if you drink the whole bottle, you have consumed 46 grams of sugar which is more sugar then found in a can of Coke! That is a perfect example of a better bad choice gone bad!
"Low fat"-The FDA defines low fat as a product that has less than 3g of fat per serving. Oscar Meyer low fat ham luncheon meat has 1 gram of fat per slice and claims to be 97% fat free. It sounds pretty low, but this product contains 30 % of it's calories coming from fat! In fact, this meat is an extremely low source of protein, loaded with sodium and is composed of binders, fillers, sodium nitrates and sodium nitrites. Don't believe me? Just read the Processed Meats and Email Spam article that can be found in the archives of this newsletter.
"Lean"- The USDA defines lean as a product that has less than 10g total fat, 4.5g or less saturated fat, per serving. The Turkey Store Lean Ground Turkey contains 8 grams of fat and the label states that it has only 7% fat. Why wouldn't you purchase the product? It is labeled as being fresh, low fat, and high quality, let's face it.. its ground turkey how bad can it really be? You'd be shocked to find out that it is actually 43% fat! This brand of ground turkey has more fat than most ground beef! Would you purchase meat that was made up of ground up skin and thigh meat?
"Extra Lean"-The USDA defines extra lean as a product that contains less than 5g of fat and less than 2g saturated fat per serving. The Turkey Store also sells an Extra Lean Ground Turkey Breast product that contains 1 gram of fat. It advertises that the meat is 99% fat free! This meat is a great product, I cook with it on a regular basis, but it's not 99% fat free. It actually contains 11% of its calories from fat!
Now I know what you're thinking. How can these labels claim a product to be low fat or lean yet, these very products contain almost double or triple the amount of fat? Here's how they get away with it. Fat has very little to no density at all. In fact, fat is so "light" (by weight) it can float on top of water. The percentage of fat advertised on a food label is actually based on the "weight" of the product, not the "calories". Therefore, manufacturers can make a product appear to be low in fat, when in fact it can be extremely high fat. Because fat is very calorie dense, doesn't it make sense to base the percentage of fat on the "percent of calories from fat", not "percent of fat based on weight"? Let's face it, we don't refer to food by its weight, we speak of food in terms of calories. So why aren't products labeled accordingly? The answer is quite simple. would you buy a food that is labeled 50% fat?
As consumers not only are we mislead by the healthy words or phrases, we are also misled by food labels that exaggerate the presence of healthful ingredients. For example, "blueberry" waffles that contain no blueberries at all! Or "strawberry" yogurt that contains no strawberries should be outlawed. There are more and more processed and refined products on grocery store shelves that contain tiny amounts of the healthy ingredients that are highlighted on labels. Not surprisingly, these foods are also loaded with fats, sugars, and refined carbohydrates. Here are a few examples:
· Fruit Juice Snacks -most of these packages are decorated with pictures of oranges, cherries, and strawberries, hinting that these "fruit" snacks are made from fruit or fruit juices. However, the leading ingredients are corn syrup and sugar. Would you buy your child "corn syrup juice snacks"? Probably not! Let's face, it most of these gummy snacks are candy not fruit juice
· 100% Fruit Jellies or Jams - the strawberry versions of "100% fruit" spread typically contains about 30 percent strawberries; blueberry versions contain only 43 percent blueberries. Both of these varieties have more fruit syrup than fruit! If a product claims 100% fruit, shouldn't it be made entirely from fruit and not syrup? You may even be surprised to find that the syrup used is actually from a lower quality or less expensive juice like apple, pineapple, or pear juice concentrates!
· Whole wheat bread- These labels boast that each slice is make with "Whole Wheat and Whole Grain," but the loaf of bread is actually made primarily with white flour and a caramel coloring. So, unless your bread says "100% Whole Wheat bread", you are getting the good old fashioned white bread! Sorry to disappoint you, but most processed carbs that claim they are made from whole wheat are in fact made from white flour!
· Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail- Ocean Spray congratulates itself for being a Corporate Health Sponsor for the American Diabetes Association, and many brands of the cocktail juice bear the ADA symbol. An 8 ounce serving of juice has 38 grams of sugar that's almost 10 tsp of sugar! If the ADA places their name on this brand of juice leading consumers to believe that it is good for health and blood sugar, they might as well place their symbol on a can of Coke; after all it has 39 grams of sugar.
You and everyone else in America are left to fend for yourself in grocery store aisles; it's not surprising our waistlines are expanding despite all the diet books. Years ago, these "healthy" claims began showing up on decent foods. Now, these healthy claims are on cookies, candy and chips! Sooner or later, you won't be able to trust any claims on labels or the companies that sell those foods. Food companies use every trick in the book to advertise their product as being better and healthier than competitors, they'll do whatever they have to in order to get the money out of your pocket and into theirs. How can we ever correct our nation's obesity epidemic, if the very information we rely on is false and misleading? Until the USDA, FDA and our government stops deceptive and misleading advertising we are destined to remain an overweight and unhealthy nation. The more "label savvy" you are, the less likely you are to fall prey to what I like to call the MythFits of the media food chain.
