If you are a champion of nutrition, surely you have more than control over the information that a standard supermarket food label can offer us. On the other hand, if you are taking your first steps in the field of health, it is likely that many doubts assail you about the information that appears on the packaging. The big question is: can we distinguish what information is really interesting and what is pure filler?
We live in a changing environment where we continually suffer novelty bombardment by marketing of some companies. For this reason, it is important to discern What aspects are basic to food labeling and what are not?. What concepts are we interested in looking for and which ones should we flee from? Whether or not a quality seal really provides us with useful data. In short: what is the information reflected in a food container that really helps us to make better purchasing decisions.
The meaning of the different seals in the labeling
We arrive at the supermarket shelf, we take a product and we are ready to read its label. Boom! The amount of information that appears in it is overwhelming. For the average consumer can be a real odyssey understand what labels really mean to us. This, unfortunately, leads to misinformation and poor purchasing decisions. And that’s the bad thing: buying wrongly because you don’t have all the information at your fingertips.
In the front view we usually find the most aggressive marketing: striking colors, information to attract our attention and some seals or quality claims. Precisely, there are many types of claims. Some are legally regulated and others do not, unfortunately. Sometimes they are camouflaged as “official” seals but they are not really regulated at the public level, but rather belong to brands, entities or private organizations that grant said certificates based on specific criteria. They may or may not necessarily be related to health, as is the case with the PDO, PGI and ETG quality seals, dedicated to highlighting the gastronomic quality associated with the origin or the unique production process.
One of the most well-known quality accreditations is the “eco” or “bio” claim. Specifically, to grant organic certification to a food, the standards of the relevant European legislation must be met, set out in the Regulation 2018/848 of the European Union on organic production and labeling of organic products. As we already told you in Vitónica, organic food is not healthier by definitionThey do not have better nutritional properties.
On the other hand, we also find health claims such as the famous “light” or “high protein”. These claims are also protected under the legal framework granted by the Regulation 1924/2006 of the European Union on nutrition and health claims on food. Unfortunately, they are also not a guarantee that the product in front of us is 100% healthy. As always, it will be important to monitor the type of food we choose. For example, a bag of “light” chips will still not be recommended even though they have fewer calories and fat, but a “high-protein” meat derivative or a “source of fiber” wholemeal bread can be a very interesting option to include in our diet. diet.
The interesting information is behind the packaging
In general, all the information that really interests us about a food product is usually on the back of the container. There, we are shown elements that must be labeled by legislation, such as the name of the product for sale —that is, its name and surname—, the list of ingredients and the famous table of nutritional values.
In this sense, the list of ingredients must be the first place where to go to check if a product is healthy or not. The reason is that there we can find the real origin of the raw materials used during the production of the product. On the other hand, if we go directly to the nutritional table where information on calories, macronutrients, vitamins and minerals appears, we will only see numbers: we will not be able to know where these nutrients come from.
Be careful, because the information contained in the table of nutritional values is also of great interest: it allows us to know in detail the nutritional content of food. Nevertheless, does not allow to inquire into the quality of raw materials that make up the product in question. For this reason, it will always be better to go quickly and swiftly to the list of ingredients rather than go crazy to concoct big mathematical calculations to find out the amount of sugar in a product.
What the ingredient list tells us
Once in the list of ingredients, we must know some basic points of its formulation. For example, that the ingredients are listed in descending order: that is, from highest to lowest composition by weight. This means that if we find an uninteresting ingredient such as refined vegetable oils, sugar, salt or starches in the first positions, then we will be facing an edible monstrosity more than a food.
Another very interesting feature is that those raw materials and ingredients that appear prominently on the cover of the container must indicate the percentage that they represent in the product within the list of ingredients. But it does not only apply to mentions in text, but also when we see images or illustrations. This means that if in a bag of chips we find an image that represents olive oil, this ingredient must indicate its quantity as a percentage.
In this case, it is usually around 30% of the total weight of the product. The same would happen in a hummus-type vegetable cream, for example, if the chickpeas are visually highlighted through an image. The percentage of chickpeas used in the recipe must appear in a mandatory way. And if it doesn’t, the product is in breach of the European legislation on food and information offered to the consumer.
A lot of information, and little clarity
In short, food labeling is full of information everywhere. Some elements are interesting, others not so much and some can even cause misinformation in consumers. It is important to keep a critical attitude towards any information that we read in a food label, without losing sight of the main objective that food brands seek: to promote their sales through marketing.
Having this clear, it can be very enriching to compare between different supermarket products in order to make the best purchase decisions. Remember that, as consumers, we have great power when choosing what food we put in the shopping cart and we take home. When we choose one brand over another, we are favoring its production system. On the other hand, if we stop buying a product, the company will stop making it. Do not underestimate the decision potential of your purchases at the supermarket.
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