New Food Label Makes Junk Food Look Healthy

There is now a fairly established trend in the current recession: a lot more people are dining at home, and thus shopping at supermarkets more often. So any help to make choosing our own food healthier for our bodies and wallets is appreciated.

However, the organization doing the research and setting the guidelines probably shouldn’t be funded by the companies making the food.


A new health program called Smart Choices, an independent organization funded by some of the largest processed food companies in world, is putting its stamp of approval on products that meet a conspicuous set of guidelines. The labels which have started appearing on the shelves of supermarkets are being heavily criticized as misleading consumers.


The New York Times reported that Smart Choices may be misleading consumers into viewing processed foods as equally healthy to fresh or natural food sources. The seal can still be obtained if an otherwise nutrition-less food has added ingredients like fiber or vitamins. Another critic said this practice could mislead consumers into thinking these foods are healthier than they really are. Smart Choices does not require the use of any whole grains in a product to get the “check” on the front of the box as long as a few choice ingredients are added during the food’s assembly.

Froot Loops cereal’s approval was particularly ragged on in the article. At 14 grams per serving, the Kellog's staple has a higher sugar content than some cookies (43% of the total weight of the cereal is sugar).


In the article, The NY Times interviewed chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health, Walter C. Willett. “These are horrible choices,” Mr. Willett said, and “It’s a blatant failure of this system and it makes it, I’m afraid, not credible.”


Smart Choices President, Dr. Eileen T. Kennedy, says that all the food that gets “checked” lives up to the dietary standards determined by the Food and Drug Administration. This of course includes Froot Loops, which are, after all, healthier than doughnuts.


“The checkmark means the food item is a ‘better for you’ product, as opposed to having an x on it saying ‘Don’t eat this,’ ” Dr. Kennedy said. “Consumers are smart enough to deduce that if it doesn’t have the checkmark, by implication it’s not a ‘better for you’ product. They want to have a choice. They don’t want to be told ‘You must do this.’ ”


The ten companies that have signed on to the new program for a fee of $100,000 are Kellogg’s, Kraft Foods, ConAgra Foods, Unilever, General Mills, PepsiCo and Tyson Foods.


So dear consumer, don’t be fooled. Reese’s Puffs, no matter how much it looks like cereal and tastes like candy, will never be good for you.