Tony's Tips - Food Labeling Loopholes

How true is “ fat free ” or “ organic ” ?

Eating healthy seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. Buzzwords like “fat free”, “whole grain”, “made with real fruit”, “sugar free”, “zero trans fats”, etc. flood the front of food packages and ads. We may think these words mean that the foods inside are healthy for us. But think again. They may just be marketing hype used to mislead us when in fact the products inside are not healthy at all.

Currently two-thirds of U.S. adults are officially overweight, and about half of them have graduated to full-blown obesity. Among children between 6 and 19 years old, 15%, or 1 in 6, are overweight, and 15% are headed that way.

Overweight and obesity are the leading factors in early diabetes, heart attacks, and cancers. They are caused by the foods we eat and our inactive life styles. Understanding how we can protect our families’ health as well as our own is a major concern for all of us.

In 1990, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act went into affect so that consumers would have useful information about the foods they buy and eat with confidence. But how do we make sense of the food labels and not fall prey to marketing hype?

1. How to watch out for deceitful claims
2. How to read the ingredient and nutrition labels on the foods you buy
3. What are the best and simplest ways to get all the nutrition you need and enjoy your food!

I . Beware of Marketing Hype on Front of Packages! Did you know that:

Most foods in the grocery store must have nutrition labels and ingredient lists that are regulated by laws. Reading these labels before you buy helps you choose foods that make up a healthy diet, and reduce your risks for some diseases.

However, many food manufacturers will try to attract you into buying their product with the latest diet or health buzz words: whole grains, natural, low carb, fat free, organic, heart healthy, zero trans fats, free range, etc. However, while the manufacturers can’t lie to you about the nutrition ingredients of their products, they can exaggerate them leading you to believe that their product is healthier than it actually is. For example, “whole wheat” may really consist of only a few grains of whole wheat among mostly white flour. Read on.

By law, food labels must be truthful. But manufactures can pick and choose which facts to highlight and spin. As a consumer, your best option is to disregard the claims on the front of the packages because, while they may be true, it may not tell you the whole story.

Here’s a list of some popular food package claims used by food manufacturers – and what they really mean for you and your health.

1. “Natural”

The word “natural” is not regulated by the FDA and therefore is very misleading. Although “natural” brings to mind thoughts of fresh, minimally processed and healthy food, it means nothing about a food’s nutritional content, ingredients, safety, or health effects. Almost all packaged foods today are processed in some way.

2. “Made with Real Fruit” or “Contains Real Fruit Juice”

You see “made with real fruit” frequently on fruit snacks, fruity cookies and cereals, and fruit drinks. Since there is no law that requires how much real fruit has to be included in a food that uses this claim, the sugary treat could contain just one grape or one drop of orange juice to be accurate. However, a quick look at the ingredients list will show you what you need to know. When high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar are listed as the first ingredients, you know that the “real fruit” content of the product isn’t significant. This is sugary junk food that is trying to pass off as healthy.

3. “Whole Grains”

This is one of the most popular marketing claims at this time and the most confusing. Real whole grains in the form of 100% whole wheat or whole oats are an important part of getting enough fiber into your body, something “refined grains” do not provide. (Fiber slows down weight gain and obesity. You should be eating 25 – 30 grams of fiber daily.) Today we see “whole grain” logos on almost all grain products, including sugary breakfast cereals. The reality is that refined white flour – with just a touch of whole wheat added back in – can be listed as “whole grain.” A food manufacturer can use the term “whole grain” no matter how much whole wheat the product contains. What the various “whole grain” terms actually mean may surprise you:

• “Made with Whole Grains” on the package
  To use this claim the product needs only one tiny bit of whole grains, which has no value for your health. Whole grains can contain various blends of grains that are refined. You want to avoid words like enriched and bleached on the ingredients label. You can only trust the term “100 percent whole grain” to be a healthy choice.
• “Wheat Flour” or “100 Percent Wheat”
  Again, this is a trick used to fool consumers. You want to look for “whole wheat flour” or “100 percent whole wheat”, not just the word “wheat.”
• “Multigrain”
  This label doesn’t explain whether the grains are refined or whole, just that there is more than one type of grain. Multigrain has no proven health benefits, especially if all those grains are refined, and they probably are (unless the ingredients list proves otherwise).

If a food is high in whole grains, it will have protein and fiber to boot. Check out the nutrition label to see how much protein and fiber are in the food content. Be aware that manufacturers won’t necessarily call their processed flours “refined on the label. Anything that is listed as corn, rice, wheat, or oat flour IS processed and refined unless it specifically tells you that it is “whole”

4. “Fat Free”

“Fat free” food labels can sometimes be helpful, like when choosing skim milk over higher fat varieties. But take the time to read labels.

An example of unhelpful fat free claims is a carton of 100% orange juice. Here, a fat free claim isn’t helpful labeling, even thought it is truthful. Fruit is naturally fat free. It doesn’t’ need a sign to point that out.

5. “Organic”

“Organic” can be as confusing as the definitions of “whole wheat” above. Although, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Services provides these definitions for terms you may see on labels, they are not regulated by law:

• 100 Percent Organic:
  The product must contain 100% organically produced ingredients, not counting added water and salt
• Organic:
  Must contain at least 95% organic ingredients, not counting added water and salt. Must not contain added sulfites.
• Made with Organic Ingredients:
  Must contain at least 70% organic ingredients, not counting added water and salt. Must not contain added sulfites; except that, wine may contain added sulfur dioxide as per USDA standards.
• Some Organic Ingredients:
  May contain less than 70% organic ingredients, not counting added water and salt.

6. “Zero Trans Fats”

Trans fats are created when oils are hydrogenated during food processing and are bad for our health and should be avoided because they are difficult to break down. On this one you can’t rely on the product’s claim or the nutrition facts label. If you see “partially hydrogenated” on the ingredients list the food DOES contain trans fats. Unfortunately due to labeling guidelines, any food that contains 0.5 grams or less of a nutrient can be listed as zero grams.

7. “Free Range” chicken or beef

You may imagine chickens and cows roaming in vast areas of farmland. That’s marketing. Free range means: animals/poultry are confined to a building, room or open area with unlimited access to feed, water and the outside environment. The outside area may be fenced. Free range would also be an acceptable description of eggs originating from a certified organic egg production facility.

8. Cage Free, Free Roaming:

Hens can roam indoors in a barn or poultry house. There is no guarantee for access to the outdoors.

9. Grass Fed:

Throughout their lifetime, 99% of the diet for grazing animals was grass, except in their infancy when they relied on milk. These animals cannot be fed grain byproducts and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season.

II. How to Trust Yourself and Not the Packaging

According to law, all food labels must contain the following information:

1. Common name of the product
2. Name and address of the product’s manufacturer
3. Net contents in terms of weight, measure or count, and:
4. Ingredients List – Lists the ingredients in descending order of predominance and weight. For example, if the first ingredient is high fructose corn syrup or sugar, and the second is wheat flour, the sweetener (the first item) could be over 50% of the ingredients. There is no percentage in the list of ingredients. Another reason to be sure to read the nutrition label.
5. Serving Sizes – Each package must identify the size of a serving. The nutritional information given on the label is based on one serving of the food. Example: a label may say 240 calories per 8 ounce serving, but the can may have 2 serving in it, thus really has 480 calories.

For example: In “Cap’n Crunch” cereal, the ingredients panel reads:
Ingredients: Corn flour, sugar, oat flour, brown sugar, coconut oil, salt, niacin, yellow 5, reduced zinc oxide, yellow 6, thiamin mononitrate, BHT (a preservative), pyridoxine hydro chloride, riboflavin.

You know that since the first five ingredients are refined corn and oat flours, sugars and oil. There is very little nutritional value in this cereal.

Therefore, we can tell the percentages of each nutrient in “Cap’n Crunch”:

Nutrition Facts		% Daily Value
Serving Size	3/4 cup
Amount per Serving
Calories 110	Calories from fat 15	2%
Total Fat 1.5g
Sodium 200mg		8%
Potassium	0	0%
Total Carbohydrates	23	8%
Sugars	12
Other	10
Dietary Fiber	1	3%
Protein	1

The law behind each term :

The following are the guidelines for terms that the Food and Drug Administration provides about the claim and descriptions manufacturers may use in food labeling to promote their products:

Claim	Must Be
Fat-Free	Less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving, with no added fat or oil
Low Fat	3 grams or less of fat per serving
Less Fat	25% or less fat than the comparison food
Saturated Fat Free	Less than 0.5 grams of saturated fat and  0.5 grams of trans-fatty acids per serving
Cholesterol-Free	Less than 2 mg cholesterol per serving, and 2 grams or less saturated fat per serving
Low Cholesterol	20 mg or less cholesterol per serving and 2 grams or less saturated fat per serving
Reduced Calorie	At least 25% fewer calories per serving than the comparison food
Low Calorie	40 calories or less per serving
Extra Lean	Less than 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per (100 gram) serving of meat, poultry or seafood
Lean	Less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and 95 mg of cholesterol per (100 gram) serving of meat, poultry or seafood
Light (fat)	50% or less of the fat than in the comparison food (ex: 50% less fat than our regular cheese)
Light (calories)	1/3 fewer calories than the comparison food
High-Fiber	5 grams or more fiber per serving
Sugar-Free	Less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving
Sodium-Free or Salt-Free	Less than 5 mg of sodium per serving
Low Sodium	140 mg or less per serving    (1500mg = 1 teaspoon)
Very Low Sodium	35 mg or less per serving
Healthy	A food low in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, and contains at least 10% of the Daily Values for Vitamin A, Vitamin c, iron, calcium, protein, or fiber
“High”, “Rich in” or “Excellent Source of”	20% or more of the Daily Value for a given nutrient per serving
“Less”, “Little”, “Few”,	At least 25% less of a given nutrient or calories than the comparison food
Or “Low Source of”	An amount that would allow frequent consumption of the food without exceeding the Daily Value for the nutrient – but can only make the claim as it applies to all similar foods
“Good Source of”, “More”, or “Added”	The food provides 10% more of the Daily value for a given nutrient than the comparison food

III. Choosing to Be Healthy

To stay healthy, stick to shopping the perimeter of the supermarket. Most of your healthy food choices should come from whole, unprocessed sources: fresh meat, real fruits and vegetables, calcium-rich foods like dairy, oats and other whole grains, beans and legumes, and freshly baked breads. The more processed a food is the less nutrition it will provide you.

Since most of the processed foods are in the center aisle of supermarkets, avoid them. Also, if you don’t understand what an ingredient is on a package, don’t buy it. You’ll only be putting un-needed and questionable chemicals into your body.

No one food makes you healthy. In addition to eating healthful foods, stay active, don’t smoke and watch your weight! Do exercise – from walking, biking, to sports, and weights has been proven to keep you healthier and younger longer.

For Additional Information:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.html

US food & Drug Administration http://www.foodsafety.gov/label.htm

Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, Penguin Books

The Loopholes of Food Labeling, What food Manufacturers Don’t Want You to Know – By Tanya Jolliffe, Nutritionist & Nicole Nichols, Health Educator, SparkPeople.com

Things to Think About:

“Helping others, that’s the main thing. The only way for us to help ourselves is to help others and to listen to each other’s stories.” – Elie Wiesel

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 – Sir Winston Churchill

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