Food marketers are are eager to latch onto the latest diet and nutrition trends to promote their questionable goods. Some of these descriptors might be useful — such as low-salt — but catchy labels don’t tell us much about the nutritional content of the product. However, many consumers think they do.
Low-fat might be the all-time most ubiquitious front-of-package catch phrase, but in the last decade, the low-carb descriptor took the (flourless) cake. The claims and products skyrocketed, stemming from a regrowth in the popularlity of Atkins-style, protein-heavy diets. Though low-carb products aren’t necessarily better or worse for you, a study published in the September/October issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior found that consumers misinterpret these claims to mean a product is better for their health and their waistlines.
When participants in the study relied on the low-carb claims without reading the Nutrition Facts panel (on the back of most packaged food items), they rated the product more favorable, meaning healthier and more useful for dieting. Since rushed consumers don’t always read the Nutrition Facts, it’s likely that claims on the front go unchallenged by the details on back. Though Americans might be wise to cut some sugar from the diet, foods naturally low in carbohydrates — meat, cheese, and spinach, for example — don’t normally advertise themselves as such. And we now have engineered the shelves with plenty of other options. Tortillas, cookies, breads and crackers are now tailored to the diet du jour, offering a dizzying array of low- and no- fat/carb/salt/sugar options. Add in those products with high- fiber/antioxidants/omega-3s, and the front of a cereal box starts to look like a vitamin with flakes.
There’s a skimpy line between what food marketers can use as nutrition claims and what they can’t use as health claims. (Remember Rice Krispies’ wild promotion that their cereal “helps support your child’s immunity”, rolled out right around flu season?) Regardless of what the product claims to do, the end goal for the marketer is always the same: sell more product. And, unfortunately, the end result for the consumer doesn’t vary much either: eat more. As we’ve watched the tide of low-fat and low-carb goods ebb and flow, one thing has remained fairly constant: our climbing obesity rates.
Photo Credit: How can I recycle this
