Front-of-Package Health Claims
Contributor: “Dr. J”Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.
Front-of-Package Food Labels: Public Health or Propaganda?
Ever since I heard the maxim, “The more important it says it is on the outside of the envelope, the less important it is on the inside of the envelope,” from Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes, I looked at all my mail and found it to be very accurate.
Marian Nestle PhD, MPH recently had a commentary article in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association where she has applied Andy’s observation to the front-of-package food labels.
Her article, co-authored by David Ludwig MD, PhD, discusses the history of food labeling from the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, which prohibited food labels from bearing statements that were “false or misleading in any particular” to the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, through the current state of package labeling with its “bewildering array of claims for increasingly remote health benefits.”
Their conclusions
Doctors Nestle and Ludwig feel that the current practices of front-of-package food labeling may mislead the public in several ways:
(1) They feel that few, if any, of these claims can be verified.
Although specific dietary components may be linked to improved health outcomes, food products containing that dietary component might not have the same effect.
(2) Claims based on individual nutritional factors are misleading.
Front-of-package health claims usually only focus on one ingredient: ignoring the presence of potentially unhealthful aspects (e.g., the sugar or salt content in a prepared breakfast cereal).
(3) Even if the front-of-package labels were restricted to nutrient content, they still can be deceptive by presenting information out of context.
For example, an 8-ounce serving of a sugared beverage may have fewer calories than a 1-ounce serving of nuts.
(4) Using the term, “Healthier” for a processed food does not necessarily mean healthy.
By manipulating snack food ingredients by replacing fat or sugar with refined starch, for example, manufacturers can improve the rating score without a meaningful improvement in nutritional quality.
(5) Front-of-package claims produce conflicts of interest.
Without an FDA specific dictate for allowable claims for each food product, the food industry’s business of selling the product will undermine the educational purpose of labeling.
Their Recommendations
If health claims are allowed on food packages, they should be regulated more strictly according to rigorous evidence based on national standards.
Because of the difficulty in doing this, an outright ban on all front-of-package claims would seem more prudent. This would hopefully encourage the public to eat whole or minimally processed foods and to read the ingredient lists on these processed foods.
My Thoughts
I may have glanced at the outside of envelopes before opening them pre-Andy Rooney, but now if the outside emphasizes the importance of the content, I just throw them in the recycle bin.
I really minimize my purchasing of processed foods, and when I do, I first turn the package over and look at the nutritional information on the back, followed by reading the ingredient list. At that point, I make the decision to either put it in the cart or back on the shelf.
One of the editors at CalorieLab, Sarah White, had a series not that long ago on what I’m eating now. As you can see, she’s all about eating non-processed, healthy and whole foods.
After all, rules 5-7 in the Dr. J rules for healthy eating are 5) If it comes in a box or wrapper, it’s bad for you. 6) If you can’t pronounce its ingredients, it’s bad for you. 7) If it only has one ingredient, it’s good for you.
I may have to add one more rule to the 10 rules: The more healthy the front-of-package label says the product is on the outside, the less healthy it is in your inside.
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I guess that’s why simple produce has such a tiny label.
I’ve applied a similar theory to TV commercials. If a product has to advertise, the product is most likely crap – there may be some exceptions. Products that don’t have to advertise, don’t waste precious dollars on ads, their product speaks for itself (fruits, veges, one ingredient items). Most of the stuff on TV is crap – cereals, fast food and junky toys for kids (stuff that is primarily marketed to children so the children plead with parents to buy it).
Of course I could be totally wrong. ;-)
Always FULL of info! :-) I spend so much time reading packages & labels that my hubby hates to shop with me.. even stuff I have already bought cause sometimes they change the label on us!
I like to eat a lot of “real” whole foods but I do buy some things in a package BUT I do make sure & read the label & can pronounce the ingredients!
It appears reading your column is now my new full time job — one I wholly embrace, just not sure yet how much the paycheck will be.
My most immediate thought is one of an old school bodybuilder from the 60′s once said in a seminar; “If your food comes out of a package, it’s not food.” Sadly, Chuck Sipes committed suicide because he was to advanced for this modern world.
Though it’s impossible in this era to shop without buying some processed foods, I do find that I never look at the front of the package. I look, in this order, at the back of the package:
1) Sugar grams
2) Servings per package
3) Calories per serving
4) The first ingredient on the ingredient list
If these all meet my approval, I shoot from way downtown and throw it in the cart — swish, nothin’ but health.
I have started looking at the ingredient list before the Nutrition Label lately on what little packaged foods I buy, and it has made such a difference in what I put in my cart.
“I first turn the package over and look at the nutritional information on the back, followed by reading the ingredient list. At that point, I make the decision to either put it in the cart or back on the shelf.” This is pretty much what I do. I completely ignore front of package claims. I do need to improve though, becuase I do buy processed foods – I would say that around 30% of my cart is processed foods. It’s just so darn convenient! But while I make sure to avoid the obviously bad stuff (HFCS, trans fats, artificial coloring and preservatives), most of those still contain too much sugar or too much sodium.
Aaron!
Hard to go wrong with fresh produce! Thanks for your comment!
POD!
I like your comparison and agree with your point of view! I’ve noticed something similar with movies also (where did I leave my 3-D glasses anyway?).
Jody!
Just put your husband behind the wheel in one of those grocery carts that look like a race car and I’m sure he will behave :-)
Roy!
You are more than funny! Whatever the pay is, I’m sure it won’t be enough for that comprehensive, better than my column, comment!
Sahar!
Thanks for your input!
Vered!
It may take a little more research, but I’m sure you find packaged food products that are not too bad.
I’m a big believer in eating whole foods whenever possible. Frankly, I am surprised how gullible the American public can be about claims made by the manufacturers of processed foods. As you stated, if it comes in a package, it’s not good for you.
The ingredient list became more and more important to me, even after I lost weight. I realized that I didn’t want to eat stuff I couldn’t pronounce. We do have some processed foods in our diets around here, but I try and limit it.
Karen!
I don’t know if people are gullible or just don’t really care. Their behavior however, pays a lot of health care personnel’s rent.
Diane!
As you say, a little education about food can make a big difference in our health.
I don’t eat a whole lot of processed food, and I ignore any front of box stuff. Veggie burgers, Amy’s broccoli pot pies, Morningstar fake meat, emergency spicy ramen, I always have these, only ramen is overly processed. Since I studied chemistry, I know what most of the stuff is, not too concerned. I look at fat, sugar, fiber, calories, ingredients. Truly, I’m not looking for much nutrition from this stuff, taste, convenience, maybe, but I buy tons of produce, and I eat that for my health.
Oh I love your new maxim!! It’s so true. I pretty much avoid anything that comes in a box as a general rule but the trick is teaching my kids to see through these lies. Just the other day my 7-year-old picked up a box of Capn Crunch and exclaimed “Can we buy this one? It only has 6 pounds of sugar in it!” SIGH.
Julie!
You can eat a lot worse things than the processed foods that you mentioned! Lots of plants is key, keep up the good work!
Charlotte!
Out of the mouth of babes :-)