Question: Some health claims are regulated, but others aren't. How can food companies get away with making claims that may be exaggerated?
Many food labels point to products that can help you follow a healthy diet. Nutrient claims such as "calorie reduced", "trans fat free", "light" and "low in sodium" are defined and regulated by Health Canada. But for some products, their very names or marketing phrases conjure up the notion of health when the nutrition label and ingredient list implies otherwise.
The bottom line: you need to look past the front label and read the fine print – the Nutrition Facts box and ingredient list – to get the whole story.
Food Frauds
Spinach tortillas: Their bright green hue makes you think of a bunch of fresh spinach. But read the ingredient list and you'll see that spinach powder is a scant ingredient. What's more, the first ingredient is white flour. I'm afraid a spinach wrap isn't going to boost your vegetable intake -- or your intake of fibre, vitamin C and antioxidants found in fresh spinach. Your best bet is to buy 100 per cent whole grain tortillas -- and add fresh spinach leaves to your wrap to get your vegetable serving.
Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars: Their very name implies they're healthy -- nutrient-packed grains. The claim "8 grams of whole grains" also grabs your attention. And the picture on the box suggests they're filled with real berries. Even the website says they are a snack you "can feel good about eating".
But if you look at the details, these cereal bars are less healthy than they appear. Their first -- and main -- ingredient is white flour. Whole oats comes second. And the third ingredient is sugar. As for the real fruit filling, you have to look past the first ingredient, sugar, before you see a fruit puree concentrate listed. Each bar has only 3 teaspoons worth of sugar and only 2 grams of fibre. If you're looking for more whole grain and fibre and less sugar, you're better off with Kellogg's Fibre Plus bars. Better yet, some brands like Kashi make cereal bars from 100 per cent whole grains.
Sun-Maid Yogurt Raisins: Fruit covered with yogurt might seem like a healthy snack. Certainly plain raisins are. But you won't find any yogurt in the "creamy, real vanilla yogurt coating". Read the ingredient list and you'll see that sugar tops the list, followed by partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, a source of trans fat. The fourth ingredient is nonfat yogurt powder.
One-quarter of a cup or 50 of these raisins has 130 calories, 4 grams of saturated fat, and 19 grams of sugar of which 4 grams -- a teaspoon worth -- is refined sugar. If you were to eat 50 plain raisins, you'd get almost half the calories (78), zero saturated or trans fat, and a teaspoon less sugar. My advice: stick to plain, all natural raisins.
Skinny Sticks: You might be thinking this is a healthy snack if you're controlling your weight. Yes, they have less fat than regular potato chips. But they're not calorie or fat-free. A 50 gram portion -- about half the bag -- has 230 calories and 11 grams of fat.
I'm willing to bet most people will forego measuring out 50 grams and eat the whole bag for a 460 calorie snack. Worse, though, is the sodium. Eat half the bag and you'll consume 500 milligrams of sodium – one-third of a day's worth in a small snack. Compared to regular potato chips, you're only saving 40 calories. A 50 gram portion of potato chips will set you back 271 calories. But here's the shocker, the same serving size of regular, salted potato chips has half the sodium (262 milligrams).
Power Bar Fruit Energize Bars: The website boasts you'll "start every workout fully energized" if you eat one of these bars with C2 MAX. The wrapper says that it's made with real fruit. But the fruit is dried and sugared and it's mixed with a sugary fruit paste. The C2 MAX, which the company claims is an "Optimized Carb Blend", is really just a mix of sugar, fructose and sugary fruit paste. In fact, each bar delivers 29 grams of sugar (7.25 teaspoons worth). Even these ZonePerfect Fruitified Bars sound like a healthier option. But there's not that much fruit and refined sugar (corn syrup) is the second ingredient after soy protein nuggets. You're better off choosing an energy bar made from real ingredients like oats, fruit, and nuts and that contain less refined sugar.
