Have you ever picked one grocery item over another just because of the health claims on the label? You bet! We all get drawn to anything that is labelled “healthy”, “fat-free”, “sugar-free” etc. We believe that nutrition facts printed on labels of packaged food are accurate and the manufacturer provides the information in good faith. However, that’s not always the case. Often, the information on the label can be misleading.
A nutrition label can vary from being reasonably honest to outrightly deceptive. Indeed, the information can be portrayed in such a manner that the consumer is made to believe that a particular product is “Healthy” or “Good” even when it’s not necessarily so.
Consider the words “Cholesterol Free”, which are used so loosely that you may believe that a particular product is specially made to be so. However, the fact is that some products are by nature cholesterol-free. For instance, vegetable oils are inherently free of cholesterol and thus labelling it as “Cholesterol Free” implies that the manufacturer or marketer is deliberately misguiding the consumers.
Another example is when manufacturers use confusing terms. For instance “Wheat flour” sounds wholesome, right? Turns out that it’s a code for refined white flour, which is not healthy at all.
We can avoid falling in such traps laid for uninformed or misinformed consumers by learning to read the labels and making informed purchases. Refer the label below
