Reading the label

I've been a pretty conscientious label-reader for years, and I base a lot of my packaged food purchases on the information displayed on the label.  I always assumed that this information was verified and an honest representation of what the package contained.

Then I read this article:

Nutrition-label cheating rampant

During the past decade, Hammock has become a label crusader. She monitors diet chat rooms to learn what low-calorie or low-carb products people are buzzing about.

Then she sends samples of the product to an independent lab for testing.

In one case, her co-workers were raving about Pirate's Booty, a cheese-flavored puffed-rice snack. The label boasted that one serving contained 120 calories and 2.5 grams of fat. Yet when Hammock tasted it, she knew better.

"It didn't taste like a low-fat, low-calorie snack. It tasted like Cheez Doodles," she says.

Indeed, the lab found that Pirate's Booty contained 147 calories and 8.5 grams of fat per serving -- 6 grams more than the label claimed.  (click on the header to read the entire article)

Seriously, what the hell?  This makes me so frustrated.  And it reaffirms my desire to stay the heck away from packaged foods.  There is no cheating a cucumber, or steamed rice.  An apple is an apple.  Did any of you guys ever suspect this kind of thing?  Et tu, Pirate's Booty?  Maybe I'm just naive.

Comments

[jo-less]

I tend to worry more about the additives and chemicals than the calories...who needs 'cheese flavoured' anything, why not just eat...cheese? I think the nastiest one I was was 'Strawberry flavoured apple flakes' or somesuch...why not just an apple, or strawberries? It is just so wrong...sigh. Totally agree with you, stay away from packaged food as much as possible.