Background
Companies package their product to ensure high sales. The size, shape and type of packaging all entice potential consumers to purchase a product. However, this unit focuses on the words and phrases used in packaging and not the package itself. In Michael Pollen's book, In Defense of Food, he discusses how processed foods, when packaged with words that make them sound more nutritious than whole foods, can make people believe that the contents are healthier when in fact they probably are not. 1 We must learn more about these frequently used words in order to make informed food purchasing decisions.
Words
Imitation is a word that the food industry has fought to avoid using. In 1938 the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act declared that when traditional foods like milk, bread or cheese appear as "standard" but have undergone alterations, these foods had to be labeled "imitation." 2 However, the food industry fought to have this law repealed and in 1973 they successfully eliminated the imitation rule. According to Pollen, the food industry felt that "such a pejorative term appear(ing) on fake food packages stood in the way of innovation." 3 The new rule stated that as long as the food had the same nutritional quantities as recognizable ingredients in natural foods, there would be no need for the word imitation. This change of heart came during the time that the American Heart Association (AHA) urged the public to get off of saturated fats and onto vegetable oils to prevent heart disease. Their goal was to modify foods to get saturated fats and cholesterol out of them. 4 The AHA wanted any restrictions on modifying food removed. Once the 1938 law was repealed, the food industry had an open door to use key advertising phrases with the public to get them to buy their product because they wanted them to believe that it was better or more nutritious than the standard. This occurred around the time terms like "low-fat" or "nonfat" had made their way onto food packaging and into the diet-discourse of many consumers.
With no regulations requiring package labeling about ingredient substitutions, ingredients such as hydrogenated oils or guar gum carrageenan replaced natural fats. Creams in most whipped cream or coffee creamer were replaced by corn starch. Pollan notes that even the yolks in liquid eggs could be replaced with anything as long as the substitute was nutritionally equivalent to the real thing. 5 However, it was not the real thing, and no law made it mandatory for a food company to have to disclose the substitute ingredients. 6 With the food industry working with scientists to make sure food contains the highest amount of nutrients, new words emerged— low-fat or low-carb- began popping up on food labels. Food that once had two or three ingredients suddenly had long lists of additives. These additives are not necessarily unhealthy but it are not necessarily healthy either.
One of the first notable artificial foods on the market was margarine. It was created in the 1860s as a cheaper substitute for butter to supply armies. A century later By the 1950's manufacturers found ways to make it "better" by removing bad nutrients like cholesterol and saturated fats found in butter with better nutrients like polyunsaturated fats and vitamins. But the food scientists who created modern margarine didn't realize that by making vegetable oil solid at room temperature "by blasting it with hydrogen," unhealthy trans fats would emerge. 7 Trans fat proved to be far worse than saturated fats. As a result of consumer demand, margarine was reengineered yet again to remove the trans-fat.
Low-fat and Nonfat
Low-fat diets are encouraged by the American Heart Association to curb high levels of cholesterol that have been linked to heart disease. When fat is removed from a food to create a low fat or nonfat food, something else must be added to make up for the taste difference. For a product to be labeled "free" as in "fat free," it must contain less than half a gram of fat and not necessarily no fat at all. Low fat foods contain less than three grams of fat per serving. This does not necessarily mean that the product contains fewer calories. In fact most low- or no-fat products contain more sugar than their full-fat counterparts. 8 For example, nonfat frozen yogurt often has the same amount of calories as regular frozen yogurt. Also food producers can label a candy bar "low fat" with 150 calories because its fullfat counter part contains 200 calories. Consumers need to be aware, though, that 150 calories may still be too much for their body. 9
Low Carbohydrate
The push for low-carbohydrate diets began in the 1970's with the popular Scarsdale Diet and Dr. Atkin's Diet Revolution but faded when low-fat and nonfat diets became popular. It resurfaced with gusto in the late 90's and drastically changed American eating habits. Foods like potatoes, breads, and pastas were suddenly banned from American shopping lists. Consumer demand for low-carbohydrate products encouraged food companies to once again redesign whole foods by adding and substituting ingredients to limit carbohydrates. Thus ingredients were adulterated once again. In 1999, Time magazine published an article titled, "The Low-Carb Diet Craze." It argued that low carbohydrate diets decrease blood-sugar levels, thereby causing the pancreas to produce less of the energy catalyst insulin. With less insulin the body is forced to burn fat reserves for energy, which may lead to quick weight loss. 10 The counter argument insisted that the increase in insulin is caused by obesity and not by carbohydrates. If carbohydrates are reduced, calories are reduced and that causes weight loss. The Time article highlighted the various low-carb cookbooks that have become best sellers. People with the descriptor "Dr." by their name wrote most of the books but most were not medical doctors. In fact, the majority of American dietitians and doctors remain wary of low-carb diets. Most favor diets, which espouse a reduction of calories and an increase in exercise. ' "Most Americans don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, and now you have diets like Atkins that say don't eat sweet potatoes, don't eat carrots, don't eat corn," says Franca Alphin, administrative director of the Duke University Diet and Fitness Center.' 11 Due to the popularity of this diet, food producers eager to fulfill consumer demands, changed food that is normally high in carbohydrates to become low in carbohydrates.
The year 2003 saw a push for food producers and sellers to change their product to low carbohydrate. According to The Nutrition Business Journal, sales for low-carb products were estimated at $1.3 billion in 2003. Fast food restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King market-tested bun-less hamburgers. Subway restaurants contracted with the Atkins Nutritionals Inc. to use the Atkins name on Subway products. 12 This diet fad led to the redesign of traditional foods like bread and pasta. Decreasing carbohydrates in those foods reconstitutes the foods. When standard ingredients are altered and artificial ones are added, it is no longer the standard food consumers' trust. It is now imitation but as Michael Pollan asks, "Who would buy imitation spaghetti?" 13
Additives
As consumers the question for us remains: what should we do when we are confused about what is in our food? Consumers should question everything and become educated on food packaging. Michael Pollan recommends: "Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." 14 He explains this by referencing an imaginary shopping trip with your great-grandma who is baffled by the sight of "Go-Gurt Portable Yogurt tubes" The question of what is this? Is it a food or toothpaste? arises as grandma doesn't know what it is or how to eat it.. Yogurt (in her day) would have consisted of "milk inoculated with a bacterial culture" 15 and not Go-Gurt ingredients like "high-fructose corn syrup, modified corn starch, kosher gelatin, carrageenan, tri-calcium phosphate" and the ingredient list goes on. It can be argued whether those ingredients are harmful or not, but Pollan's point is that foods are becoming so highly processed that they are no longer what they purport to be.
Bread is another example of a food that has gone from food to food product. Grandma's bread would have been made from flour, yeast, water, and a pinch of salt. Pollan references the ingredient list for "Sara Lee: Soft & Smooth Whole Grain White Bread" as having around 40 ingredients. 16 This is mainly to preserve the bread for longer shelf life. But Pollan also explains that with the recent consumer demand for whole grains, food scientists know that true whole-grain bread is less sweet than white bread, so to overcome this problem they have added high-fructose corn syrup and honey. They have also "deployed 'dough conditioners' including guar gum and azodicarbonamide, to simulate the texture of supermarket white bread." 17 Reading ingredient labels becomes essential if you choose to eat whole food.
Milk has been altered to meet consumer demands for low fat products. Pollan asserts that in lowering the fat, producers must use additives like powdered milk in order to preserve the creamy texture consumers desire. The interesting thing is that powdered milk contains oxidized cholesterol, which is apparently worse for arteries than cholesterol, so antioxidants are added to compensate for that. Additionally, vitamins are fat-soluble, so with the fat removed, the vitamins are removed, thus defeating a main reason to drink milk. 18
Preservatives are often added to food in order to keep it fresh for a longer period of time. Preservatives are not necessarily bad to consume. However, additional research indicates that commonly used preservatives including sodium nitrite, sulfites and BHT can lead to health issues or can remove valuable nutrients from food.
According to "Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Disease," nitrite preservatives can react with amino acids in your body, potentially forming cancer-causing nitrosamines. Additionally some preservatives can lead to allergic reactions. Specifically, paraben preservatives can raise the risk of breast cancer and cause reproductive dysfunction. Additionally, boys exposed to excessive amounts of parabens prior to puberty may increase the likelihood of developing testicular cancer, prostate disorders and sperm abnormalities. 19
Authors of the book "Process-Induced Food Toxicants: Occurrence, Formation, Mitigation, and Health Risks," argue that the preservative BHT may cause harm to genetic material and cells. 20 When sulfites are added to foods with vitamin B1 the preservative can destroy the vitamin. As a result, the Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of sulfites on fresh fruits and vegetables.
Sugar
Sugar is the source of calories in most soft drinks and in an array of foods. Sugar makes food taste better. It has no nutritional value other than to provide calories. Americans consume about thirty pounds more sugar than they did twenty years ago. Today they average 152 pounds of sugar per year. 21 Sugar is a natural ingredient in fruits and lactose in milk. When it is a natural ingredient in fruit, it is called fructose. The consumption of added sugar is double what the USDA says it should be. The National Academy of Sciences notes that when people consume a lot of sugar. it is at the expense of taking in other essential nutrients. 22
All food is classified into three types of macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. These macronutrients each have different functions for the body. Carbohydrates only function is to provide the body with energy. But because protein and fat both provide energy, carbohydrates are not essential for survival. Sugar is a form of carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are classified as simple or complex. Sugars are simple carbohydrates but with the exception of honey, carbohydrates found in nature are either complex or simple and complex together. When natural foods are processed, complex carbohydrates are frequently removed. When an apple is juiced and its fiber removed, the juice only contains simple carbohydrates. It is simple carbohydrates that are rapidly absorbed into the blood stream and can cause blood sugar to spike, which over time may result in obesity, heart disease, cancer or diabetes. 23 The simplest form of sugar is monosaccharides. All complex carbohydrates are formed from it. The three types of monosaccharides are glucose (blood sugar), galactose (milk sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar). With health concerns about the over-consumption of sugar rising, the door was opened for food manufactures to promote sugar free products.
Sugar Free
When sugar is removed from food, artificial sweeteners replace it. Artificial sweeteners are man-made chemical compounds. They are not found in nature and do not contain nutrients like vitamins or minerals. They are very low in carbohydrates and calories. 24 Artificial sweeteners provide that sweet taste people love but without the calories. Discovered by accident at John Hopkins University in 1884, saccharin became the first mass marketed artificial sweetener. It is approximately 300 times sweeter than sugar. 25 Saccharin is derived from toluene, which is a clear, colorless liquid produced in the process of making gasoline from crude oil and in making carbon residue from coal. 26
In 1903 the Monsanto Company began producing saccharin for a little known company called Coca-Cola. Additionally, saccharin soon became an ingredient in diabetic products because it does not raise blood sugar. 27 However, in 1912 saccharin was banned due to public concerns over potential health risks. Because of World War I, sugar was rationed and the demand for artificial sweeteners increased. Basically "health concerns were brushed aside in the face of economic ones." 28 Saccharin created the foundation for sugar-free products. It is still used in tabletop sweeteners, toothpaste, soda, baked goods, jams, chewing gum, canned fruit, candy, salad dressings and mouthwash. It is available in both powder and liquid forms. The Food and Drug Administration before the year 2000, required warning labels placed on products containing saccharin due to its possible health risks. However, in 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency removed saccharin from its list of hazardous materials.
However, the sweet taste of saccharin may stimulate insulin production from your pancreas. Insulin's main purpose is to transport sugar in the blood stream to various body tissues that can use it for energy. Without any sugar entering the blood stream after ingesting an artificial sweetener like saccharin, insulin has nothing to bind on to. This may decrease insulin "sensitivity", which may increase your risk for developing diabetes. 29
In the late 50's Sweet N' Low became the first sugar-like substance to be marketed in powder form. At first it was a combination of the artificial sweeteners cyclamate and saccharin. However, the FDA banned cyclamate in 1969 when research studies indicated that it caused cancer in laboratory rats. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) is frequently criticized over its policies due to how the food industry influences them. Although, in 1985, the Cancer Assessment Committee of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition concluded that cyclamate was not a carcinogen, the FDA has yet to approve it.
Saccharin has continued to vacillate between FDA approval and disapproval. In the late 70's saccharin carried a warning label "Use of this product may be hazardous to your health. This product contains saccharin, which has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals." 30 However tests in the early 90's showed that it did not conclusively lead to cancer. In 2000 President Clinton signed a law that removed cancer warnings on saccharin products. 31 Sweet N' Low is now a mixture of saccharin and dextrose. With saccharin falling in and out of favor with the FDA and cyclamate banned, it left the door open for a new artificial sweetener to explode on the Diet Soda world specifically. The new sweetener is aspartame.
Aspartame
Discovered in 1965, aspartame was the third artificial sweetener to dominate the food industry. It followed saccharin and the now banned cyclamate. The brand names for it are NutraSweet and Equal. It is an ingredient in most diet sodas as well as in chewing gum. It is found in over 6,000 products and consumed by over 250 million people worldwide. 32 Aspartame, like the other sweeteners before it, has met with skepticism on its healthfulness. Early safety studies conducted in 1967 indicated potential neurotoxic side effects. The studies showed that when monkeys and mice ingested it some monkeys had grand mal seizures and some mice had brain damage. 33
G.D. Searle, the manufacturer, invested tens of millions of dollars in research. With all the negative publicity around saccharin and cyclamate, the market was open for another artificial sweetener product to take their place. In 1973 the FDA ruled that there was not enough information to determine aspartame's safety. Searle submitted the necessary information and in July of 1974 preliminary approval was granted. Immediately the validity of Searle's data was questioned. The FDA was petitioned to investigate Searle's inaccurate testing procedures. It was the first time the FDA requested a criminal investigation of a food manufacturer. 34 In 1977 Samuel Skinner, the US attorney leading the investigation against Searle, took a job with Searle. With Skinner's resignation the grand jury investigation stalled long enough that the statute of limitations ran out and the investigation ended. In 1977 the FDA released the Bressler Report which sited errors in Searle's findings. It specifically mentioned that autopsies on tested animals were not done until one year after the animal's death. With so many errors, the safety of aspartame could not be determined. Eventually, Donald Rumsfeld became CEO of Searle and his political ally, President Ronald Reagan, issued an executive order limiting the power of the current FDA commissioner. Within one month of his presidency, Reagan replaced the commissioner with Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, who had no background in food additives and who went against his own internal FDA team and got aspartame approved by the FDA. Not long after accomplishing this, Hayes took a job with G. D. Searle. 35
Despite unresolved safety issues and questions over aspartame's heat instability in liquid form, the National Soft Drink Association approved it for use in carbonated drinks in July of 1983. Within the first year the FDA fielded around 600 consumer complaints about side effects. There were reports of headaches, dizziness, aggressive behavior, disorientation, hyperactivity, liver impairment, cardiac arrest, seizures, and suicidal tendencies. 36 The Center for Disease Control (CDC) investigated and determined that there were no "serious, widespread, adverse health consequences to the use of aspartame." 37 However, out of 166 articles published in medical journals from 1980 to 1985, one hundred percent of 74 studies financed by the industry attested to the sweetener's safety. But out of 92 independently funded articles, 91 identified adverse health effects. 38 This suggests that the source of funds for aspartame studies strongly influences the studies' findings.
High Fructose Corn Syrup
High Fructose Corn Syrup or (HFC) can be dangerous when ingested in high amounts. It is an unnatural form of sugar that is derived from corn and not sugar cane. It is mostly added to soft drinks, ice cream, yogurts, and many more popular food items. The danger is that HFC can be addictive. When people start to crave it, all that extra sugar can lead to extra calories and pounds. The unknowing person is at a higher risk for obesity if he or she ingests it. HFC is void of any vitamins or minerals. 39 Like aspartame, high fructose corn syrup can be found in soft drinks. Once students are aware of these words and the disputed health effects the words represent, they can become more informed consumers. They can decide if imitation sugar is okay for their bodies. Soft drinks are ubiquitous amongst middle school students and they need to be informed about soft drink choices.
Soft Drinks
The National Soft Drink Association has stated "the soft drink industry has a long commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle for individuals-especially children." 40 The association denies any link between soft drink consumption and poor diet quality even though a twelve-ounce Coke or Pepsi has at least nine teaspoons of sugar. A twenty ounce bottle has 15 teaspoons of sugar. The sugar and calories in soft drinks must affect a child's body. Additionally, caffeine has proven to have addictive qualities. Children who drink a lot of soda may eventually become addicted to it. The reality is that as soft drink consumption rises, milk consumption falls. In fact children today as compared to twenty years ago drink twice as much soda as milk. 41 Soda is highly caloric because sugar is highly caloric. In fact in 2002 scientific report indicated, "more than half of the average child's calorie intake now comes from sodas, juices, and high-calorie drinks." 42 A further study showed that when subjects consumed liquid sugar calories as opposed to solid sugar calories, the liquid calorie group and not the solid calorie group consumed those additional calories. This data was compared to pre-study calorie data on the same subjects. The results indicate that people who consume more liquid calories do not compensate for them by eating less solid calories. 43
In addition to soft drinks deteriorating health by increasing calories, the American Dental Association has come out with a warning on soft drinks citing a study that links tooth enamel erosion with soft drink consumption 44.
When discussing children and the unhealthful effects of soft drinks, it is prudent to mention energy drinks as well. Some energy drinks can have more sugar than sodas and should be consumed with caution. However, sports drinks can fall in this category as well. Drinks like Gatorade, Powerade, and All Sport have about the same amount of calories and sugar as Coke. All of those drinks contain High-fructose corn syrup and either sucrose or glucose. 45 Sugar drinks should be consumed in moderation and with the knowledge that liquid calories are the same as food calories and will impact your bodies' health.
The words used to gain consumer attention and loyalty to food products is varied. Consumers read packaging and analyze labels in different ways. Consumers need information in order to make rational choices about their food. Food labels are one way consumers gain knowledge about their food. Margareta Wandel is a researcher at The National Institute for Consumer Research in Oslo, Norway. She conducted research on consumers and food labels. She wanted to know if they got enough information from the market to buy healthy foods? Does the information on labels reflect consumer food interests? In what areas do consumers need more information? She wrote about her findings in an article titled, "Food labeling from a consumer perspective." 46
Wandel asserts that food label information must appeal to the consumer and it should be written in a way that they can understand it. When asked which area consumers need better or more information on a food label, the respondents indicated "additives, the food cultivation process (use of agrochemicals) and environmental contaminants." Wandel sites studies done by the Food Marketing Institute that indicate large demographic and socio-economic differences with regard to the use of food labels. Those who read food labels the most tend to be women, highly educated and people on special diets. Also, interest in food labels increases with age up to the mid-fifties and then declines. Food labels provide a lot of information about ingredients, additives and nutrients. Consumers want this information but data shows that a large proportion of consumers do not have enough knowledge to take advantage of the information. Data showed a need to simplify information on food labels. 47 However the dilemma is how to design a food label with enough information to meet consumer demand and yet keep it simple enough as not to deter consumers. Wandel concluded in her own study that when consumers pay attention to food labels the most uncertainty came over additives. She found that the public wanted more information about additives and that consumers are more satisfied when additives are restricted. She mentions that consumer dissatisfaction came from their critique of industrialized food. Wandel's findings coincide with Pollan's assertions on preservatives. Wandel pointed out that consumers in her study felt that "additives may make bread, pastries and cookies so long lasting that the chance of getting old products in the store, is increasing." 75% of the consumers wanted to know more about additives. However, she found that only 30% thought that avoiding additives was important for a healthy diet. This indicates that consumer concern over additives was only partly due to health concerns.
What follows is a series of lessons designed to get students aware of the words on food packaging and for them to develop awareness of their role as a consumer. In that role they need to know what some of the terms they see actually mean. Students come to school with smells and signage about food swamping them. They need to have awareness of what is in or not in their food. They need to read the words on labels and decide if they want to ingest something or more simply how much of it they want to ingest. If they find that they don't want to drink sodas with unnatural flavorings, then they need to know what to look for on labels to find artificial sweetener free drinks.
Comments: