You’ve invited some friends over for supper and you really want to impress them with a home-made meal that’s healthy, nutritious and wholesome. After all, you’re currently studying at the best school for cooking (IHS…wink, wink) – you have a lot to prove. You’ve decided to shop at a high end retailer to get the ‘right’ ingredients and you’re completely taken in by all the buzz words like ORGANIC, NATURAL, LOCAL, GLUTEN-FREE and GRASS-FED. So you purchase your ingredients that display these labels. You start to stress. You know you’ve heard these words in your culinary lectures, but what do these words really mean?

Clever Marketing

Consumer food marketing can be extremely persuasive. It talks to your fears and insecurities around health issues or over-eating/obesity concerns. Food marketed as ‘healthy’ often uses labels or buzzwords to imply that a particular product must be better for you than other products in the same line. People often assume that if the foods are healthy in one area (such as for the environment), they are healthy in all areas, even if they are actually quite bad for us. This is called the ‘Health Halo’ effect and studies have revealed that it leads people to eat twice at much of these foods because of their perceived benefits. The problem is that not all foods are healthy just because the label says so. So what do you need to know about these confusing food labels?

NATURAL

In fact, there is no formal classification for the term ‘natural’ (shock, horror). However, suppliers are able to use this term if their products are free from added colourants, artificial flavours or synthetic substances. BUT, the term does not mean organic and actually has no real bearing on whether or not the product is healthy. For example, a cereal may market itself or its ingredients as ‘natural’, but it may also contain 4 different types of sugars in the ingredients which are NOT healthy. So the term ‘natural’ is quite a loose one.

ORGANIC

Ah…a favourite. If something is organic it must be healthy, right? Not always. The USDA Organic Seal indicates that food with this seal was produced without synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes (GMOs), or petroleum or sewage sludge-based fertilizers. It also means that organic meat and dairy products are from animals fed organic, vegetarian feed and are provided access to the outdoors, and do not receive any hormones or antibiotics. If the seal on a product says “100% Organic” the product was made with 100 percent organic ingredients. Just the word “Organic” indicates that the food was made with at least 95 percent organic ingredients. Remember, the term ‘organic’ refers only to the agricultural method; it doesn’t refer to the nutrition or taste of the food. Organic foods such as sweets or snacks can be just as sugary, fatty, salty and caloric as non-organic foods, or even more so. Make sure you read the nutrition labels.

LOCAL

This one has a few wayward perceptions that we’re sure will make you smile. Ask yourself – how near or far is ‘local’? Actually, no one knows for certain as there is no formal criteria to say what distance constitutes the term ‘local’. One can only assume the product is made within a 50 or 100km radius or perhaps within our province?? Furthermore, as many as 23% of people think that if something is ‘local’ it’s also organic and 30% of people think that something local is more nutritious. The fact is; there’s no proof to substantiate any of this at all. Sometimes, ‘local’ food suppliers get away with not having to use nutritional facts / ingredient lists because they are small businesses with limited means and one could then make the assumption that the ingredients are fresh and good for you. So really, what does ‘local’ mean?

GLUTEN-FREE

According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the term “gluten-free” means that a food must limit the unavoidable presence of gluten to less than 20 parts per million. Manufacturers are also allowed to label a food as gluten-free if they don’t contain any ingredient that is any type of wheat, rye, barley or crossbreeds of these grains. This also means that foods like water, vegetables and fruits, can also be labelled as gluten-free. The term gluten-free does not indicate whether a food is whole grain, organic, low carb or healthy. In fact, many gluten-free foods are highly processed and include ingredients like refined white rice, sugar and salt. This is often over-looked by consumers who don’t read the labels.

GRASS-FED

Again, people perceive the products of grass-fed animals like cattle to be organic or at least a healthier option. Whilst the cattle are eating only grass feed and drinking mother’s milk when they’re babies, they may still be given hormones or antibiotics. So make sure if you’re purchasing grass-fed products, that there is also a 100% organic label on the product for peace of mind.

We’re not saying that all labels are bad, but we are saying that they can be misleading, and that we also make up our own perceptions of things based on buzzwords and persuasive marketing. Don’t be fooled. Be informed and if you’re ever in doubt, just check out the ingredient list. You can’t go wrong there. And if you’re still not 100% sure, ask your lecturer at your culinary cooking school or ours…we’re only too happy to help. Happy, healthy shopping everyone!

Image Credits

Image 1: www.huffingtonpost.com
Image 2: www.liftingrevolution.com
Image 3: www.fda.gov