Reading Food Labels
For Kids
There is a very well made and comprehensive YouTube video entitled, Label Reading 101, in which a kid talks about reading food labels. Please take a look at it here. The following two videos are other kid-friendly videos that address this subject.
Food Label Deceptions
- Food labeled “natural,” may contain antibiotics, growth hormones, and other similar chemicals.
- Many foods labelled as low fat have added sugar and other additives to enhance their flavor. The added sugar gets turned into fat in our bodies anyhow.
- Multi-grain is not the same as wholegrain since multi-grains foods may have had fiber and other essential vitamins and minerals removed.
- No or Low-sugar often means added artificial sweeteners, some of which like aspartame, though calorie- free, have been proven to be unhealthy.
- Fortified or Enriched foods are often highly processed foods which should be avoided in general.
- Foods labeled, trans-fat free or cholesterol-free, are usually so labeled because the foods contained in them normally contain these things. Foods so labelled usually contain alternatives which may or may not be any more safe.
- The FDA rules for food labeling allows manufacturers to round down their labeling of ingredients per serving and still be able legally claim the labeled food has none of the rounded down ingredient.
Here is another table that illustrates the freedom that food manufacturers are given based on how the FDA allows them to manipulate the numbers. The real deception comes from the fact that this manipulation is done per serving. If a given packet has several servings and the content of the packet is consumed all at once what was previously insignificant becomes quite meaningful and impactful.
Here is a very well informative and concise video that highlights misleading food labels.
References