Wish Food Labels Weren't So Scammy!

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"Only 100 calories!" the label exclaims in a giant bright star. "Wow!" I think. I have finally found it, a healthy food with minimal calories! I eat a whole box and am surprised to find I feel bloated. Hmm. Did I read the label wrong? I go to investigate, and lo and behold, it is in fact a 100 calories....but there are 25 servings of 0.01257^2 *x2= pi circular cuboidal grams. Of course I did not measure that out, thinking I could rely on the company to be honest and forward with their nutrition information.

Or my breathe is a bit gross after working out, and I want something sweet, so I eat a pack of no-sugar Tic Tacs. Later on the internet I learn that in fact they are 100% sugar, but since the serving size is 1 tic tac, they can use a legal loop hole to label their candy no calorie no sugar.

Of course these are somewhat of an exaggeration, but I am so frustrated with having to shop for hours to find actually healthy food, which is rare. And having to carefully examine ingredients to make sure I do not get tricked into thinking I ate a healthy meal when I did in fact not. Why can't food companies just be honest or sell their products in single serve sizes? I hope their is an overhaul soon to fix this.

Of course I could buy only chicken and vegetables and weigh them, but working a busy schedule this is unrealistic for me and it won't stick.
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Replies

  • belleflop
    belleflop Posts: 154 Member
    edited September 2017
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    To complicate matters all calories on food labels are just best guesses at most. In some instances the calorie per serving can be up 20% off from the listed amount per serving. Enjoy!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
    edited September 2017
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    I don't think they're "scammy"...whole packages of things aren't typically a single serving and food labels always say XXX calories per serving and give you the number of servings. You just have to read the labels.

    I'd also be wary of anything marketed as "healthy"...just eat more whole foods and then it's pretty easy to eat "healthy" and in many cases, pretty low calorie. Highly processed foods, even the one's marketed as "healthy" very often have a high calorie to lower nutrient ratio...
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    musicfan68 wrote: »
    I have noticed on some things that you might get like a bag of chips, it shows the calories per serving, with 2.5 servings, but then they have another set of info beside it for the whole package, since most people eat a whole small bag of chips. That does help.

    I think this is a new thing they are rolling out, I've started to see more labels like this as well.



    I usually look at the serving size/nutrition before I buy, and then again before I eat it. (when I log/weigh it)
    When I eat cereal I have like 3 "servings", so the single serve thing is a big "nope" from me.