Posts Tagged ‘food labeling’

A New Roadmap for Marketing Healthy-ish Food

September 29, 2022 — What constitutes “healthy” for a packaged food? FDA, prompted by wrangling seven years ago, is out today with a new definition that everyone can fight about. Who cares? Well, just about everyone has an opinion. But the real passion for this subject comes from people who want to sell you more units of their food, […]

How Sound Are Recommendations to Cut Added Sugar?

April 8, 2022 — We are in the midst of a great reformulation of food products. A little more than a decade ago, Robert Lustig stirred everyone up with his bold claim that sugar is toxic. So added sugar took over the role of dietary bad boy in place of fat. In 2015, U.S. dietary guidelines started recommending a […]

Starting Now: No More GMO Foods in the U.S.

January 3, 2022 — GMO foods have been a source of fiery controversy for a decade. Today, the USDA has pulled off a regulatory miracle. Starting now, there will be no more GMO foods in the U.S. None. Instead, we will call them bioengineered. USDA even has a friendly little logo for food companies to slap on their products. […]

Labels Change Behavior – Is That Good Enough?

October 15, 2021 — Scientia potentia est – this Latin aphorism attributed to Francis Bacon tells us that knowledge is power. This idea motivates us to seek information and turn it into wise actions. But that translation is not automatic. For instance, a new study in PLOS Medicine finds that food labels can indeed change consumer behavior to favor […]

Health Washing in a Broken Food System

August 29, 2021 — Momentum seems to be growing for more explicit labeling of healthy and unhealthy foods. The Nutri-Score system has gained acceptance in Europe, albeit with some opposition along the way. It is a five color nutrition label that gives a product a score ranging from A to E. Originating in France, the European Commission and the […]

Meatless Meat, Milkless Milk, and Sugarless Sugar

July 18, 2021 — What is the meaning of this? Two trends in food are on a collision course. On one hand, faith is strong in the idea that minimally processed and whole natural foods are best. But at the same time, food substitutes are rising like rockets. Sales are soaring for meatless meat. Milkless milk is a 2.2 […]

Is a Healthy Badge Coming to Food Packages?

May 13, 2021 — Why didn’t someone think of this before? FDA is working on a better guidance for healthy food. One of the ideas is simple and sweet. Just let the marketers put a “healthy” badge on food that meets the standard. What standard? FDA is working on it. But when they figure out what it takes to […]

Loading Up on Sugar That’s Not Sugar

May 10, 2021 — Brace yourself for sugar 2.0. Processed food makers are loading up on sugar that’s not sugar. The push to drive added sugar out of the food supply means that allulose – a rare, but natural form of sugar – is suddenly popular with the industry. It helps that food companies can add this sugar to […]

Food Tech: Sugar 2.0 Coming Your Way

October 25, 2020 — After two decades of really bad publicity, sugar is reinventing itself. Just last week, FDA finalized its rules for allulose, a rare but natural form of sugar. It looks and tastes a lot like regular sugar, though it’s about one third less sweet. But the really sweet deal is that the final rule from FDA […]

Subway’s Bread Isn’t Really Bread?

October 2, 2020 — Remember when Jared the Subway guy was riding high on the story that he lost 200 pounds eating only Subway sandwiches? Though he’s long gone, the chain kept on cultivating a healthy image. But now the Irish Supreme Court tells us that the bread in those subs is not even bread. Nope. It’s a confection. […]