Always check the label

A shopper carefully makes sure her choices are GMO and additive-free, yet the writing is so small she may eventually give up.

 

(click to enlarge) 

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Remember mandatory ingredient labeling? It was supposed to empower consumers, but in practice it mostly just created a wall of fine-print chemical names that the average person either can’t (or won’t) decode. And even if they check the label they’ve become so used to seeing things like “sodium acid pyrophosphate, monoglycerides, datem, calcium sulfate, tbhq, yellow 5 lake, red 40 lake” in fine print that their eyes just glaze over. They’ll flip the box back to the front and when they see “Made with Real Fruit!!,” toss it in the cart.

 

The labeling of ingredients was a good step, but confronted with a clump of miniscule unpronounceable words on a package, most now just shrug it off. Food companies know this. That’s why they bury the ugly stuff in 6-point font and spend millions making the front of the package scream “New and improved,!” or “25% less sugar!”(then quietly replace it with sucralose and maltodextrin). It doesn’t feel like food anymore; it feels more like chemistry homework. I'm always surprised that people continue to buy. - BPJ