The next target for the food conscious community
UPDATE: Kellogg to ditch immunity statement after ditching Smart Choices program last week.
The food community is riding high after their recent victory over the Smart Choices food label rating system and turning their attention to front of package marketing claims as their next target – see Marion Nestles article on Cocao Krispies and ¨immunicty¨claim h ere.
Increasingly manufacturers are using various health claims such as ¨increases immunity¨ and ¨organic¨ on front of package labelling to increase sales of products. At times these claims are based on scant scientific evidence and lacking any regulatory oversight manufacturers are free to claim whatever they want.
Recently, in Europe the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) rejected hundreds of health claims stating a lack of scientific evidence as the reason for their rejection. At the same time here in the US, reports have come out about the increasing successful use of beauty claims to influence purchase. A recent report on retailerwire.com summarises the findings published by Mintel states that using front of package claims related to beauty such Read more
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Smart Choices RIP
Today it was reported in Just-Food that all 8 of the food manufacturers who had adopted the Smart Choices logo were now going to drop it from their packages in the face of cries that the logo could mislead consumers.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal requested that they drop the logo at least until the FDA had completed their investigations into the Smart Choices, and food rating systems in general.
The Smart Choices program shot into the public awareness largely due to the fact that they had labelled Froot Loops a ¨smart choice¨. The community obviously took exception to this, fueled by influential critics such as Marion Nestle an d Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
This dramatic turn around and the resulting negative press will surely make manufacturers and retailers take pause before they next try to tell the consumer what is good or bad for them. The next frontier will be front of label claims such as ¨increses immunity¨ etc. see Marion Nestle article here
The community is voicing their opinion and calling for simpler food labelling…and they’re close to reaching critical mass in their mission. Who will be the next victim?
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Nutrition Rating Systems – the problem and a solution
The Situation
There has been a lot of attention given to nutrition rating systems of late, fueled by the launch of the controversial Smart Choices rating system. The controversy of the smart choices program, in brief, is that the criteria for what gets labelled a ¨smart choice¨ seem somewhat flimsy. For instance Marion Nestle examines the ¨smart choice¨ Froot Loops in this post here.
In fact there is no shortage of concerned debate about this program, least of which is the fact that manufacturers pay for the smart choice tick. Below I have provided links to some of the recent top hits.
NYT: Industry Backed Label calls sugary cereal a ¨smart choice¨
Letter from the FDA to Smart Choices Program
Marion Nestle: Reply from the American Society of Nutrition
In this post we explore the existing rating systems, the problem with these systems and propose a solution. We are keen to hear your perspective on this. Read more
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FDA to study barriers to food label use
The FDA recently announced the intention to run an internet study to exploer the barriers to Food Label use. This, following findings that food label use declined in sharply between 1196 and 2002, particularly with young people.
The goals of the study are to:
- identify attitudes and beliefs among consumers toward health, diet and label usage
- determine relationships between those attitudes and beliefs, as well as demographics, with food label use and non-use
- and evaluate the relative importance of these attitudes between consumers of various age groups to determine whether barriers to label use differ between younger consumers and older consumers
source: http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#documentDetail?R=0900006480a10b64
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Do food label rating systems work for you?
USNEWS.com posted a very thorough and well researched article on food label rating systems prompted by the release of a new rating system – Smart Choices. Click here to view the article in full.
I made a comment stating my point of view which is posted below.
What do you think of food rating systems? Do you find them useful? Do they work for you? Tell us which system you have in your local grocery store?
¨I would like to add another point to the duscussion that I feel is missing; are rating systems, as a group, the best and only solution for simplifying label data?.
Most rating systems do a great job at presenting and simplifying certain label information but are somewhat limited in that they only represent a particular aspect of the label data and do not consider the consumers specific needs. In this day and age of dietary choice everyone has their own unique specific needs and in a single family there can be several specific needs. But as a first step in the right direction label rating systems generally perform. Read more
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Reading Food Labels for Better Nutrition
by Shereen Jegtvig
An interesting food label survey conducted by an ingredient manufacturer Tate & Lyle shows 60% of consumers use food labels when they shop. The researchers also looked at the different ways consumers use food labels, like perusing the food label of a new product to decide if it’s worth trying or figuring out the validity packaging claims by gleaning more information from the Nutrient Facts label. A lot of people also use food labels to see if the food they’re looking at fits into their particular diet.
If you’re a regular reader of FoodEssentials.com, and you use our FoodEssentials tool, you already know how important food labels are, but let me give you a few tips to keep in mind when you are shopping: Read more
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Warning Labels on Hot Dogs?
by Shereen Jegtvig
Just recently, a vegan group called the Cancer Project filed a lawsuit asking the state of New Jersey to require cancer-warning labels on hot dogs. I think most people would find this lawsuit to be frivolous and I doubt New Jersey residents will see warning labels on their hot dogs anytime soon, but it is worth thinking about.
There have been studies suggesting a link between processed meats, like hot dogs, and colon cancer. They’re usually high in saturated fat and loaded with artificial additives and preservatives, the worst probably being nitrites, which are added to prevent bacterial growth and adds that familiar pink color. When the nitrites combine with other substances also found in meat to form N-nitroso compounds that are associated with a higher risk of several cancers. As an aside, many green vegetables naturally contain nitrites, but they don’t convert to the N-nitroso compounds, perhaps due to vitamins or antioxidants also found in the vegetables.
Does this mean that hot dogs should carry warning labels or that you should shriek and run away in horror the next time you see hot dogs at a picnic? Read more
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Top 10 Good Reads – July Week 1
Hi Everyone!
Firtsly, my appologies. It has been a little while since my last post, but worry not – I have not forgotten about you all, and things should return to normal soon enough. Its a pleasure to return to the bloggosphere with one of my favorite types of posts. I’m personally a big fan and subscriber to a lot of “foodie” blogs and like to keep myself informed on news in the industry. This post simply lists my top 10 favorites from the past week (and a half).
In this weeks edition I have listed a few articles touching on some of the more recent problems consumers, manufacturers and the FDA have been experiencing with each other. Sparked by the recent salmonella and e-coli outbreaks/recalls, consumer trust of manufacturers has seemed to plunge to a new low (apparently only 20% in the USA trust manufacturers). Add to that the increase of law suites filed against manufacturers, and things start to look a bit ugly. Hopefully it is something we can rectify moving forward?
All this and few more good reads for you to all ENJOY! Read more
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Country-of-origin labeling: Does COOL leave you warm or frosty?
So it has a pun-tastic acronym, but what exactly is COOL?
In 2008, it became a mandatory requirement that certain foods sold in the US (some cuts of beef/veal, lamb pork, chicken, goat, fish/shellfish, perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts and ginseng) are labeled with their country of origin (COOL A-Z website). Products that fall under these categories must now display where they originate form, are processed and packaged, and will only be labeled as US products if all three of these steps occur in the US. While this initially seems like a great idea, with many benefits for the discerning consumer who wants to “buy locally”, it is worth considering the logistical, economic and political ramifications of the labeling process for the food industry. Read more
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Can food products be traced? – a response
Marion Nestle of foodpolitics.com posted about a recent exercise conducted by the FDA. This is my comment on that post…which ended up getting too long for a comment so I posted it here.
It’s a big modern problem. The opening up of the market to new foods, new ingredients, new suppliers, and new manufacturing practices, enabled the maintenance of low prices on foods and diversification of product for the past decade or two. Read more
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