Foods 50% sugar still labeled smart choices? FDA warns: Red light!
Filed under: Food, Kids and Money
My 4-year-old son believes that "good for you" foods are anything that is "good" and "for him." Sweet cereal? Fruit roll-ups? Candy? Yes, yes, YES! I've so far been unable to convince him that "good for you" doesn't just mean "yummy." Over the past several months, a consortium of food manufacturers have been as stubborn as my preschooler, using wildly inapt guidelines to determine that products such as frozen ice pops and Froot Loops are "Smart Choices." To determine which products qualify the group -- which includes Kraft Foods, Kellogg, and General Mills -- considers calories per serving and fat content, among other thing. And, given that criteria, sure enough candy CAN be a smart choice. Every little boy and girl would agree.
But the FDA warns it's about to throw in a symbol even the toddlers can wrap their brains around: red light! As FDA Commissioner and new mom's best friend, Margaret Hamburg, said in a call with reporters today, "There are products that have gotten the Smart Choices check mark that are almost 50% sugar."
In the FDA's announcement, Hamburg said she "expected" that new labeling would soon be required, pointing as an example to "a package-front labeling program in Britain that uses red, yellow or green dots - like traffic signals - to indicate the relative amounts of important ingredients." That labeling system, which is also found on food packages in Australia, was reported to induce "a reduced intention to purchase products with red and amber nutrient classifications" in a survey of 790 consumers there.
Images of the U.K. symbols on the web site Grist are startling indeed, and would certainly be an effective counterpoint to the "Smart Choices" check mark developed by the marketing geniuses of the packaged food industry. Not only could I quickly assess which products to buy, my husband (who tends to be motivated by simple rules) and my children could see in a glance whether or not I'd accept a product for potential inclusion in our grocery cart. A red "high sugar" stoplight would have even a harried parent hesitating as she rushed through the supermarket aisles. As it is, so many different symbols are in use, greatly confusing consumers who hardly have a cheat sheet handy to know if the American Heart Association's recommendations are more or less trustworthy than those from a manufacturer's group, a grocery store itself, or some savvy marketing that gives new meaning to the old saw, "you can prove anything with statistics."
Also of concern is whether labels are even accurate to begin with. the FDA doesn't have resources to test each product to see if it has the ingredients advertised on the nutrition facts label, and independent tests even found some "sugar free" products that contained sugar. Sigh.
As it is, I'm sticking with Michael Pollan's (the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma) rule: Don't buy any food you've ever seen advertised. Although I offer up a slight variation: Don't eat anything that has its own cartoon character.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
10-22-2009 @ 2:50PM
Dave said...
Try this next time you buy food: look at the label and see if it contains "High-Fructose Corn Syrup." If it does, put it back on the shelf. The stuff does you no good at all, and you are much, much better off without it. But you'll find it's in just about EVERYTHING. The food manufacturers are not even close when it comes to providing us with decent info about what's in the food they are giving us.
http://www.greenmantshirts.com
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10-22-2009 @ 8:11PM
Jennifer said...
I am truly a believer in Colo Detox ( http://tiny.cc/ColoDetox ) I started taking it mid-April and on the 5th of May I had lost almost 10lbs. Now, I had been watching my diet and exercising, but the immediate difference from Colo Detox was obvious. One of my problem areas is my belly, I was always bloated, feeling like I was about 9 months pregnant and honestly, I looked it too! After starting with the cleanse, my bloating went down in a week. I knew that I needed to cleanse, but this just reassured me that not only I needed to do so but I needed to do so more often. Colo Detox ( http://tiny.cc/ColoDetox ) also helped me to feel more satisfied and my skin was looking better - what an awesome way to feel!
10-22-2009 @ 8:24PM
Ches said...
I would love to see this come to fruition. I only hope that this labeling system is done responsibly and not abused the same way "Smart Choices" has been (that is, skirting around the facts and finagling numbers to get your product the green check).
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10-22-2009 @ 8:34PM
sam said...
Don't tell me what I can eat .
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10-22-2009 @ 8:40PM
LakeErie said...
Well my kids are grown but one thing I know to be true with my grandchildren if they don't like it they won't eat it . Plain and simple. And if not sweet enough they add sugar or brown sugar. The FDA think they will change things their crazy, not without a big fight with no one is willing to put the effort in as far as parents are concerned, don't kid your self, most parents choices according to the FDAs standing will go in garbage or to the dog. But as a matter of fact as everyone knows parents work so whoses makeing sure the kids is eating the stuff, a high school kid or sitter , lots of luck. Their not going to care or fight with your kid to make them eat, and neither is a parent.
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10-22-2009 @ 9:12PM
AJ said...
This idea is so stupid. Is anyone really surprised that Capn' Crunch or Oreos are full of sugar and not vitamins? No. People buy those products anyway, and that's their choice.
A picture of a red light isn't going to deter people (especially not toddlers) from picking candy over broccoli, as much as FDA seems to want us to believe. Kids will just learn to associate red light= good stuff and green light = gross green beans. I'm also sure a lot of older folks will pause at the red light, shug and toss the stuff in their cart anyway.
The whole traffic light system is simply another way the government thinks people are simply too stupid and must be babied at every turn. "People obviously don't realize that Sgt. Bacon's Tub-O-Ham-O is full of fat. Let's make the labels even simpler so that their feeble minds can comprehend."
Besides, if the traffic light system worked as well as the FDA hopes, most of the in the U.S. population would starve to death (What? You expected us to eat more vegetables? Ha ha ha! Silly.)
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10-22-2009 @ 9:10PM
David said...
Mandate from the food police: If it tastes good, spit it out!
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10-22-2009 @ 11:56PM
E said...
To LakeErie:
That's why women should stay home. I am finally a stay at home mom, and I love it. I live poor, but I have time with my kids, and time for cooking good food (and growing it too, that's why it's cheap). Watch the movies Food, Inc and Fresh (www.freshthemovie.com) to see how you can eat cheap too. Also, read the books Omnivore's Dilemma and Sugar Blues. These 2 movies and these 2 books will wake you up to how you are being duped. They will change your life.
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10-22-2009 @ 9:40PM
mariday1 said...
This is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of. Who do they think they are? Any normal, red blooded American has been raised on all that stuff that the FDA tells us is bad for us. Isn't this against the Constitution? I know I go for the food that they will label red, because it tastes good.
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10-22-2009 @ 9:43PM
john said...
Well if the labels can't be trusted, and the FDA doesn't have the resources to check, then I smell another big government solution that will involve more of our money to implement. No thanks.
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10-22-2009 @ 10:03PM
VeggieGal said...
If you want your children to be healthy, if you want to be healthy then start making better food choices. Worthless over processed, over sugared, over salted, fatty foods aren't easier - they are a death penalty. And could someone please explain to me why people think these types of foods taste good?
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10-22-2009 @ 10:54PM
drunknhines said...
Because they do taste GOOD!!!! We have come a long way from the cave dweller taste buds! We have evolved to want/crave over processed, over sugared, over salted, and fatty foods! Of course the advertisers have convinced us we need them too and if the advertisers say it, it must be true!! When i was kid everything was slathered with BUTTER!!! We added syrup to our oatmeal and drank Nehi soda like it was going out of style! The difference between then and now is that we didnt sit in front of the tv or computer all day long eating chips, drinking soda, and eating twinkies! We were active! We played outside riding our bikes, climbing trees, going to the park, exploring, etc! For me that carried into my adulthood as i like to mountain bike and hike and play sports as well! Just because some people cant control what they or their children eat doesnt mean the rest of us should suffer! its kind of like the warning on a frozen pizza that says "cook before eating"! Some dummy out there must have tried to eat a frozen pizza, got sick and then sued so of course they have to warn all of us!! well let me finish this bag of pork rinds and bottle of dr. pepper ive been working on! maybe i'll follow it with a big ol' bowl of the halloween cap'n crunch! YUMMY!!
10-23-2009 @ 12:28AM
Chachi said...
Hello, you are so right nobody can tell you what you should eat, goverment tries anyway to get more $$$ when they can, they can try to seem that they care what is healthy or not but, I think we all know in this world what is good and what is bad unless your are a toddler that can't read yet, healthy is drinking water, eating fish, chicken ?, veggies, fruits, nuts, beans (ORGANICS WHEN POSIBLE IS THE BEST) and that is it butttttttttt, of course who does not want SODA, CHIPS, CANDY, CAKES, PIZZA, ICE CREAM, ect, ect, WE ARE ALL HUMANS, so we all now what can make you illy oe keep you healthy for some time because face it we all going the same way to the cementary sooner or later in life, so eat what ever you like to fit your lifestyle but, you know what consequences you will have so don't complaint.
10-22-2009 @ 10:11PM
DAVE said...
WHERE WAS ALL THIS TWENTY YEARS AGO OR BEFORE?
I WON'T LISTEN TO ANY GOVERNMENT, THAT BEEN POISONING
USE FOR YEARS THROUGH THE AIR, LAND, AND SEA.
NOW THEY WANT TO HELPS US???
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10-22-2009 @ 11:52PM
Lou said...
sad that the FDA goes after cereal makers for sugar content yet they allow poison like bovine growth hormone to pollute our food supply. they should all be jailed and given the death penalty! this government agency is a f-ing joke.
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10-26-2009 @ 8:33PM
knicknac said...
so now red light will equal 'good tasting' cereal
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10-22-2009 @ 10:43PM
exoticdoc2 said...
Amazing that two-thirds of people who voted think this will change people's choices. They may claim it would make them change their eating habits, but studies that follow up on such claims, such as the fast food nutrition info being posted, have demonstrated that people continue to simply buy what they want. This is simply another form of the nanny state crap.
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10-23-2009 @ 12:17PM
john crystal said...
The "traffic light" food catagories is not new. See the Dr Sears website www.drsearslean.com where he has a whole program related to teaching these principals to parents and kids. There are actually coaches all across the US teaching these principals.
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10-22-2009 @ 11:00PM
Ruby said...
No one thinks that this will cause a revolution. However, it does make it much easier to have a "red flag" on items that are borderline choices, especially when there are kids involved. Of course people will still buy sweet stuff - they're supposed to consume it in moderation. It's not a governmental control, sillies - it's simply a fast-tracking system for harried shoppers.
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10-24-2009 @ 10:37AM
Amy said...
3 eye-opening films that every American should see:
1. King Corn
2. Food, Inc.
3. Fresh, the movie
If it doesn't change the way we look at what we're eating, where it comes from, how it's adversely affecting our health, and what we HAVE to do differently...then there's no saving us.
But I do believe as a people, we can change things. We just have to get angry enough at all the lies we've been told and all the products we've been SOLD, and commit to doing it a different way.
Uncrustables, people! We're purchasing a box of pre-packaged, frozen, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Is this because we've become a nation that is now too lazy to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, or because we don't have the time to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Either way is sad.
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