The Ministry of Health has announced plans to start labeling foods that have high sugar, salt, and/or fat content. The new labels will be RED warning labels on foods.
It seems that we are in for a big shock when these new labels hit the market - although it is still not certain that they will - in the first stage of implementation (higher thresholds) a whopping 39% of packaged food products in supermarkets will be sporting a warning label (or more than one)!
If the stricter standards being discussed are adopted, an incredible 51% of the packaged products in the supermarket will carry the warnings.
I don't know if this new plan will actually pan out. Obviously, major food manufacturers are lobbying against it. But just KNOWING about it should be a wake up call.
Clearly, packaged food that many, many people buy regularly is being scrutinized for nutritional content - and much of it is failing. We all should keep that in mind when shopping. Personally, I advocate buying fresh, whole foods instead of packaged foods, but I know that is not always possible. Many people need to find some shortcuts in order to be able to fit it all in to the day!
So, whether or not the new labeling rules are implemented, I think it's a good thing to become more aware of the nutritional content of the food we're buying. Next time you pick up a package of food, look carefully at the nutritional content and the ingredients before you decide to buy it!
(And cutting back on packaged foods has another added benefit - you'll save money!)
Which packaged foods do you buy? Do you think seeing a red warning label on it will influence your decision to buy them in the future? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I am on a no (or minimum) sugar campaign. We have stopped using ketchup, flavoured yogurts, most other condiments (or we choose the one with least sugar for condiments), etc... Even the gluten-free flour that I thought was just cornflour is actually cornflour and sugar. Things like pancake mix are just flour and sugar. If they add cheap sugar it's not just flour so they can charge much more. It's a complete con.
ReplyDeleteThis would be a big help for people like me who want to eat healthy but have difficulty always understanding what they are eating due to difficulty with Hebrew language. I don't have the time in the supermarket to start translating everything but I certainly could look at a label and no not to buy the product.
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