As time goes on, the food industry gets more and more unstable and unhealthy. Not only do ingredients become modified, but nutritional information on packages are being strewed and easy to misread. Anyone making an effort to make healthy choices must be very careful while shopping for groceries.
Even though ingredients are being changed, nutrition labels haven’t made major changes for about twenty years. Nutrition labels are misleading if one does not pay careful attention to what they are really saying.
One example of confusion caused by nutrition labels is serving sizes. Products which are typically consumed in one sitting are said to have multiple servings. A 20-oz. bottle of Coca-Cola appears to have 110 calories at first glance, but actually has 275 because there are 2.5 servings per bottle. This is viewed as ridiculous by many, because in reality a person will typically drink the entire bottle, not 8 ounces at a time.
Another problem with labeling is although all nutrition information must be shown, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) did not specify where the information must be written. Because of this, many labels have hidden their nutritional facts in small print or placed them in hard to read spots.
Since people are beginning to worry about their health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are starting to make changes with their nutrition labels. A new template has been proposed that will feature more realistic serving sizes. Labels will also be easier to read, with bolder print for calories and serving sizes.
Although the change in labeling is generally considered positive, some are still tentative about it. Some believe that since the calorie content will be in bold print, it will draw attention away from other ingredients. This will also put extra emphasis on calories, when some ‘low-calorie’ items are still very unhealthy.
FC’s own art teacher, Sharon Scharf, earned her degree as a dietician before she became a teacher. Her main concern in today’s packaging is the sugar content being disguised.
“People probably don’t realize what’s in the products that they eat. If you read the list of ingredients you will be shocked by what’s in the products you put into your body,” Scharf said. “The big deal right now is sugar: they hide how much sugar is in it by listing all the different sugars. Anything with ‘ose’ [glucose, fructose] on the end is a sugar. You are supposed to list the ingredient that is most prevalent first, and companies get by with not listing sugar first by dividing all the sugars up.”
While most dietitians have information on nutrition, many high school students feel clueless about what they are eating. Sophomore Ifasia Armstrong says she does not know nearly as much about food as she should.
“I really don’t know a lot about food labels,” Armstrong said. “I know to eat protein, but other than that food labels are confusing. I don’t know everything I probably should.”
Contrary to Armstrong, Junior Jonathon Brushwood thinks that most people are fairly educated on what they are eating.
“I think pretty much everyone has a good amount of knowledge about nutrition,” Brushwood said. “If anything, we just don’t talk about it a lot, but we know. In this era nutrition is becoming a big deal.”
This writer can be reached via Twitter: @_chloemueller. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.
For more features, read the April 24 article, 192 countries participate in annual Earth Day, show support
