5 Food Label Deceptions to Watch Out For

October 1, 2013

by Cathe Friedrich

It’s best to avoid processed foods and make your selections from the produce aisle, but when you do buy a packaged food, do a little detective work. Food manufacturers want make you think you’re eating something healthy and low in calories, even when it actually isn’t. There are a number of “food label deceptions tricks” they use to present their products in a more favorable light, hoping you won’t spend time looking at the label. Here are some tricks to watch out for at the grocery store.

Food Label Deceptions: Serving Size Food Label Deceptions

Size deception is a common trick. You glance at the calorie count on a beverage or candy bar to see how many calories are in a serving, assuming there’s only ONE serving in the package. After all, the package makes it look like a single serving, but if you look underneath the calorie count, you see there are actually TWO servings in the package. If you gulp down the whole beverage or eat the entire candy bar, you’ve taken in twice the number of calories. Same goes for the grams of sugar. Scary, huh? Never assume even a small container is only one serving.

Food Label Deceptions: Another Serving Size

Another way food and beverage manufacturers play with serving size is by making a serving unrealistically small. For example, one organic frozen dinner manufacturer offers frozen enchiladas. There are two enchiladas in a package, small ones at that. The label says there are 240 calories in a serving. Even though the enchiladas weigh only 4.5 ounces each, a serving is ONE enchilada. So if you eat both small enchiladas you’ve downed 480 calories.

What’s the trick here? They’ve made the serving size as small as possible to keep the calorie count down. Not to mention this organic, and supposedly better for you product, has 440 milligrams of sodium in a single serving. When you eat the two enchiladas, you’ve taken in 880 milligrams of sodium. Not much better than a fast food restaurant.

Food Label Deceptions: The Trans-Fat

When you look at the nutritional information and see it lists zero grams of trans-fat, don’t let down your guard until you look at the ingredient list. There’s a loophole that allows manufacturers to list a product as having zero grams of trans-fat if there’s less than 0.5 grams of trans-fat per serving. Dig a little deeper by reading the ingredient list. If you see partially hydrogenated oils of any type listed on the label, it’s not trans-fat free.

Food Label Deceptions: It’s Natural

Natural is a term manufacturers love to toss around because it’s loosely defined. According to the FDA, a manufacturer can call their product natural if it contains no artificial flavors, colors or synthetic substances. Many people equate natural with organic. Unlike “natural,” there are specific guidelines a manufacturer must follow to call a product organic. They’re not the same. Manufacturers also sometimes add terms like “pure” to labels. That too has very little meaning. It’s there to convey a positive image.

Food Label Deceptions: Made With Whole Grains

You’ll see this term listed on cereal and bread packages. The problem is the amount of whole grain in the actual product may be small. Sure, bread may be “made with whole grains” but that doesn’t mean it isn’t mostly refined flour. Tossing in a little whole grain gives manufacturers a license to say their product is made with whole grains even if it’s only a measly amount.

One tip-off that there’s not a lot of whole grain in there is a low fiber count. If the fiber count is only two grams there’s probably not a lot of whole grains in there. Look for items that have “whole” and the name of a grain listed first on the ingredient list. Other wording not to be fooled by is “multi-grain.” This simply means a product was made with more than one grain that may be whole OR refined.

Food Label Deceptions: Good Source of Omega-3s

Omega-3s are hot with food manufacturers. You can find them in a variety of products from mayonnaise to cereal. The problem is they’re adding short-chain omega-3s that don’t necessarily have the same benefits as long-chain omega-3s in fatty fish. Your body can convert short-chain omega-3s but it’s not very efficient at doing so. Less than 10% of the short-chain omega-3s you take in gets converted to long-chain ones. Plus, the amount of omega-3s in packaged products is usually pretty low. Best to get your omega-3s from fish not packaged foods.

The Bottom Line?

Read labels and then read them again. Be aware that manufacturers want to portray their product in the most favorable light possible and will often use words that appeal to your emotions like “natural” and “pure.” Look at the numbers and the ingredient list and decide for yourself whether it’s something you want to put in your body ans always be aware of food label deceptions.

References:

U.S Food and Drug Administration. “Food Labeling Guide”