How To Understand Food Labels:
Main Product Labels
How many times has something like this happened? And, you just hate ‘lite stuff’; it just doesn’t taste the same. You read well enough and know you reached for ‘regular.’ Now, you have to force it down, or give it away, and return to the grocery store for the ‘regular stuff.’ The labeling is strikingly similar.
It’s not your fault. Marketing is what it is; and that’s strategy. It is strategy to figure out how consumers think and can be persuaded. Colors, shapes, fonts, display, and pricing have a profound effect on shoppers. Why would marketers want to indulge in such a strategy? Perhaps, a particular product is not selling as well as it was researched to sell, so special selling techniques have to be engaged including special promotions like a coupon attached to the neck of jars of an unknown brand of salsa verde. Buy it, and the coupon is instant for half off. However, the shopper has to be curious enough to open that coupon and read it so that it is presented at the checkout. The strategy could be as simple as running or market testing a new product in a reduced size and special price. If it works – supersize it for more money.
Content Labeling
Let’s play ‘Name That Food.’
Ingredients: water, sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, and less than 2% of sodium caseinate (a milk derivative)**mono- and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, natural and artificial flavors, cellulose gel, color added, cellulose gum, carrageenan, dextrose. This may be an easy one. Nevertheless, all this to lighten a cup of coffee?!
What’s in a jar, can, carton, bottle, or even packaged meat? The only haven where a shopper doesn’t have to read for safe buying is the produce department. Well, there are a few exceptions there, one of which is packaged vegetables that require preservatives.
What’s In Nutrition Labeling For You?
Setting up a diet is very smart – that is, if you are well grounded and have a set nutrition goal. A diet does not necessarily signify the need for weight loss, nor does it have to suggest a health concern. Vegetarians are diet-specific eaters. Some people feel better eating on low fat diets; others prefer high protein diets; others prefer metabolic eating. The Food and Drug Administration Nutrition Facts labeling provides answers to questions a shopper may have about dietary eating, including serving sizes. A specific diet will give intake instructions and nutrition labels should be read to correlate with those instructions.
The FDA now is proposing a Nutrition Facts label update in the U.S. on the majority of food packages. This label initially was introduced 20 years ago, and it is an effective measure to encourage consumers to be more informed, which will help them make wise food choices. The update will consist of label language that provides quick comprehension; new ‘serving size’ requirements; a new labeling requirement for certain size packaging; and a ‘refreshed’ Nutrition Facts label design.
For The Rest of Us
Following a diet standard is out of the question because we eat what we want to eat – or what we can afford to eat. Dieter or independent, this is inescapable mainstream living. Even common sense eating is frequently distracted by fast food menus and oh-so delicious donuts (containing gluten) from the shop around the corner. And, don’t forget to bring home a super-sized drink! No time for front-and-back label reading this evening. The refrigerator will be stocked this weekend; take the reading glasses along.
Main Product Labels
How many times has something like this happened? And, you just hate ‘lite stuff’; it just doesn’t taste the same. You read well enough and know you reached for ‘regular.’ Now, you have to force it down, or give it away, and return to the grocery store for the ‘regular stuff.’ The labeling is strikingly similar.
It’s not your fault. Marketing is what it is; and that’s strategy. It is strategy to figure out how consumers think and can be persuaded. Colors, shapes, fonts, display, and pricing have a profound effect on shoppers. Why would marketers want to indulge in such a strategy? Perhaps, a particular product is not selling as well as it was researched to sell, so special selling techniques have to be engaged including special promotions like a coupon attached to the neck of jars of an unknown brand of salsa verde. Buy it, and the coupon is instant for half off. However, the shopper has to be curious enough to open that coupon and read it so that it is presented at the checkout. The strategy could be as simple as running or market testing a new product in a reduced size and special price. If it works – supersize it for more money.
Content Labeling
Let’s play ‘Name That Food.’
Ingredients: water, sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, and less than 2% of sodium caseinate (a milk derivative)**mono- and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, natural and artificial flavors, cellulose gel, color added, cellulose gum, carrageenan, dextrose. This may be an easy one. Nevertheless, all this to lighten a cup of coffee?!
What’s in a jar, can, carton, bottle, or even packaged meat? The only haven where a shopper doesn’t have to read for safe buying is the produce department. Well, there are a few exceptions there, one of which is packaged vegetables that require preservatives.
What’s In Nutrition Labeling For You?
Setting up a diet is very smart – that is, if you are well grounded and have a set nutrition goal. A diet does not necessarily signify the need for weight loss, nor does it have to suggest a health concern. Vegetarians are diet-specific eaters. Some people feel better eating on low fat diets; others prefer high protein diets; others prefer metabolic eating. The Food and Drug Administration Nutrition Facts labeling provides answers to questions a shopper may have about dietary eating, including serving sizes. A specific diet will give intake instructions and nutrition labels should be read to correlate with those instructions.
The FDA now is proposing a Nutrition Facts label update in the U.S. on the majority of food packages. This label initially was introduced 20 years ago, and it is an effective measure to encourage consumers to be more informed, which will help them make wise food choices. The update will consist of label language that provides quick comprehension; new ‘serving size’ requirements; a new labeling requirement for certain size packaging; and a ‘refreshed’ Nutrition Facts label design.
For The Rest of Us
Following a diet standard is out of the question because we eat what we want to eat – or what we can afford to eat. Dieter or independent, this is inescapable mainstream living. Even common sense eating is frequently distracted by fast food menus and oh-so delicious donuts (containing gluten) from the shop around the corner. And, don’t forget to bring home a super-sized drink! No time for front-and-back label reading this evening. The refrigerator will be stocked this weekend; take the reading glasses along.
