Food labels 'fool us’ into thinking products are healthy

[maureenho]

Consumers often lulled by marketing into thinking food is more nutritious than it is, researchers find
By Sarah Knapton

6:45AM BST 17 Jun 20

[img]http://i.legraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02944/BBPEJY_2944151b.jpg[/img]
A food nutritional information label displayed on a packet Photo: Alamy
Sarah Knapton

Shoppers are being misled by buzzwords such as “natural”, “antioxidant” and “gluten-free” into believing that they are buying healthy foods, an academic has claimed.

Although consumers are increasingly aware of the need to choose healthier options at the supermarket, they are often lulled by marketing into thinking food is more nutritious than it is, researchers found.

Terms such as “wholegrain” tricked the brain into disregarding unhealthy ingredients, they discovered.

Such buzzwords could even counteract warnings in nutrition fact boxes.

“Food marketers are exploiting consumer desires to be healthy by marketing products as nutritious when, in fact, they’re not,” said Dr Temple Northup of Houston University in the United States.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/10904666/Food-labels-fool-us-into-thinking-products-are-healthy.html

[annie]

you really do have to read the  whole of the labels

[JaneJ]

I think it is dreadful to mislead people like this. They want us all to eat healthily yet don't govern the food manufacturers so that food is easily identified as being good/bad.

I once bought a Tesco low fat strawberry mousse, I thought it was an ideal pudding as the calories were low. I was reading the lable as I eat one and discovered it had pork extract!! So not just the salt, fat and sugar but revolting things too!!

It is hard as a parent when shopping top read all the labels properly. I always have limited time to shop or the girls are with me and I want to get out as soon as possible as they are fed up.