PRINTToo good to be true?
The truth behind nutritional foods
May 8, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
When looking at the nutrition facts on a bottle of Glaceau Vitamin Water, it’s not crazy to assume a consumer would find two ingredients for sure: vitamins and water. But look closer. Vitamin Water is more than its name claims. By the looks of the nutritional facts label, the company might consider making the drink’s simple and snappy name Sugar Liquid.
Food products with labels screaming “I’m good for you!” are lining supermarket shelves, and consumers are all ears. “Most consumers don’t have time to carefully examine the label details, and they accept what the label claims,” says Mengshi Lin, assistant professor in MU’s food science department.
Reading a food label seems like an easy task, but complex numbers, small print and unfamiliar ingredients can be overwhelming to the consumer, according to Dale E. Brigham and Robin Gammon, colleagues and specialists for the College of Human and Environmental Sciences at MU. “Many of these foods are Trojan horses nutritionally — they look good on the outside, but the contents inside are not so great.”
Although savory supplemental snacks such as protein bars can contain increased amounts of protein, they can also use misleading serving sizes to disguise greater amounts of unhealthy ingredients. Lin says the hype these labels create is steering shopping carts in the wrong direction. “People often believe that protein or energy bars are good for their health,” he says.
Brigham and Gammon agree. “For people who are interested in fitness and strength training, protein is definitely the most over-hyped ingredient,” they write. “Almost everyone in the U.S. is getting more protein in their diet than is really needed.”
Seeing the words protein or vitamin in the name of a product isn’t a guarantee those nutrients are present in beneficial amounts. According to the Food and Drug Administration, claims on food and dietary supplement labels fall into three categories: health claims, nutrient content claims and structure/function claims. The responsibility for ensuring the validity of these claims rests with the manufacturer, the FDA or, in the case of advertising, with the Federal Trade Commission. Not all claims are subject to FDA review and authorization; for example, dietary guidance statements.
“If you look at ads, they’re all about image,” says Paul Bolls, strategic communication associate professor at MU. “There is very little specific information.”
Brigham and Gammon write that people are looking for the wrong things on product labels and instead recommend label-free foods. “The closer the food we eat is to the way it was in the pasture, the field, the pond or the ocean, the more likely it is to not have added salt, sugar, fat or other nutrients we tend to get in excess.”
Don’t be duped by enticing labels on the next grocery run — junk food is still junk food, even with a small amount of vitamins added to it.
