As hard as we try to eat wholesome foods and provide our bodies with natural nutrients needed to keep them running, companies in today’s food industry seem to make the task of finding natural products nearly impossible.
Countless dieters and health nuts fall for all sorts of scams, causing them to believe the junk they purchase will properly nourish their bodies or help with weight loss.
For example, when manufacturers slap the word “organic” on their products, consumers believe that one little word magically makes the food healthy or diet-friendly.
In an article by ScienceDaily, Cornell professor Brian Wansink, the author of “Marketing Nutrition,” said people who purchase organic junk food “underestimate the calories and over-reward themselves by eating more.”
“It’s the same basic reason people tend to overeat any snack food that’s labeled as healthy or low fat,” Wansink said.
Producers of foods like “organic” Kraft Macaroni and Cheese fool supermarket shoppers into thinking the junk food transforms into health food when organic refined flour and powdered cheese replace the regular stuff.
According to an article by Eat This, Not That!, consumers only cut out about 20 calories and one gram of fat by purchasing the “organic” box of Kraft rather than buying a plain old box of mac n’ cheese.
Snack bars often display the same types of misleading claims on their boxes, such as “more whole grains” or “100% natural.”
The nutrition information for a strawberry Nutri-Grain bar “made with real fruit” reveals high-fructose corn syrup as the very first ingredient, followed by more corn syrup as the second.
Juice drinks can also deceive consumers who believe they are making a healthy choice by choosing to drink juice rather than soda.
Although Ocean Spray has built its reputation as a harvester of fresh cranberries “straight from the bog,” the company’s Cran-Raspberry juice contains a whopping 28 grams of sugar in one cup, with just 15 percent fruit juice. Plus, water and sugar come first on the list of ingredients, before any mention of cranberries or raspberries.
Junk food is still junk food, even with the words “organic” or “all-natural” printed on the box. Look for snacks with shorter lists of easily recognizable ingredients, such as KIND Fruit + Nut bars. Also, replace sugary juice drinks with fresh fruits for your daily dose of vitamins and fiber.
Rather than falling for the tricks of food manufacturers, realize that if the claim seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100428173344.htm
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slide/organic-junk-food?slideshow=107998#sharetagsfocus
http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=375323
Edited by Alison Stanton