Don't Be Fooled

I'm always telling my clients, "when you're food shopping, you must always read the label". But I don't mean the one on the front of the package. That's just advertising. It's meant to make you pick up the product and buy it. It's sometimes misleading. And sometimes it flat out lies. No, I mean the label on the back. The one that is usually in really small letters. The ingredients.

If you want to make better food choices you must read the ingredients, not just the labeling on the front. Here's a great example:

Looks like a pretty good choice, right? After all, it is an "excellent source of ANTIOXIDANTS". Says so right on the front. It's not just lemonade, it's "enhanced" lemonade, and it contains pomegranate juice. Pretty convincing stuff. But wait a minute. Take a look at the ingredients in small type, on the back:

"HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP". The second ingredient of this drink that boasts "antioxidants" as a selling point, also contains this manufactured industrial food product (no, it's NOT natural) that is a major cause of obesity and chronic health problems. (For more on high fructose corn syrup, please see what Dr Mark Hyman has to say in the Huffington Post).

Food manufacturers who take advantage of their customer's desire to make healthier choices are particularly despicable to me. They know what they're doing when they put images of pomegranates on their labels and feature words like "antioxidants" and "enhanced". They are hoping you will be too trusting or too rushed to turn the bottle over and read the fine print. They are hoping they can dupe you. Don't be fooled, read the ingredients.