We all fall for these tricks…
When food labels say that something is low fat or is made of real fruit, the health conscious tend to gravitate towards these types of foods because we think it’s better.
Food labels are just marketing tools that make us THINK that some foods are much healthier than others, but the truth is, they’re not really much healthier.
Yahoo! Green recently published a very useful blog that highlights 9 food label lies. Take a look at the list so you don’t get fooled the next time you’re trying to make a decision between two products…
Made with whole grains: when something says that it’s made of whole grains, the main ingredient can still be bleached white flour. A product could have a teeny-tiny bit of whole grain and still be labeled as “made with whole grains.”
Ingredients: consider the first ingredient in cake. “Wheat flour.” That seems healthy, right? Nope, wrong. The main ingredient is actually sugar (in many forms!): There’s sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, juice concentrate…
Free range eggs: it’s great that you’re trying to be conscious about animal cruelty, but buying free range eggs doesn’t give you that title. Not at all. Free range eggs could come from chickens that have been packed in cages all day, but get 5 minutes of outdoors time.
- Serving size
- Omega 3
- Made with real fruit
- Zero trans fat
- Fiber
- Tastes like medicine
Check out the link below for an in-depth description of these other 6 food label tricks.
As a parent, you have an obligation to raise healthy children and keep yourself healthy, too. Educate yourself on these food label tricks and you’re off to a good start. Don’t be tricked into thinking that one product is much healthier than another — just because a food label SAYS a product is made of zero trans fat doesn’t make it healthy.
Have you been tricked by food labels? What are some of your own tricks to avoiding misleading food labels?
Don’t Be Misled By These Food Label Tricks [Yahoo!]
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