It would have been difficult to predict the cultural impact of nutrition labeling on foods. At first, transparency of ingredients and additives seemed like a win for the consumer. As processed foods became a universal part of one’s diet, people needed to know what they were eating. Over time research has shown that many manmade ingredients were not particularly good for one’s health.
However, government regulators could not have foreseen how labels might pervade the daily intake and food decisions of a large majority of the population. Without adequate knowledge of general points of nutrition and of nutritionism (the faulty philosophy of nutrition based on building blocks, i.e, fat or protein, rather than real food), it’s incredibly hard to make sense of the information on the labels.
Even more confusing is that children are often taught about biological macromolecules through food labels, equating this information with scientific facts. Food labels have transformed from corporate transparency into false nutrition and dietary law for much of the population.
Too many people assume calorie facts on food packaging is absolutely true. They don’t realize that the information only needs to be within 25% of the actual value. Also, companies can determine serving sizes based on how best to sell product. There is no regulation to create serving sizes that people would actually eat. And the percentages that labels apply to the daily overall diet only approximate a general idea of human needs. Using this data as a hard and fast rule often only encourages dieting.
The immediate benefits of assessing packaged foods has instead turned into a supposed guidebook for food choices and dietary consumption. People who have grown up with food labels are much more likely to count calories, consider dietary choices based on macromolecules rather than food and assess healthy food choices through food industry-devised data.
The next post will give some guidelines about how to use the nutrition labels effectively.
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