Are Food Marketers Being Honest? By Margaret Furtado, M.S., R.D. - Posted Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 12:16 pm PDT

1. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 1:50 pm PDT

capitalism and non-monetary health/wealth do not jive and just because it's "printed" doesn't make the words fact.......but then this is "new" and the bait 'n switch tactic used by those producing unhealthy food but call them healthy is "new" too? are we all dumb asses or what? Non-live foods, especially Boxed foods (well i guess you could call it food - but i think the box might be of greater nutrional value after reading the labels!?) are poor substitutes for real food and are loaded with salt, sugar and other crappy ingredients. so, why are too many americans sooo fat? because many do not cook or prepare food for themselves but go the "faster/fatter" route of eating other's fixings, thus waddle off to their deaths prematurely! grow your own. save mioney, time and our planet. THINK before you feed that hole in your face or die younger with less quality of that life.

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2. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 2:43 pm PDT

Hello, I think it is always going to be buyer beware. Anything that is not wholly created in nature is poison in my books. I will not eat anything man-made. I will not eat anything that was created in nature and processed or refined. Fakefood is not from nature. Food is not pizza, burgers, chips, and sub sandwiches. Water is the greatest health drink around. It is really simple to be healthy, but it takes a tremendous amount of willpower in today's world. Fakefoods, anything not created in nature and consumed the way it was created, will have a negative impact on anyone's health and well being. If a person does not drink water, they will die. If a person does not eat vegetables, they will not know what it feels like to be healthy. Without water, vegetables, fruit, and nuts (or meat), people will always be tired and sickly. I can actually smell a type of spit smell around people who have shopping carts full of beef, bacon, chips, white bread, and candies. It smells kind of like stale mucus.

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3. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 3:08 pm PDT

"So is the food industry to blame for today's ever-increasing portions, or is it buyer beware? Should there be large signs on all of our food and drink containers warning that eating the contents might lead to weight gain, obesity, and chronic disease? What do you think, dear readers? I'd love to hear from you!" Consumers who care will read the label and do the math, so make it buyer beware. Manufacturer's are required to supply accurate information to consumers, and the consumers must take it from there. Warning labels are only necessary if harm may come during normal use - like the peanut allergy warning statements. Warning labels are not necessary if harm does not come during normal use. Overeating is not normal use.

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4. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 9:07 pm PDT

Think Nutrition Co., of Cloverdale, CA markets a Fiber Enhanced Sweet Cream Butter called Butterfi. Butterfi is 35% less fat, calories, cholesterol & salt than regular butter. It's prebiotic, plus it gives 3 grams of soluble dietary fiber per serving. We felt it necessary to put on our label "use butter products responsibly" because we do care about our consumers.

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5. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Fri, Oct 23, 2009, 8:46 am PDT

I feel that if I need to research a product to know if it's "healthy", by examining each item in the list of ingredients, then there isn't honesty in the food industry. Take, for example, my energy drink. It says 3 grams of sugar per serving, yet the second item on the ingredience list is glucose. I would have expected a "lo-carb" energy drink to have sugar much farther on the list. I know this isn't a health drink by any means but just the term lo-carb gives me the impression that it's not too bad for me.

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6. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Oct 28, 2009, 5:26 pm PDT

I think it is a little bit of "buyer beware," and a whole lot of common sense. We know that eating a whole bag of low-calorie cookies is at least as bad as eating several regular full-calorie cookies. The duplicity on the part of the food manufacturers would be the amazing diversity of jargon that requires study on the part of the consumer if he or she is going to be informed. For instance, I learned only recently that a label that says "0 g. trans fat" per serving can have anything from 0.0-0.4 g. That's insignificant if the only trans fat you eat is in that one bowl of Peanut Butter Crunch cereal, but, in the course of a day, we're liable to consume 5-6 items or more that are labelled this way. Another source says as little as 2 g. trans fat consumed per day can have adverse health effects. IF the cereal has 0.4 g. trans fat per serving, it takes 5 bowls of cereal in the course of a day to start damaging your arteries. Most people I know pour about 2 servings worth of cereal into their bowls by habit. You see, I think that the companies are adhering to the letter of the law but being disingenuous about the spirit of the law. Basically, I know that if I eat processed food, I will be screwed in some way or other. Even fresh food has many pitfalls. But at some level, we do know when we're obviously harming ourselves with our bad eating habits. Thus the blame cannot be put squarely on any one entity's shoulders.

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7. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Sat, Nov 14, 2009, 2:33 pm PST

Of course their not being honest. If they were, no one would buy their products. They will do anything to make a buck and people will buy anything if it's the latest trend. Vitamin water? Please! Water is water. Plain water is good for you. Vitamin water. That's a marketing gimmick. The worst yet. Orange juice just for kids. Baloney! That OJ is no more healthy for your kids than regular OJ. When you buy that, you're paying for marketing. It really is buyer beware. Educate yourselves. Know that restaurants serve astronomically huge portions and plan accordingly. Arrange to split the meal with someone. Watch at the super market, too. Stop buying sugary, calorie filled snacks for your kids. Don't let them veg in front of the TV and snack. If they want a snack. Make it a healthy one and set some boundaries. If they want a snack it's going to have to be a healthy one otherwise they don't get one. Simple as that. For what you pay for over priced junk food for snacks. You can buy healthier foods, such as nuts, or baby carrots with light or fat free ranch dressing for dipping. Raisins, healthy yogurt, you can make carrot and celery sticks. Even cheese in moderation is healthy. Stop making your kids fat by giving into them and indulging them.

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8. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Sat, Nov 21, 2009, 12:49 pm PST

i think ultimately the consumer needs to take responsibility. adding another burden to the struggling food industry is not the answer to the nation's obesity problem.

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9. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Mon, Nov 23, 2009, 8:46 am PST

Are companies not required to include sugar in the list of added ingredients? I learnt recently that many juices that I considered healthy have sugar added to them, including "not from concentrate" versions of Tropicana and Minutemaid; and "100% Grade A Pure" honey. How do I know I'm getting a good thing???

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