Des Paroz sent me a link to this article in The SMH that talks about how inaccurate the food labels in Australia are.
Julie Robotham reports:
Of the 19 products that claimed to be low in fat or calories, 19 per cent exceeded the fat content published on the panel while two-thirds contained more calories than specified – in one case by nearly three times.
So it’s even worse than I imagined. I knew you couldn’t believe it when a food product is claimed to be “lite” or “low fat”, for reasons I’ve discussed here before. This new data just makes it even harder though to know how many calories you are consuming and what percentage of those calories are coming from fat. In a country where Type 2 Diabetes and obesity are on the rise, we need to do a much better job of
a) educating people how to eat sensibly and
b) making sure that food manufacturers accurately report what their foods contain
This should partly be the responsibility of the government, partly of the media (congratulations to Fairfax and Julie for getting this story out) and partly it lies with us, folks. We need to vote with our dollars. Perhaps someone should start a “website of shame” that highlights companies who aren’t giving us accurate information.
David Zinczenko, author of the Abs Diet and also editor in chief of Mens Health, states that food labels are one of the 2 biggest contributors to the obesity epidemic.
His logic is that the labels give lots of info, so much of it meaningless in the implementation of a proper nutrition plan (aka diet).
In my own efforts to be leaner, I am following the Abs Diet, and the only things I look at labels for are ingredients. Specifically for trans-fats (trans-fatty acids), which are hidden behind the name “partially hydrogenated” or “hyrdogenated” (oils).
This, along with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) are 2 of the biggest dangers to our weight.
There are some new laws in the works to clear up the whole ‘lite’ foods problem. I think they’re trying to make it so that you can only call an item ‘diet’ if its a certain % of kj less than the full fat version. Reducing the problem of ‘lite’ foods which contain more kj than the full fat versions due to added sugar etc.
The Australian government has been beyond slack about legislation, which is why the companies aren’t bothering to comply.
It’s much worse than just the nutritional panel. Ingredient legislation is a joke. We don’t require trans-fat to even be declared. If a manufacturer wants to hide sugar in the list of ingredients, they just make the product brown and label it caramel colour, that’s totally legal.
Some products don’t require disclosure at all. Pick up a packet of “flavoured tea”, see a nutritional panel? There isn’t one. Despite the fact that many diabetics can get sick from drinking it, due to the bucketloads of sugar that’s been soaked into the tea itself. Lite or light means nothing at all. Pick up a bottle of oil with one of the labels, and it’s got the same amount of fat. The words fresh & heathy? Legally worthless.
For something really disgusting, have a look in the “fresh food” section at your supermarket and see if they sell plastic tubes of “fresh herbs”. Have a look at the nutrition panel. Stuff like this should not be allowed in the same location as real fruit & veggies.
If you can, grow your own veggies and buy nothing that’s processed.
Ah see light olive oil refers to its colour and texture, not its fat content. I never managed to convince my mum that oil is 100% fat whether they call it light or not.
Mir – exactly, a heart foundation tick and LIGHT in big letters fools an awful lot of people.
But it only fools stupid people. Actually to be fair it fools ignorant people who aren’t aware of what the heart foundation tick is about and who didn’t realise that oil IS fat. You just simply can’t have low fat fat.
Ignorant people aren’t going to be eating healthily anyway.
The thing is olive oil is genuinely good for you. Fat is not evil. You need between 40 and 60 grams of fat per day depending on your required kj intake.
I remember my mother (who had a whole series of fad diets) once went on a diet where she was only allowed 5g of fat a day. She had brittle hair and nails. Her skin was dry and flaky. She didn’t feel well. Her immune system was very low. She was deficient in fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and k). The frightening thing is that she was prescribed this diet by a supposed professional.
So the real message is to learn what your body genuinely needs. Don’t get this info from weightloss or dieting sites, get it from reliable sources: Nutritionists (not dietitians) doctors etc.
Choice Magazine is a good place to start to get educated in how to be healthily sceptical about such things. And some labels are correct in saying low in fat but as they compensate with high sugar, this can amount to fat if not expended and of course be disastrous for Diabetes sufferers.
What a fantastic idea: “Perhaps someone should start a “website of shame” that highlights companies who aren’t giving us accurate information” I’m all for this. :~)