Functional illiteracy and food labels Food labels look so simple! They give you all of the information that you need to have in order to follow a healthy diet — how much of a given food constitutes a single serving and how much of each nutrient it contains. Nothing could be easier to understand, right? In itself, yes. Unfortunately, though, the rate of functional...

As we begin to enter a more health conscious era, an increasing number of individuals are yearning to know how many calories they consume at their favorite restaurant. Knowing exactly how many calories you’re consuming can help your weight loss efforts by helping you stay under your daily calorie quota. But does adding calorie advice on menus really help you lose...

During 2009 the Food and Drug administration (FDA) sent a warning letter to General Mills Company. In the correspondence was a warning implying the breakfast cereal Cheerios is misbranded due to incorrect health claims? The claim was made because the breakfast cereal sounds like a drug more than a cereal food. The problem focuses on the claims it is used to mitigate, prevent...

The discussion has continued for years over the benefits of “organic” vegetables, fruits, meat and poultry over the non-organic foods found in most super markets. Many markets have a special section set aside for organic fruits and vegetables that are often more expensive than the other varieties. Meat and poultry can also be labeled “organic” or...

New nutrition facts are being published on your food products.  These updated nutrition labels include additional information that is needed for food consumers today.  The older labels tended to include only information about the product itself.  The newer labels add information, that can be used by first time shoppers for an item, and by those consumers who wish to...

Energy Drink Continues Illegal Drug Name to Sell to Youth “Cocaine” is an energy drink.  It is not a drug, nor is it a supplement that in any way or manner benefits your health.  The energy drink produced by Las Vegas-based Redux Beverages was first distributed world wide and then banned by the FDA in 2007 due to fraudulent advertising on the cans which mislead customers...

~In the United States, nearly three million people have celiac disease.  When these individuals consume foods that have gluten, the lining in their small intestines are attacked and damaged.  People who have celiac disease cannot absorb nutrients, so they have a higher risk of developing major health problems. The FDA has issued a rule for labeling gluten-free foods. ...

The Problem In March of 2010, the FDA warned a group of food makers that the labels on their products are misleading and must be changed in 15 days or face them being pulled from store shelves. This is a new, tougher policy promulgated by Margaret Hamburg of the FDA in an open letter to the food industry in general. Ms. Hamburg stated that these products continue to violate...

If you have a family member or know someone with a food allergy, you know that food labeling is one of the best ways to avoid many of the triggers that can cause a life threatening situation. Now many products label processed foods accurately and contain warnings on cross contamination; however in the past foods were not labeled that accurately. Even now, some people believe...

It’s common knowledge that many of the big food manufacturers sneak all types of ingredients into their packaged food. However, many consumers don’t know that they are also doing this to, what we thought, were natural foods and the  U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is on a mission to change that. Based on a recent article published on WebMD, the FDA says that...

The concept of having an industry regulatory agency come up with a new food labeling system, referred to as “Smart Choice”, was slated to begin in 2008 but encountered enough resistance from within the food industry and from the outside that the project has been scuttled. The Smart Choice labeling was supposed to provide consumers with a new label that provided...

As consumers have become more and more health conscious and concerned over what is in their food the labeling for the food has changed. No longer just the realm of processed and packaged foods, food labels are now found on items such as produce, dairy and now, meat. New meat labeling rules in action now provide you with more information on the meats, how it was raised...

With a consumer push for transparency and honesty in food labeling, the FDA has listened to the public sentiments and has said that food production companies need to curtail use of labels that proclaim the product to be a “good” or “excellent” source of whole grains. With the current push from consumers to eat more healthy there has been a swing...

Has XANGO made spurious claims about the purple mangosteen? In 2006 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the makers of XANGO (pronounced Zayne – Go) Juice a written warning about the health claims they were apparently making about the juice. In their letter, the FDA said that they had “serious concerns” about the validity of the claims they had...

The Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA is currently looking to recreate their system of labeling for the front of packaged food boxes. The information that is set to be included on these labels will include caloric information, saturated fat facts, trans fat facts and also the overall sodium content that is included. All of these numbers will reflect one serving...

Introduction More Americans than ever are concerned about their health and are thus relying more and more on what the health labels on food packages tell them. Unfortunately, too many food manufacturers, realizing that they can make easy money in this way, take advantage of loopholes in labeling laws to make claims that are vague, unsubstantiated by evidence or even downright...