From ‘real fruits’ to ‘zero trans fat’ the real meaning of claims made on food packages

Imagine if your favourite product screamed; blended with the finest wood shavings, scented with beaver anal gland extract, coloured with beetle abdomens and laced with chemicals suspected of causing cancer, obesity, hyperactivity, diabetes and heart disease.

That’s why brands prefer claims such as “all-natural”, “low fat”, “immunity boosting”, “lite” “made with real fruit”, “no artificial colours”, and “contains himalayan salt” and buzzwords such as organic, healthy, gluten, vegan and keto. Research shows that it’s what consumers want to hear.

The problem is that these proclamations may just be window dressing for what’s really lurking inside. Here are a few claims that you should be vary of:

How natural is “natural”? There are NO standards, no official definition for using the term. Per the FDA as long as the product “does not contain added colour, artificial flavours, or synthetic substances” it can be called natural. Preservative laden, hormone injected and products with copious amounts of fat, refined sugars and salt can all carry the “all-natural” label.

As opposed to what, “fake” fruit? The product will show a luscious, ripe picture, have the words fruit plastered across key areas but the ingredient list will probably show fruit juice concentrate which is nothing but concentrated fruit sugars minus the vitamins, minerals and fibre that makes real fruit healthy.

We all know the dangers of Trans Fat. But did you know that a product can be called trans fat free even if it has trans fat? This is due to a loop hole that allows products having less 0.5g per serving to bear the label. What’s even more ridiculous is that the serving size is left to the manufacturer’s discretion!

This simply means that the product contains certain vitamins, often synthetic in nature. The problem is these products are typically also packed with sugars, colours and other inflammatory chemicals, all known to compromise your immune system!

Multigrain simply means multiple grains are used, regardless that they are all refined and stripped of fibre and good fats. Made with “whole grain” simply means that some whole grain is used; chances are that if you examine the ingredient list you will find that the product contains more refined than whole grain.

Are honey, dates, agave, fruit juice concentrates and carb bombs like maltodextrin and refined starches considered added sugars? Not according to some manufacturers! Infact a lot of nutrition labels in India show sugar values as 0 even if though they have added sugars to them. Why? Because according to them sugar only equates to sucrose, not glucose or fructose!

Sugar Free products are defined as those that contain less than 0.5g per serving! That’s right, it doesn’t mean that they contain NO sugar. Moreover, a lot of them contain artificial sugars that have been linked to cancer, metabolic disorders, obesity and diabetes.

If it’s a fad, marketeers will use it! There is no regulation governing the use of these diet trends nor a guarantee that these products are actually healthy. In a study that PlanMyFood recently did, we were surprised to find the presence of hydrogenated oils (sources of transfat banned for use in foods by the USFDA) and inflammatory palm oil in some popular Keto brands.

Gluten Free products are great for those with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerance, but are oftentimes more processed and contain just as much sugar, fat, salt and chemicals as their regular counterparts.

The key to making better choices is knowing what’s really in your food. And knowing your food starts not on the front of the package but from the Ingredient List. If the product has too many ingredients you cannot recognise, is packed with sugars, hydrogenated fats, refined grains, artificial colours and E or INS numbers, you know that it may not be the right choice for you.

To make the process easier, there are several platforms that help you identify potential carcinogens, banned chemicals and demystify nutrition labels and recommend better, healthier, yummier alternatives.

Article by: Akshaye Jalan, Founder, PlanMyFood | A Personalised food scoring and recommendation platform