Maybe some of you have heard the ongoing debates about the "best" way to provide information on food labels. Right now, there are lots of "healthy choice" endorsements from a variety of groups, but does that help us as consumers to make better choices?
While many of us already feel like there is an encyclopedia on the present food label, now there are all kinds of other "hints" to good health all over the package: Heart Healthy, Whole Grains, Reduced Fat, Low-Salt, No Sugar Added, plus the endorsement of professional medical groups, and the list goes on and on.
As I see it, the problem is that we don't eat separate nutrients, we eat foods. And, when we start to dissect products apart too much, we start to lose focus. I'd love to know what you think about this whole food label issue.
Now, you don't have to be a food scientist to know that Cheerios is going to be a better choice than a sugary cereal, and that plain frozen green beans is a lower fat choice that frozen beans in a butter sauce, but is there a simpler way to move ahead?
From academic institutions to grocery store manufacturers, there are numerous competing suggestions, using numbers or stars to rate foods. While these are both steps in the right direction, perhaps a current European strategy might be something to consider.
The European plan is one of the three basic colors: RED, YELLOW, and GREEN. This was also the basis for a very popular diet plan for children, written almost 30 years ago by Leonard Epstein, PhD, a highly-respected obesity researcher.
Red: Limit the amounts
Yellow: Eat with caution
Green: Eat freely While this doesn't provide much in the way of specifics, it gives an easy to use, instant "snapshot" of a product, and further details can be obtained by reading the existing package label.
This issue is just going to continue to heat up, as consumers demand (rightly so!) easy to understand, and accurate information to support healthier food choices.
I'll be revisiting this important issue soon, when some government panels will weigh in on new directions.
Do you think food labels are hard to understand? Misleading? Perhaps both?
译文:
食品标签大战
也许有些人可能听过正在进行的关于食物标签上提供信息的最佳方法的讨论。现在有很多不同组类的“健康的选择”背
书，但是这能帮助我们消费者做出更好的选择吗？
已经有很多人觉得现在食物标签相当于一本百科全书了，包装上有所有种类的良好健康的“暗示”：心脏保健、全麦、降脂、低盐、无糖、还有专业医学词组背书，列表没完没了。
在我看来问题在于我们不是吃的单个营养，我们吃的是食物。当我们开始过细的拆分食品的时候，我们就开始失去重要成份了。我想知道你对食物标签这整件事的看法。
现在你没有必要成为一个要知道Cheerios比含糖谷类更好，一般的冻绿豆相比于油制冻豆含脂肪低的科学家，但是有没有更简单一点的办法知道这些呢？
无论是学术研究单位还是杂货店厂家，有很多相抵触的看法，使用数字或者星星来竞争食品。但是都是朝正确方向走的，也许可以考虑借鉴现今欧洲方法的一些东西。
欧洲设计是三种基本颜色：红、黄和绿。这也是非常流行的儿童食物规划的基础，由一位备受崇敬的哲学博士和肥胖问
题研究员――Leonard Epstein著于大约30年前。
红：限制数量
黄：慎食
绿：随便食用
虽然在细节方面这种方法没有提供很多信息，但是使用起来很简单，产品即时“快照”，详细的细节可以参照包装标签。
这件事将继续讨论升温，鉴于消费者要求（正式如此！）易懂的、准确的信息来帮助做出更加健康的食物选择。
一些政府的问题小组将从新的方向上衡量这件事，以后我也会不断关注这一重要事件的。
你认为食品标签是难看懂吗？误导？也许二者都是？