Read Those Labels!
I came across a “blurb” on Yahoo a few weeks ago regarding shady food labels and it’s rather astonishing the extent that food companies will go to dupe people into thinking they’re eating healthy food. Terms such as lite, low-cal, or free of trans fat are often deemed “good choices” by many consumers and mistakenly thought of as a guilt free pleasure. Well, I’m here to tell you that if it sounds (and looks) too good to be true, it probably is. A few examples…….
When it comes to comfort food, has it got to be Kraft’s Macaroni and Cheese? Look twice. Like many boxed food mixes, the confusing label lists two sets of nutrition stats — and the first one is for the dry mix only. Unless you plan on eating your mac-cheese mix straight from the box, the prepared version (made with margarine and 2% milk) adds an extra 15 grams fat and 150 calories per serving to the figures on the label.
My Thoughts: Pretty sneaky if I may say so myself. But I don’t see what the big deal is. I mean, any “real” man knows that eating his mac-cheese straight out of the box is the shizzle. What could possibly be more manly? The only thing I can think of is hunting deer………………..with a tank. Bonus points if you do it while wearing a camouflaged lumberjack suit. Even more bonus points if you use the tank to run over Pete Wentz’s eye liner, which is conveniently located on his face.
Just downed a tall (23.5-ounce) can of AriZona Mucho Mango juice blend? Brace yourself. The sugar hit is 75 grams, not 25, as a glance at the label suggests. And the calorie hit is 360, not 120. That’s ‘cause one serving is only 8 ounces — you’re supposed to save the remaining two-thirds of the can for two more drinks.
My Thoughts: If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times………..”ditch the calorie containing beverages from your daily diet!” You never listen to me. It’s like I’m a ghost. And don’t even get me started on the fact that you never compliment me anymore. Did you notice my new haircut? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I hate you! Runs away crying
Sometimes you really need a cookie, right? Happily, the nutrition label on your favorite brand says 0 grams of both, fat and trans fat. That’s good enough that you can deal with the sugar guilt tomorrow, right? Sorry, but 0 doesn’t mean zero. It means less than 0.5 gram per serving. Sure, that’s not much — unless a serving is, say, two Snackwells Chocolate Mint cookies and by midnight you’ve finished the whole box.
My Thoughts: Another great example I like to use here is fat-free cooking spray. Most people will literally cake their pan with fat-free cooking spray, thinking that because the label says 0, it must be healthy. Think again. A serving size with most containers is 1/3 OF A SECOND; and there are roughly 550-570 servings per container. I’ve watched some people spray their pan for 10 seconds, which if we take the info given to us above, equates to approximately 10-15 grams of fat. Ten seconds equals 30 servings. 30 servings will elicit anywhere from 10-15 grams of fat (remember 0 really means 0.5 grams or less).
