Wish Food Labels Weren't So Scammy!

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  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    We mostly only have single serve bags of chips. Either with the candy and other "dry" snacks in the snackage/lunch area of stores or in big multi-pack bags. They are typically 25-30g I think it is (I don't eat a lot of them) and then there are what they call "Grab Bags", I think from Walkers and those are single size but a larger serving. Don't ask me how large.

    Even allowing for air in bags, that extrapolates to bigger sharing bags so I've never mistaken a sharing bag for a single serve.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,647 Member
    Wow.
  • Anna_137
    Anna_137 Posts: 167 Member
    edited September 2017
    I think the OP knows that the nutritional lable will contain the right info. But that doesn't mean some products still aren't misleading. Like tic tacs saying 'no sugar' on the front. If a 500ml drink has the calorie content on huge letters on the front, most people would assume that's for the whole bottle and won't look at the tiny (1 serving is 250ml)

    My favourite is lucozade zero. On the front in massive letters it says "Zero Calories!!", then on the back in small font "contains 15 calories."
  • RivenV
    RivenV Posts: 1,667 Member
    Anna_137 wrote: »
    I think the OP knows that the nutritional lable will contain the right info. But that doesn't mean some products still aren't misleading. Like tic tacs saying 'no sugar' on the front. If a 500ml drink has the calorie content on huge letters on the front, most people would assume that's for the whole bottle and won't look at the tiny (1 serving is 250ml)

    My favourite is 0 calorie lucozade. On the front in massive letters it days "0 Calories!!", then on the back in small font "contains 7 calories."

    Well, that's what they get for assuming, I guess.

    I don't step out in the middle of the street and assume I won't get hit by a bus, either. Personal responsibility it exists and it is good. Take some; it's dangerous to go alone.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Cutest thing when my children started to read, they'd help me shop. "Get this one, mommy, it's FREE!"
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    This is the same thing as those who do the BOGOF without looking at the unit price on the offer labelling on the shelf to check it is actually a better deal.

    Marketing. You know companies want to sell you their product so you know they'll make it all as appealing as possible. So just read labels. It's as fast as flipping the packet over and reading the top bar of the nutrition label. Do we really need to be this spoonfed now?
  • RivenV
    RivenV Posts: 1,667 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    This is the same thing as those who do the BOGOF without looking at the unit price on the offer labelling on the shelf to check it is actually a better deal.

    Marketing. You know companies want to sell you their product so you know they'll make it all as appealing as possible. So just read labels. It's as fast as flipping the packet over and reading the top bar of the nutrition label. Do we really need to be this spoonfed now?

    Short answer: apparently, yes.

    Longer answer: see the rants, TL;DR
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Once you learn what to look for on labels, it becomes pretty fast and simple. But there does tend to be a learning curve.
  • ranmalih
    ranmalih Posts: 63 Member
    OP, i understand your frustration. Recently had a protein cookie and happily ate the whole thing thinking it was 170cals.... only to later see on the label that 1 cookie was 2 servings (found out later that most protein cookies are like this).
    While i agree that reading the label is important, it would be nice if they were a bit more practical.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,341 Member
    I get irked when a can of drink is 1.4 serves, or as someone posted the other day, a meal says serves per pack 1, serving size 250g and then the pack size is 340g and they "rounded down", but eating 25 serves of something and thinking it's 1? That seems like wishful thinking to me. A very small application of critical thinking would have led you to double check. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    This thread makes me sad.

    I've been reading food labels since I was ten years old. It was something that I learned to do for my first Girl Scout badge back in 1972.

    We had a unit in high school science class about menu planning and nutrition. Again, this was in the '70's.

    What has happened in our schools since then?

    I homeschool my kids and have taken them grocery shopping. They know the same stuff I did.

    If something is printed on the back of the box, that's not a scam or hidden information. It's right there waiting for you to read it.

    Your own personal lack of knowledge on how to access the information is not the fault of the manufacturer. Nutrition labels with calorie count information and ingredient lists are usually pretty easy to find on packaging.

    I can beat you on the age- I was reading labels at three. My mom figured out I was reading because I would tell her about the product as she handed it to me to put in the basket , and she realized I wasn't repeating stuff from commercials or in the photos.

    But I probably did more with nutrition labels at about the same age as you, but for Camp Fire, not Girl Scouts.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    cebreisch wrote: »
    Nothing in life is free. I found out the hard way (and from a nutritionist) that if it says “fat free” - that means “we added a lot more sugar and salt to make up for no fat”. Or if it says “Sugar free” - that means “we added a gallon of lard and a salt lick to make up for the loss of sugar”.

    My own mother didn’t believe me until my brother showed her the nutrition label of her beloved “fat free ice cream sandwiches” had a ton of sugar in it, and that she’d be better off eating the regular version.

    You really need to pay attention to those labels. Even on one of the episodes of the Biggest Loser, they went to the grocery and were talking about salads and salad dressings. Particularly that people were using so much dressing that they should have just ordered the bacon cheeseburger they wanted because the calories they used in the dressing were more than the cheeseburger.

    And yes, you be bloated to high heaven too, if you aren’t drinking enough water too.

    You can find most labels online. I remember my brother being on (and still is) the “not having high fructose corn syrup” thing. (Not that I’m all “can’t have that” with all the different things - if you go by “if you eat that, it’ll kill ya” philosophy, that pretty much encompasses all food.). SO - I looked at some of the snack foods I was having the most of - pretzels. I don’t know if they still do - but at that time, ROld Gold had that in their pretzels. So, I looked for pretzels that didn’t. Snyders of Hanover = Flour, salt, yeast, water. WINNER. AND I think now they’re No GMO. I actually like them better too.

    Just start your conversions slowly by whatever you eat most of - see if there are changes you can make that won’t derail you.

    Good luck!!

    Somehow halo top and enlightened ice cream are an exception to this rule. They aren't even crazy high in sodium.

    But do read the labels. I have always read them, but since I got serious about watching sodium for medical reasons I'm doing it for every single thing.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    cebreisch wrote: »
    Nothing in life is free. I found out the hard way (and from a nutritionist) that if it says “fat free” - that means “we added a lot more sugar and salt to make up for no fat”. Or if it says “Sugar free” - that means “we added a gallon of lard and a salt lick to make up for the loss of sugar”.

    Or it could be naturally fat- or sugar-free. There are many products in both categories that don't have anything added.

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