If the title of this article sounds surprisingly simply, believe us when we say: we know. In response to the fact that so many individuals continually express their frustration over their inability to find healthy foods to eat on a regular basis, we’ve decided to provide readers with a few valuable tips on how to interpret and utilise food labels to their best advantage.
There are many misconceptions about healthy food labels and food labels in general, one of the most crucial being that these items do not accurately portray whether or not a food product contains nutritive ingredients This couldn’t be farther from the truth. In light of new regulations in both the US and EU, food labels must accurately and concisely depict the true nature of the ingredients found in the product, including any and all artificial additives.
According to food expert Sheena Leek, a researcher from the University of Birmingham, the sheer variety of food labels in existence today is causing many people to be unsure about what exactly they are consuming. According to Leek, “The number of individual pieces of information on a product – such as fat, saturated fat, salt, sugar and calories, as well as percentage of guideline daily amount, grams per serving and a related colour scheme – can cause overload confusion”. Essentially, although the information is relatively straightforward, the method in which it is presented is causing some consumers to depart from their own specific dietary expectations.
A series of polls undertaken by Leek and her team have exposed several troubling scenarios, including the fact that one in seven decisions made by participants when asked to choose the healthy food amongst the test pool was incorrect. Ultimately, Leek’s findings can be interpreted as such: it’s not necessarily the information that is causing the confusion, it’s the aesthetic and design preferences of the label creator.
We recommend that consumers plan to spend extra time during their shopping outings in order to ensure that they are accurately reading the labels on the products they buy. This level of persistence and attention to detail will lead to significantly improved outcomes for consumers over time.
