We’ll say something a little controversial. We don’t think there should be much regulation about what goes into our food.
Obviously, things like lead and dangerous substances shouldn’t be allowed and should be monitored. Food should be made of food! But, when we hear about legislation about how much sugar or fat can be in something, we get irritated. That might sound surprising. We’re a health and wellness company. But we think it’s important that people be allowed to make their own choices. When it comes to what’s in the supermarket, you should be allowed to “speak with your wallet” and tell companies what you want by buying what is suitable for you!
However, we absolutely despise how many things are hidden in our food. We want honesty. People cannot make the choices that are right for them when they aren’t given the information they need. If you don’t know the ingredients and the full nutritional information, it’s challenging to make decisions.
The FDA is proposing front-of-package labels that detail the calories, fat, sugar and salt of processed food and drinks. It would be a “simple, standardized, evidence-based, and mandatory front-of-package labeling system for all packaged foods sold in the United States.”
Considering how hard it can be to locate the nutritional labels on some foods, and how confusing they can be, it could be a huge step forward. But there is bickering over what the labels should look like. They could be color-coded with a stop light pattern of red, yellow and green indicating health levels or one that simply flags a product as containing more than 20 percent of a daily recommended amount of the calories, fat, sugar or salt. Some argue that neither system is clear enough and that the packaging should clearly have the exact numbers and percentages printed on the front.
Food companies are arguing that it will raise the costs of food. They also claim the labels go against their right to free speech.
Countries including Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Israel have clear and effective front-of-package labeling systems. Consumers can easily scan them to see whether a product is healthy or unhealthy. But their systems were not proposed here.
Several years ago, there was a movement to ban the then-trendy freakshakes — milkshakes taken to the extreme with cake slices and brownies stacked on top of them. At the time, we wrote about it. Our stance has remained the same over the years. Instead of banning unhealthy food, educating people stops them from buying it. Once you know that a Unicorn Freakshake has 1,280 calories and 156 grams of sugar, you don’t eat it. The same is true with packaged foods.
We understand why food companies aren’t happy about this move, if consumers know what is in their product at a glance, they are less likely to pick it off the shelf. But, as consumers — and as a health and wellness company — we think labels that help us make choices are an excellent solution. We don’t want food taken out of stores; we just want to be able to make educated choices about what we’re eating.
