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.”

Farmer Markets

“The fight to save family farms isn't just about farmers. It's about making sure that there is a safe and healthy food supply for all of us. It's about jobs, from Main Street to Wall Street. It's about a better America.” - Willie Nelson

According to the USDA, there are more than 4,600 farmers markets operating throughout the nation. I first fell in love with Farmers Markets in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while attending the University of Michigan. It was gigantic and amazing! Now I live in the Hudson Valley region of New York and the Farmers Markets are smaller but more plentiful. Nearly every town has a few stands on Saturday mornings from May to October. These markets are so popular that at least two in the region are now open year round. You won't get local produce in the winter but you can buy fish, meat and fresh bread.

To find a local market, try Googling "Farmers Market " or these websites

http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/
www.localharvest.org/

A few years back my wife and I signed up for CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). The idea is that you support local farmers by prepaying for a share of their crop(s). The CSA agent often represents many farmers so you get a variety of foods over the course of the growing season. Our cost for a very small share was the equivalent of $18 per week. We'd visit the drop off point on Saturday mornings and discover what the CSA agent was distributing that day: lettuce, corn, kale, beans, etc. We usually got six different food types each week and sometimes we could choose; i.e. take 2 large cucumbers or 4 pickle sized.

The CSA was fun and we were exposed to many vegetables that we would not ordinarily eat; like kale. For just two people the amount of food was too much. We bought the smallest share possible and split the cost by alternating weeks with a friend. We did not rejoin the CSA for a second year. Instead for $18 we can buy exactly what we need and want from Farmers Markets.

Bottom Line

In theory you should get great bargains at Farmer's Markets by cutting out the middle-man but this is rarely the case. The farmers will claim their food is organic and charge the same or more as supermarket rates. So you may not save money but you can feel good about buying local (less fuel used in transportation) and supporting your local farmers. If fuel prices shoot up again or a pandemic closes the boarders of nations, then you'll want successful local farmers that can continue to supply you with food.