8 Misleading Food Label Terms Every Eater Should Know

From- http://food.change.org/

by Kristen Ridley

As more and more Americans are renewing their interest in where their food comes from, food companies have made an effort to catch those sustainable food dollars while changing their products as little as possible. The easiest way to do this is through advertising, hiring skilled writers to tweak the wording on the label or extol marginally better production as sustainable. These underhanded tactics can befuddle contentious shoppers, leaving them wondering what precisely is meant by these vague terms and flowery language.

After years of carefully perusing labels and subsequently researching food companies, I’ve developed a sort of translation of some common advertising terms to help me suss out what’s really sustainable — a spin doctor-to-English dictionary, if you will. Ideally you would shop in a manner that allows you to ask the farmer yourself just how he or she produces food, but when that’s not an option, here’s a helpful guide to eight food label terms and what they actually mean.

1. Cage Free. This means exactly what it says and nothing more. The carton may try to imply happy chickens in the sunshine, but cage-free hens are still confined entirely indoors in crowded and dirty conditions, and still very much treated like machines. It is certainly a big step up from being crammed into a tiny cage, unable to move, like most hens. But as I experienced for myself at Comic Con last weekend, being jostled around in a big room packed wall-to-wall with your peers can make you exhausted and miserable.

2. Free Range. Again, this term implies happy animals in the sunshine, but don’t be fooled. Look for the phrase "access to the outdoors" on the label. That means that the animals in question are confined most of the time with just a small yard to visit from time to time—if they can squeeze through the crowd to get there, that is. Now sometimes this label is applied to something truly free range, but look for terms like "pastured" and "grass fed" to confirm this. By itself, this label isn’t very trustworthy.

3. Organic. This is the most strictly regulated of the common sustainable food labels. To be called organic, a farm must go through a certification procedure and meet a very specific set of requirements, including cutting out all artificial fertilizers, chemicals, antibiotics, and hormones. Certainly if you’re going to rely on a label to make a quick food decision, this is the one. But organic doesn’t always mean what you think it means. There are a few dubious allowances in the organic regulations, and the majority of organic produce is grown miles away in vast monocultures that, while loads better for the soil and local environment, doesn’t exactly follow the spirit of sustainability.

4. Natural. This means absolutely nothing from a labeling standpoint. I joke that this is the label companies use when they have nothing real to advertise, and as such, I generally count it as a point against whatever food it’s on.

5. Humane. This term is very subjective and not regulated in any way (although the Humane Society is certainly trying to change that). I usually assign just as much weight to this label as I do to "natural," with the exception of those foods with the "Animal Welfare Approved" label. Other humane certification programs exist, but the rigorous AWA standards are the real deal. AWA animals are also required to be pastured.

6. Local. Again, this can mean almost anything. At the very least it generally means it was grown in-state, but in a place as big as California, that doesn’t mean much. It also makes no guarantee regarding how the food is grown — unless it says otherwise, it is probably conventional, pesticides and all. Besides, isn’t purchasing local food from a supermarket kind of defeating the purpose?

7. Grass Fed. There is a push to regulate this label the same way organic is (and the push back by those who fear a government label wouldn’t be strict enough), but as of now there is no certification process. It’s true that a producer could slide in an animal that was finished on grain (although I have never found an instance where this actually happened), so a more assuring label is "Grass Finished" or "100% Grass Fed."

8. Pastured. This term isn’t regulated either, so use some common sense, but it means that an animal was raised grazing or foraging outside on pasture. You can bet it lived a pretty good life given that the animals had to have enough space not to kill the grass. It’s a helpful term because animals like chickens and pigs can’t live on grass alone, thus the term "grass fed" can’t apply. But pastured animals are able to supplement their feed with bugs and forage, creating a much happier and healthier animal, whatever the sort. I consider pastured the gold standard, but I always ask questions or do more research to make sure the producer thinks "pastured" means the same thing I do.

Hopefully this will be helpful for those trying to navigate the sea of supermarket advertising. If you’re looking for more easy-to-digest little tips  to live by that will help you eat healthier and more sustainably, check out Michael Pollan’s guide, Food Rules. And if you can think of any other term that needs explaining, please share in the comments section.

Not aging fast enough? Drink a soda!

Hoo boy. The American Beverage Association isn’t going to like this news one bit. Food companies now add significant amounts of phosphates to soda and other processed foods. And now researchers have found evidence that phosphates may accelerate aging (via Science Daily):

High phosphate levels may also increase the prevalence and severity of age-related complications, such as chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular calcification, and can also induce severe muscle and skin atrophy.

"Humans need a healthy diet and keeping the balance of phosphate in the diet may be important for a healthy life and longevity," said M. Shawkat Razzaque, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Medicine, Infection and Immunity at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. "Avoid phosphate toxicity and enjoy a healthy life."

"Soda is the caffeine delivery vehicle of choice for millions of people worldwide, but comes with phosphorous as a passenger" said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "This research suggests that our phosphorous balance influences the aging process, so don’t tip it."

This has nothing to do with sweeteners, food coloring or any other previously established badness associated with soda and processed food — it’s a "new and improved" risk.

And what, pray tell, are these phosphates doing there in the first place? According to other scientists, food companies starting adding them at high levels only in the last 20 years:

…[W]hile a moderate level of phosphate plays an essential role in living organisms, the rapidly increasing use of phosphates as a food additive has resulted in significantly higher levels in average daily diets. Phosphates are added to many food products to increase water retention and improve food texture.

"In the 1990s, phosphorous-containing food additives contributed an estimated 470 mg per day to the average daily adult diet," he said. "However, phosphates are currently being added much more frequently to a large number of processed foods, including meats, cheeses, beverages, and bakery products. As a result, depending on individual food choices, phosphorous intake could be increased by as much as 1000 mg per day."

"Increase water retention and improve food texture"?! That’s worth shaving years off our lives for sure! We’re all lab rats now.

“Vege”-tarian Diets?

I was in a debate online with some vegetarians about nutrition this morning, and one of them suggested that I go to the site GoVeg.com.  So I did. 

Here’s the first image on thier site;

Here’s the one labeled “transitions”…all products, no food.

hhhmmmm..no veggies here..

On thier site I took one of thier meal plans for one day ands analyzed it.  I copied thier recipes exactly and used software to get the nutrition info for the day.  Here are the results. Hhhmmmm, lots more “products”, nothing I would consider real food…and still no vegetables in site…looks like mostly soy and seitan (pure wheat gluten- a component of some grains that humans cannot digest)…

So, here is thier menu for one day;

Breakfast

Banana Muffins
Fresh fruit

Lunch

Avocado Reuben
Sumptuous Spinach Salad With Orange-Sesame Dressing

Dinner

Mama’s Mock Meatloaf
Creamy Chive Mashed Potatoes With Brown Gravy

Here’s the nutrition info for this day;
2583 calories- too high

Calories from fat-  47%
Calories from carbs-  47%
Calories from Protein-  9%

Protein is dangerously low.
Fat % would be fine except that most of the fat is mono-unsaturated fats, which leads to cancer, stoke and heart disease. And who recommends margarine anymore…haven’t you heard that hydrogenated fats and trans-fats are UNHEALTHY?

Vitamin C was 391 mg. too low
Vitamin D was only 21640 IU, way low, you need a minimum of 50,000 IU a day.
Calcium was at 87% of the RDA, a figure which is too low anyway.
Cholesterol was only 3% of what the governments recommendations are! 

This is NOT good nutrition; too many carbs, not enough protein, no high quality protein whatsoever, no vital amino acids and CLA, not enough healthy fats for building an immune system, not enough fiber from veggies.

And, why are they calling this a vegetarian diet…I see no almost no veggies here.  Most of the carbs come from white flour and sugar.  Soy is a highly toxic food for humans, it’s not a good replacement for grass fed meats.

Here’s what thier FAVORITE “PRODUCTS’  page looks like;

So grab a shopping cart, stroll down the aisle of your local supermarket or health food store, and add these great vegan vittles to your grocery list: 

Dairy Substitutes

    Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
    Soy Garden Natural Buttery Spread
    Tofutti Soy-Cheese Slices
    Organic Soy Delicious Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert
    Tofutti Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert
    Soyco—Soymage Vegan Grated Parmesan
    WholeSoy Creamy Cultured Soy Yogurt
    WhiteWave—Silk Chocolate Soymilk
    Tofutti—Better Than Cream Cheese
    Smart Balance 37% Light Buttery Spread
    Follow Your Heart—Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternative
    Rice Dream Non-Dairy Beverages

Beef Substitutes

    Boca Original Vegan Burgers
    Gardenburger California Burgers
    Now & Zen—Unsteak
    Nate’s Meatless Meatballs
    Morningstar Farms—Better ’n Burgers Veggie Burgers
    Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle Burgers
    Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Steak Strips

Chicken and Turkey Substitutes

    Gardenburger Flame Grilled Chik’n
    Gardenburger Buffalo Chik’n Wings
    Nate’s Chicken Style Nuggets
    Yves Veggie Cuisine—Veggie Chick’n Burgers
    Tofurky Deli Slices
    Yves Veggie Cuisine—Veggie Turkey Slices
    Boca Chik’n Patties
    Boca Chik’n Nuggets
    Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik’n Strips

Seafood Substitutes

    Vegieworld.com—Vegetarian Lobster Balls
    Vegieworld.com—Vegetarian Salmon
    Natural Touch—Tuno

I have yet to find any mention of fruits and vegetables, or real food on this site….jeeez, ya think someone selling “products” might be behind all this??

I eat 2000 calories a day. (See the post before this one for a typical day for me)Every single calorie I eat comes from REAL FOOD!   NOT products, nothing processed, all of it needs no labels, it’s whole food.  I eat on about 40 bucks a week, grow almost all my own veggies and herbs.  No packaging to throw away to fill up our landfills, plenty of great compost to grow more veggies with.  I am able to eat almost all locally grown and produced food.

Which diet looks healthier to you AND our planet???