What You See Is Not What You Get
Great health favors those who consistently make the best choices concerning what they consume. Food found on the store shelves is designed to grab your attention and convince consumers using excellent marketing.
The food labels appeal to the latest diet trends. Slogans like ‘gluten-free’, ‘grain-free’, ‘sugar-free’, or ‘fat-free’ appeal to consumers who are concerned for their long-term health when they become aware of hazardous foods.
This is why food marketing can be quite deceptive, as they play on the public’s knowledge of food to send them further down the wrong path. People often think certain foods are healthy without realizing that labels don’t disclose the full truth about how they’re made.
The demand for whole, natural foods has existed for decades, but the health-conscious population is often deceived. Vague food label descriptions make packaged foods more enticing and build trust in familiar foods.
Even foods found in nature are not as ‘natural’ as food distributors claim they often are.
How Food Labels Are Used to Deceive You
Manufacturers use labels to disclose the makeup, origin, and process by which that particular food was produced. Knowing the origin of the food is a major concern for mature consumers because of the noticeable rise in healthcare costs, worldwide obesity, and the impact on the planet’s ecosystem.
As health consciousness has become a major concern for consumers, manufacturers have disclosed information through several methods. These changes have occurred due to ongoing legislation and lobbying that have gone unnoticed by the public.
One example is a 2016 law that defined bioengineered foods and how they can be marketed on food labels sold in the United States. This law gave manufacturers greater freedom and control over what they can publicize to shoppers in grocery aisles nationwide.
One such disclosure is that up to 5% of an ingredient may contain bioengineered material used in a food product without being listed as such. Bioengineered is defined as food that contains genetic material modified through laboratory techniques that cannot be obtained from nature.
When you see ‘bioengineered’ on the food label, this means that the food has more than 5% of bioengineered material in it, and food products with less material do not have to be disclosed. Complete information not listed on the packaged food can be obtained from the manufacturers in a few ways:
Food can be listed with the bioengineered symbol
QR codes are sometimes provided. This can be scanned and uploaded to a website that will disclose more information.
Bioengineered ingredients is clearly labeled on packaging
In the past couple of decades, consumers have become aware of the use of toxic GMO ingredients in food products. Bioengineered foods are among the most deceptive labeling terms, as the definition of the ingredients differs only slightly from that of GMO ingredients.
Most GMO food products are avoided by healthy consumers, while bioengineered products are still being purchased unknowingly by this same consumer group. GMO is a much broader term that allows it to be disclosed under current law and guidelines.
The introduction of these bioengineered foods into the market has raised concerns about the rising occurrence of allergies and autoimmune conditions within the population.
Long-term research has not yet been conducted to investigate the long-term effects of consuming food products with altered genetic material. This could affect bloodlines in future generations and create health issues that could go unnoticed for years!
The processing of bioengineered ingredients in food is only one of the many deceptions frequently used by food manufacturing companies worldwide. Here are several others that frequently go under the radar:
Hidden Sugars
Sugars can appear under dozens of different names on nutrition labels, and many go unnoticed by well-informed consumers. Look for tricky hidden sugar terms like ‘agave’, ‘brown sugar extract’, ‘maltose’, ‘beet sugar’, ‘corn syrup’, and many others.
‘Organic’
Seeing organic on a food label is very convincing because of the regulatory standards that manufacturers must meet. This is the main reason 100% organic can be deceptive: organic food is not always free of harmful and toxic chemicals. Many crops experience runoff from rain and particulate matter from wind patterns, contaminating organically grown foods. Organic food is grown in better conditions, but it is not completely free of any toxins as marketed.
Trans Fats
Trans fats were regulated and banned a decade ago, as the fatty acids were linked to higher incidences of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. These fats were included in most processed foods because they had a higher melting point, which meant they had a longer shelf life in stores. Avoiding these fats isn’t easy, as they’re naturally present in dairy and meat products. 0% trans fat does not really mean anything and can only really be avoided by completely removing processed foods from the diet.
The Wrap Up
Food labels provide a framework for what food products should contain, but the hidden information about their ingredients is concerning. Ingredients can be listed, but may be slightly modified, unless there is a significant amount of bioengineered material that must be legally disclosed. The average consumer has yet to become aware of bioengineered foods quietly marketed on store shelves, and this is only one of the deceptions that food manufacturers use to sell their products. Choose food sources wisely and avoid what is unnecessary when possible.
