Why do people buy products without reading the labels?

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davidjulian
davidjulian Posts: 24 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I just saw the Nutella post and decided to go read up on the Nutella lawsuit and it got me thinking: why do people buy food products without reading the nutritional information or, at the very least, the ingredients list?

Is it lack of caring? Laziness? Shopping too hectic? Just wondering.

Replies

  • sugarbone
    sugarbone Posts: 454 Member
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    Lack of interest usually. Or they haven't been let in on the fact that tons of food have horrible things in them they'd never expect. Personally the only time I buy a food without ever looking at the label is when I'm short on cash and need the cheapest version - and I just don't want to know. Lol.
  • xarge
    xarge Posts: 484 Member
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    I just saw the Nutella post and decided to go read up on the Nutella lawsuit and it got me thinking: why do people buy food products without reading the nutritional information or, at the very least, the ingredients list?

    Is it lack of caring? Laziness? Shopping too hectic? Just wondering.

    Don't underestimate the power of advertisements. It goes for every sector and industry. Companies do their best to make the most manipulative ads.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Or they haven't been let in on the fact that tons of food have horrible things in them they'd never expect.
    How could this be? Where are they from, the 50s?
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    I don't necessarily read the nutrition information on everything, and particularly before I started losing weight. But I don't go into a store and pick up the first product I see that says "nut" and assume it's healthy.
  • onedayillbeamilf
    onedayillbeamilf Posts: 966 Member
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    I only read the expiration date. Don't really care about the rest. I'm smart enough to know processed = bad, non processed = good...I just don't care. I eat what I like. If she was too dumb to know that chocolatey goodness was "bad" then she should be the one getting sued for excessive stupidity.
  • reneelee
    reneelee Posts: 877 Member
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    because it taste good
  • nighthawke
    nighthawke Posts: 45 Member
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    I'm a nursing student, with two advanced nutrition classes behind me and I swear, nutrition labels still suck to read.

    Im not sure about other grocery store chains, but my local grocery store started a program several years back. They have a panel of third party nutritionists evaluate every item they have on the shelf. Next to the price tag there is a nutritional "score". This has helped A LOT when doing a quick run through the store and needing to buy a new product. I found a loaf of white bread by natures own, that tastes just as good as the regular, but has only 40calories a slice!
  • Klem4
    Klem4 Posts: 399 Member
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    I haven't read the nutella post, but food labels are extremely hard to read/interpret. I think that is the main problem. There are something like 40 different names for MSG, numerous ones for sugar, etc etc.... it never ends. I've only recently started seriously reading up on ingredients, and I was so sick about it I barely ate anything for a week. LOL. seriously. I am currently trying to convert everything to REAL food, and trying not to buy anything with more than 5ish ingredients. We shopped a ton at the farmers market last week, and I haven't bought my regular junk foods in 2 weeks. Its hard work, and time consuming, but it will be worth it in the end.
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
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    I have allergies and so does my son so I read a fair amount of labels. But in general I know what is going to be in something. I mean a jar of Ragu Marinara sauce is probably not going to have watermelon, one of my allergens, in it.
  • Babymomakell
    Babymomakell Posts: 257 Member
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    I don't know... I read everything before I buy it, It is important to me to be as healthy as I can, and I want to give my daughter only the best, esp because we only have a limited amount of time to teach our children about food: what and how to eat, and we have an even smaller amount of time where we can actually control what they eat. Learning young is super important to me, my mom was a "fast-food mom" because she was a single mom and worked a lot. I do not fault her for it, she did the best she could... but a lot has changed in the last decade or so, and I want to teach my daughter proper nutrition. I hope that if I can give her the proper tools, she can make the right decisions on her own as an adult.
  • gmpuggles
    gmpuggles Posts: 137 Member
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    I normally try to make an effort to read the labels to see what the ingredients are. As for Nutella and other products like it, like a previous poster said, never underestimate the power of advertising and marketing.
  • Agator82
    Agator82 Posts: 249 Member
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    Why buy something without reading the label? Because it is YUMMY! Almost certainly the better it tastes the more objectionable are the ingredients.

    Seriously now, I am conscious of the nutritional values, but honestly I, with some exceptions, do not care what miracle of chemistry they use to manufacture a product. Even our "natural" food is so devoid of nutritional value I do no believe it matters MUCH if you buy fresh vegetables at Whole Foods or boxed dehydrated vegetables at Wal-Mart, in fact canned and frozen vegetables have higher nutritional content.

    Please note the last comment is to state the processed does not always equal bad.

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