The Deception of Healthy Food Products: Final

(A Blog Series by Chef Maika)
It is up to us to stand up against such deception by self educating. And it is up to us to protect our family. Wouldn’t you say child & teenage obesity is one of the number one health concerns for parents in America? FTC had to battle many advertised health claims directed towards children claiming to be healthy. When it came time for a child to make a decision on what to eat while standing in front of the fridge? Who would win? Yoplait’s Watermelon Burst Trix Yogurt or Dole’s Mandarin Orange Fruit Bowl? Of course, the winner would be Yoplait’s Trix with the cartoon rabbit and numerous eye torturing colors. Even though, there is no real fruit in this yogurt and it’s high in corn fructose syrup. Constant choices like this have led us to be the winner in the world as the largest population in child obesity. You would think that FTC and FDA had this all under control. Think again. Now food companies with products for children are being self regulated. There are about 14 companies that created a coalition, Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, including major brands like Kellogg, Kraft, Unilever, ConAgra, General Mills, Campbell and Coca-Cola, promising to create “Better for you” products with specific health guidelines (Clifford, 2008). Self-regulation? Aren’t we repeating history here? This is just another bogus way for marketers to sell their products. They are making up their own rules on what a product should consist of in order to be considered healthy.
Do I really need to repeat how important it is for us to self educate ourselves to maneuver around these deceiving products to get to exactly what we want? It is our duty as responsible consumers and US citizens to come together to become a healthier nation, reduce the rate in obesity and fight against false claims made by money hungry marketers and advertisers. The FTC and FDA can’t do it alone. Not even our own state governments can. I acknowledge the struggle to decipher some of these Nutrition Labels and frustrating to have to take up so much information. However, at the end of the day, “We are what we eat”.