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Nutritional Labels
Nutritional Labels
About sixty years ago, when I was a teenager, I was one of the few people who read food labels. I was taught to do this by my father, who warned me to avoid foods with artificial color—especially red dye, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, and bleached white flour. At that time he insisted that the red dye then commonly used for coloring foods would eventually be proven to cause cancer. It was not until decades later that his assertion was borne out.
Recently, a new type of nutritional labeling became mandatory. Almost every food product now has a list entitled “Nutrition Facts” in addition to a list ingredients The purpose is to give the consumer standardized information in a useful, non-misleading form. The older style of nutrition labeling permitted manufacturers the option of contriving a portion size so unrealistically small that calories and salt content appeared to be very low. Previously, even salted peanuts were permitted to be labeled “low-salt” if manufacturers made the portion size small enough. Now the portions are standardized so that different products can be compared without a calculator.
One of the nutrition facts that appears first is “calories from fat.” Nutritionists frequently advise people to reject foods whose percentage calories from fat is high. Whereas it is beneficial to know the grams of fat and number of calories contained in a food whose fat is, at best, valueless, the percentage of calories from fat is not a meaningful number. For example, consider packaged, sliced ham, labeled 97% fat free. Right now we will not negatively focus on its high salt and nitrate content but only consider fat. A one-slice portion contains a negligible amount of fat (1 g), but the percentage of calories from fat is quite high (33%) because the remaining calories are essentially from protein and, thus, relatively low. Thus, percentage of calories from fat is not meaningful. What counts is the amount of fat itself, the calories it provides, and whether that fat is nutritious, non-nutritious, or harmful. Therefore, pay no attention to the percentage of calories from fat.
All Natural?
Another problem is that nutrition labels such as the one below tout the phrase all-natural even though the product contains one or more unnatural ingredients (Fig. 3-11).
Fig. 3-11. Ingredients for “all-natural” ice cream showing unnatural ingredients.
It is interesting to note that the “nutrition facts” label lists partially hydrogenated fat content not as saturated fat but, by subtraction, as unsaturated fat (see Fig. 3-12).
Fig. 3-12. “Nutrition facts,” showing 20 g total fat and 5 g saturated fat. Evidently, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (the main ingredient) is considered to be unsaturated fat.
It should be noted that some labels have incorrect and even self-contradictory information such as listing more sugar than carbohydrate, which is impossible because carbohydrate includes sugar.
Some errors may not be an attempt to mislead the consumer but simply carelessness on the part of those who provide the information. In any case, do not assume that such information is always correct.
Fig. 12-1. A misleading label.
Once you read the ingredients, the characterization “All Natural” on the labels of many foods requires a stretch of the imagination to justify. One such label (Fig. 12-1) reveals ingredients that are unnatural (e.g., artificial flavoring) or even harmful (partially hydrogenated vegetable oil).i.Fat:partially hydrogenated,;. Other foods that are highly refined and would never occur in nature are portrayed as being 100% natural. For example, the following is printed on a box of Domino® sugar: “Sugar is a 100% natural simple carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are an important part of any balanced diet. Sugar contains no fat or cholesterol and has 15 calories per teaspoon.” The first two sentences resemble statements of a logical proof whose conclusion might be: “Therefore, sugar is an important part of any balanced diet.” This conclusion does not follow but would if the second sentence were changed to “Simple carbohydrates are an important part of any balanced diet,” which of course is untrue.
The insertion of the word natural between 100% and simple carbohydrate is an obvious attempt to distract the reader from the fact that the contents are 100% empty calories. The most favorable thing that the label designers could say about sugar is that it contains no fat or cholesterol. Of course, it contains no nutrients at all other than simple carbohydrate.
“Natural” Flavors
These days, when an increasing number of people are reading ingredient labels and rejecting foods with artificial ingredients, manufacturers have found a new way to deceive the public—they add undesirable ingredients under the category “natural flavor.” One would think that natural flavors are such things as vanilla extract and flavors derived from wholesome foods. Unfortunately, natural flavors include such ingredients as msg (monosodium glutamate), perfumes, and items to mask undesirable odors in foods by deadening taste buds.
The designation natural flavor is supposedly a way of keeping some natural ingredients secret to prevent competitors from copying their recipes. More likely, it is a way of permitting manufacturers to add objectionable ingredients and still put “All-Natural” on the label. Read more...
The above is from Robert Chuckrow, The Intelligent Dieter’s Guide, Rising Mist Publications, Briarcliff Manor, NY, 1997, pp. 24–25 and 54–55.
©Copyright 1997 & 2013 by Robert Chuckrow
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