[InItForLife]

Originally Posted by sarahyu

I was at TJ's the other day, in the nuts and found a variety that was grossly mislabled, it said the serving size was 1 cup (30g) and had 140 calories per serving. Since I know my nuts and know that 30 g is roughly 1/4 cup I new that it was a typo, but if someone didn't know and bought this product with the idea they were getting a great calorie deal would be greatly mislead. And would probably gain weight drastically if they tried to eat 1 cup of nuts as a serving.

Sarah

So that's what I'm saying, are we just supposed to sit there and smile and say "oh well"? Food manufacturers are only concerned with one thing: Making money. And if some of the lower ones choose to do it by tricking innocent people who are trying to eat healthy by faking their nutritionals, what good ARE food labels?
I'm so disappoined in TJs -- I certainly hope they monitor the web for chatter about their store. They look so innocent, so trusting, their cute little flyers...all BS. They're all the same.

[jillybean720]

But do you really think they're all malicious? I mean, don't you think they're usually just typos in the serving sizes? I really don't think a company executive sits and thinks, "hey, I know how we can con the health-conscious people into buying our food--we'll just mislabel the nutritional info!" If they really wanted a big market, they would keep the UNHEALTHY info because there are more people out there who DON'T pay attention than those that that do (i.e., more people buy the greasy regular potato chips than the baked or reduced-fat ones ). While the health-conscious comprise a large market, the people who don't pay any attention to nutrition labels comprise a bigger one. And anyone who does pay attention to nutrition should know that 1 cup is SO not 140 calories worth of nuts.

Unfortunately, typos happen. I don't think "Nutrition Label Editor" is the most important position in a major food manufacturer's employ. I'm sure there are some jerk companies out there (always a few bad apples in any industry, right?), but I don't think it's fair to assume that every labeling mishap is purposeful. I would think the best thing you can do is inform the company when you've found a discrepancy. Or, who makes the labeling standards? The FDA? I wonder if you could report it to them--maybe hearing about the mistake from them would make the company more cognizant of their labeling methods in the future.

[InItForLife]

I'm trying not to sound too paranoid here -- but I did actually send a letter to TJs about those Banana Chips and got a letter back confirming the validity of the label.

As far as typos -- have you EVER seen a typo on a label anywhere else on the container, like a word mispelled or something? I never have. Don't you think somebody should be proofing that information before a zillion labels are printed?

Maybe these companies don't try to dupe us, maybe they do...how about the Vioxx and Celebrex Warning Label Editors? I'm telling you, corporate America hides/spins as much as it can get away with.

Sadly, "Buyer Beware" hasn't changed.

[QuilterInVA]

Why do you want someone else to be responsible for what you ingest? In the end, it is up to us to know what we are eating. I opt for the whole foods route as much as I can.