[Meg]

We try to make good choices in the grocery store. But food manufacturers continue to trick us! From the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) -- Food Frauds.

Made with whole grains! Real Fruit! Strengthen your body’s defenses! Food marketers are seemingly stopping at nothing to convince consumers that fairly ordinary products like waffles, green tea, and jam hold the secret to better health. But according to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), these claims are often misleading, and are popping up all over the grocery store, from the chip aisle to the dairy case. Not even the baby food aisle is safe from fraudulent health claims, says the group.

“These days, companies will say just about anything to give their product a ‘health halo,’” said Bonnie Liebman, CSPI’s nutrition director. “Consumers need to know how to read the labels to get the whole story—and even then it’s not always clear.”

[nelie]

I enjoy the sugary cereals that have "made with whole grains" on them. Yeah a little whole wheat isn't going to counterbalance all that other crap they put in them.

[cbmare]

I bought baby food with my first daughter. When the second one came, I did buy the rice cereal but I bought a baby food grinder. I knew what she was eating. When she was allowed to have solid food, I'd take what we were eating and remove part of it before any seasonings went in. I'd grind it for her and she'd eat it up. We were living in Hawaii when she was born. When her dr. said she could have papaya, I'd get them from the tree in the backyard and grind them up for her. She got fresh bananas from the trees as well.

When we moved back to Calif., my MIL bought some baby food for her. She wouldn't eat it. My MIL took her to the church one day. All the older Japanese women would make mochie. Just about all the women would take a grandkid or 2 with them. She took that baby food grinder with her along with some food she'd prepared for her lunch. She ground that food and my DD gobbled it up. The next week, just about every one of those dear sweet ladies had a baby food grinder for their little grandkids. LOL.

Thanks for posting this. It is a reminder that we all need.

[Glory87]

Wow, Smucker's Simply Fruit was my jelly of choice for YEARS because I thought it would be healthier than other jellies.

[wisher]

The one "Food Fraud" that I have to be careful of is whole wheat bread. 70% of the breads out there that say whole wheat on the front of the bag are only a small percentage of whole wheat and the rest is regular old refined/processed flour. Make sure it either says 100% whole wheat or just read the ingredients label and make sure there are no other filler flours in there!

(and the same goes for Whole Wheat wraps too!)

[meowee]

Just one more example of the need to actually read the label information.

There are no outright lies (that I saw) in that list. After all, saying something is "made with whole grain goodness" is not the same as telling you that it is made "entirely of 100% whole grain". They just hope you will take it at face value and not bother to either read the nutritional panel; the ingredient list; or even to think seriously about what they have actually said.

Once again . . . buyer beware . . . You are NOT getting any help from the manufacturer.

[Skinny4baby]

Love it!....Make sure to click lower right hand corner for the 10 WORST foods and the 10 BEST foods. Ruby Tuesday's Angioplasta!!!

[gailr42]

Thanks to all my diet research and 3fc, I am happy to say that I eat every one of the "good" things on the right hand side, on a regular basis. We do occasionally go to Burger King, but I always get something pretty modest, even when I am not dieting. I don't use any of the "Food Frauds", either.

I agree that it is hard to tell about bread. I made some whole wheat bread, but it was pretty bad. I could never eat it on a regular basis. I guess I am too used to those old "dough conditioners", or whatever it is that makes bread soft.