More Misleading Food Labels

More die in the United States of too much food than of too little. ~John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society

Here are more misleading food label tricks from the Women’s Health magazine article, the “18 Worst Packaged Food Lies”.

Some products use sneaky serving sizes so they can boast, “100 calories a serving!” But check the number of servings listed on your bag of chips, candy bar, etc. Is it 2.6 or any number other than one? Who doesn’t eat the entire bag, or bar, or “individual” frozen pizza? On many cooked foods the official serving size is very small, usually a 1/2 cup for mashed potatoes, stuffing, pasta and similar carbs. I typically eat two or more of these “servings”. My wife & I laugh at processed foods that say "feeds 6-8".

Watch out for fake foods. When something is "strawberry-flavored" or “cheese-flavored” the flavoring will be 100% artificial; i.e. no strawberries or cheese. I once saw a product labeled “authentic pancake syrup”. What does this mean? It was hoping you would think “100% maple syrup” but that product contained no maple and was all sugar. Another product labels itself as “original pizza” and shows a lovely crust covered in cheese and sauce. But there is a reason this product is “original pizza” instead of “cheese pizza”; the “cheese” is imitation mozzarella made from soybean oil. It contains no cheese at all.

“Zero gram tans fats” does not mean trans fats free! Manufactures are allowed to round off so anything less than 0.50 grams is officially zero. To check if a product has trans fats, look in the ingredient list for the words "partially hydrogenated", "shortening", or "interesterified".

The fat fake-out will claim "25% less fat than regular product X". But since fat gives food flavor and texture, something is needed as a substitute. In some cases fat is replaced with maltodextrin, a cheap, carbohydrate filler with empty carbs. Sometimes extra sugar and/or salt supplies the missing flavor. Check the calorie count. You may find that the substitutes are no healthier than the original fat.

"Lightly sweetened" is another unregulated phrase. The Kellogg's Smart Start Cereal is "lightly sweetened" with more added sugars per serving than Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, or Apple Jacks.

Organic junk food: organic originally meant produce grown without “non-organic” pesticides, insecticides and herbicides. It was sold as healthier and so the word organic became equated with healthy. But this is carried to extremes with Kraft Original Macaroni and Cheese labeled as "USDA organic". Does it matter that the refined flour and powdered cheese is “organic” and then mixed with chemicals in the box? For more information, see The Truth about Organic Food.

Bottom Line

"Food companies are only as honest as the labeling laws force them to be," says a University student in the Chicago Business story, What is 'Real Kraft Cheese'? It notes that “real Kraft cheese” is processed cheese (made in a laboratory, not on a dairy farm) from natural and synthetic ingredients.

The story mentions several food labeling lawsuits:

A woman in California sued Kraft for a “guacamole dip” that contained less than 2% avocado. Kraft’s response? Change the label to a “guacamole flavor dip”.

Quaker’s Strawberries & Cream and their Peaches & Cream Oatmeal contain neither strawberries nor peaches but instead dried apples and artificial color. When challenged in 2001, the labels were changed to indicate artificial ingredients (but the false names remained.)

Ben & Jerry’s had to drop their “all natural” claim when it was discovered that some ice cream contained hydrogenated oil and artificial flavors.

Aunt Jemima Blueberry Waffles mix contains no real blueberries. In 2005 the company agreed to mention “imitation blueberries” on the front of the package.

In General Mills’ Betty Crocker Stir ‘n Bake Carrot Cake Mix, the carrot powder appears last on the ingredient list AFTER salt, cinnamon, red dye and other additives. The company changed the package to say, “with carrot flavored pieces.”