Food Labeling Scam

Is the food labeled as “Natural”, “Organic” or “Sugar-free” really all that it is claimed to be? Labels on different kinds of foods saying, “Natural!”, “Fresh!”, “Healthy!”, and most of all, “Organic!” make you want to jump off your sofa and head to the store to get your hands on some of that “delicious edible health”. But is “organic”, “fresh” or “gluten-free” really all that it is claimed to be, or is it just another scam, a game of words carefully put together by the marketing master minds? In a study that has been lead in 2011; the participants were asked to compare non-organic and organic food. All of them described the food that had the label “organic” as being tastier, fresher, and richer in fiber and so on. Now, all this would be just great if the participants hadn’t been given non-organic food that was only labeled as organic. This “halo effect” that leads consumers to blindly believe that some foods are more nutritious than others is all too common, and it was in full force these past few years. Lately there has been plenty of misleading “health foods” on the market, from “organic cookies rich in fiber” to “fresh” fast food”, “natural yogurt” or “cage free eggs or chicken”. Still, no amount of labels, smart marketing tricks or the big fonts saying “ORGANIC” can change the fact that these foods are anything but wholesome. In the following text, we are going to give you some of the most deceiving food labels in stores and restaurants, and the facts about what’s really being sold. Are you being scammed?

“Natural” or “All Natural”

A product labeled as “natural” must not contain synthetic or artificial ingredients, according to FDA policy.5 However, it may still contain pesticides, genetically modified ingredients, high fructose corn syrup and be heavily processed, which negates what many consumers think of as natural. In translation, label saying “Natural” means absolutely nothing. If you are expecting it to contain food that isn’t processed or meat that has been raised on pastures, you are so not getting what you are hoping for. “Natural” or “all natural” just means that some part of the food was originally grown or produced from actual food. This can be considered fraud.

“Made With Whole Grains”

So, when you see this label on a delicious piece of bun or a pastry of any kind, you instantly think it is healthy, and it is going to help you in fulfilling your healthy carb, healthy calorie diet plan. You can’t be more wrong! Many products claiming to be healthy source of whole grains contain refined flour as the first and the most important ingredient. The only way you can tell (besides tasting it) if the bread or a bun is made with whole grains is by picking it up. If the bread is heavier and denser, then it probably contains enough of whole grains.

“Cage-free”

Animal enthusiasts are usually the ones that don’t mind paying more for chicken or eggs containing a label “Cage-free”. But are they really getting their money’s worth, or are they the victims of fraud? If they are, would we be writing about this? So, of course not! Label saying “Cage-free” just means that animals weren’t being held in a small cages but in a large, open chicken houses, crammed together on the floor. It does not mean they have access to the outdoors, much less that they are fully pastured. It is no healthier than caged chickens, and certainly not more ethical.

“Sugar-free, healthy or a scam?”

Usually in the healthy food section in a store or a supermarket, there are plenty of products labeled as “Sugar-free”. What does this mean? Now, be careful whit the answer, you are probably going to get it wrong. If your answer is that the labeled product doesn’t contain sugar, you are wrong. “Sugar-free” label in translation means that the product contains artificial sweetener, which also isn’t healthy at all so you are basically choosing among two evils. Even if the label on the product says “no sugar added”, it always means that it uses some form of fruit concentrate to sweeten. It’s an improvement over GMO beet sugar or corn syrup, certainly, but you may not want it.

“0 Grams of Trans Fats”

Legally, if food contains 0.5 grams or less of trans fat per serving, it can be labeled as “0 grams of trans fats.” Not so scary if you look at it this way, but if we take into consideration the fact that almost all of us, almost always, eat more than just one serving size, the trans fats taken with the “0 Grams of Trans Fats” food can build up significantly. This is just yet another proof of food labeling scam being so obvious, misleading consumers and scamming them into buying something unhealthy. So, always check the ingredients list for “partially hydrogenated oil” -- if this is listed, the food probably contains a measurable amount of trans fat and is better off avoided -- even if it claims to be “trans-fat free.”

There are several ways to protect yourself from being scammed, and fraud! There are a lot of ways to become the victim of fraud, so make sure to check out my articles about fraud! Check out my other articles on this blog to find out more!