Oct 20, 2009 11:39pm
Closing Arguments: Does the ‘Smart Choice’ Label Mislead?
EmailThe Food and Drug Administration announced today that it will crack down on food labels it finds "misleading," including the so-called "Smart Choice" labels we reported on last month. Critics say such labels often point consumers to unhealthy choices, instead of the healthy ones. For example, products that are 50 percent sugar have earned the "Smart Choice" labels on their packaging. So tonight, we ask: How confident are you that you know what you're eating? Tell us what you think. You can follow "Nightline" anytime on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Nightline.
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I feel very confident about how well I know what I’m eating. It’s not rocket science – I read nutrition labels.
Posted by: Adrienne | October 21, 2009, 12:24 am 12:24 am
The Smart Choice label is very misleading! Have you also noticed that many products now generalize the fats in the ingredients? For example, Great Value’s saltine crackers lists their fats as “Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following vegetable oils: canola oil, corn oil, palm oil, soybean oil).” My guess is that the cheapest (and usually most unhealthy) oil is used. Companies should list the exact ingredients; not the ‘one or more of the following’ jargon!!! Seeing a healthier oil like canola is very misleading when it might not even be in the product.
Posted by: Phil | October 21, 2009, 12:27 am 12:27 am
The FDA has failed to safeguard America’s food. Hijacked, years ago, by large agri-businesses and food producers, the FDA operates as a benefactor for these industries rather than guardians of consumer’s concerns. Former and future executives of such companies as Monsanto allow for the thwarting of educational labeling for such ingredients as GMO (genetically modified organisms) found in many processed foods in the forms of soy lecithin or corn oil or syrup. Most processed food, which are little more than chemical experiments and sold with false or misleading nutritional claims, have gained front stage sales positions on grocery shelves over real and truly nutritious foods because they have forever shelf lives. To few people understand that eating food that never rots is rotting their bodies, causing heart disease, diabetes, and may be the root of the many allergy issues in today’s children. They believe that, because the medical industry has stayed one step ahead of the declining American health with drugs that fight diseases our ancestors never heard of and few Europeans suffer from, all is well. The FDA needs a complete overhaul and the public needs a complete re-education in the area of food due to the complete brainwashing which has occurred since World War II.
Posted by: Gail | October 21, 2009, 12:38 am 12:38 am
We have no trouble knowing what is good food nutrition-wise. For ten years we have followed the principles of the Zone diet developed by Dr. Barry Sears and have learned that most “boxed” foods are bad for you (even though they usually always taste good). When you learn how much fat, carbohydrate and protein you need per meal, you soon find out that very few of the manufactured food products are acceptable.
Posted by: Ted and Shirley | October 21, 2009, 3:07 am 3:07 am
NO, I don’t trust the labels!!!
You think this is bad….you can’t even get locally grown vegetables…in CA we have the garlic capital of the world, in Gilroy…the stores carry garlic from CHINA! I don’t trust a thing I buy!!
It isn’t easy to eat!
Posted by: Vickie Bianco | October 21, 2009, 3:14 am 3:14 am
It does not matter if you read the labels or not. They may or may not be anywhere near what is inside. I called the FDA and was told that when a company changes their recipes they do not have to change the food labels until they run out of the existing labels. Some people don’t have a problem with that. I have a major problem with that since I am allergic to chicken eggs, oranges, peanuts, garlic, carrots and all dairy products. I told the lady, “Thanks. So you really don’t care if I die from eating something so long as the labels aren’t wasted?” And I have found companies that do not list everything in their list of ingredients because, get this, there is a picture of that ingredient on the label. What the? Needless to say, I make just about everything from scratch. It’s that or risk my health and quite possibly my life.
Posted by: Lela | October 21, 2009, 3:24 am 3:24 am
I always read the ingredients – the front of the label is usually outright lies. Heck, I once saw a label that said “vegetarian” but it had fish oil! (I wrote “not” on the items on the shelf, and called the 800 number the next day and told them to either take out the fish oil or stop claiming vegetarian; they soon did the latter.) And don’t get me started on “made with WHOLE GRAIN” – that should be made as illegal as the bait-and-switch it really is. If it says “made with” then it’s got virtually none, so pass it by – it’s white flour garbage.
Posted by: Walter Ian Kaye | October 21, 2009, 4:38 am 4:38 am
I am surprised there are only seven comments as I see it. Maybe it is because everyone else is smarter than me and closely check food labels. The advertising is very misleading to me as a grandparent. I would like to see “Truth in Advertising” applied to foods. We need to know what we are buying and the actual contents.
Posted by: Milton McArthur | October 21, 2009, 12:47 pm 12:47 pm
I have no confidence that I know what I am eating. Packaged foods have very misleading labels that are written to sell the product, not to make people healthy. Many ingredients are put under the catch-all phrase “natural flavorings”. What are these?
Unpackaged foods, like fruits, vegetables and meats, can often be treated with chemicals and you do not even know it.
Posted by: Proud Native American and Angry Independent Voter | October 21, 2009, 12:50 pm 12:50 pm
Remember: “You are what you eat.”
But in this day of “specialized merchandising and marketing” and with the fact that the FDA like most governmental agencies that are supposed to protect the consumer on many fronts,have sold out to the special interests….. WHO KNOWS WHAT WE EAT???
Posted by: Nachthexe | October 22, 2009, 12:16 am 12:16 am