Comments on: “Smart Choices” Food Labeling – A Step in the Right Direction http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2008/10/28/smart-choices-food-labeling-a-step-in-the-right-direction/ eat a bit better™ Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:59:27 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: ayesha khad http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2008/10/28/smart-choices-food-labeling-a-step-in-the-right-direction/comment-page-1/#comment-53 ayesha khad Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:13:19 +0000 http://www.fooducate.com/blog/?p=474#comment-53 obama 08 obama 08

]]> By: Rick Tannenbaum http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2008/10/28/smart-choices-food-labeling-a-step-in-the-right-direction/comment-page-1/#comment-51 Rick Tannenbaum Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:55:44 +0000 http://www.fooducate.com/blog/?p=474#comment-51 This is a bad policy. Industry wants to self-promote with yet-another-icon (there are already 25 different icons promoting food quality). It is an effort by industry to preempt the FDA from setting actual comparative guidelines so that one food can be prepared to another. Also, industry funding creates an inherent conflict of interest for the administration of the program. If the program standards were too high or burdensome, then food companies would drop out. Labeling should apply to all foods in a company's portfolio; not just those it wants to puff up. This is good PR, but it is bad policy. Read my blogposts at: http://www.foodrecalls.blogspot.com This is a bad policy. Industry wants to self-promote with yet-another-icon (there are already 25 different icons promoting food quality). It is an effort by industry to preempt the FDA from setting actual comparative guidelines so that one food can be prepared to another.

Also, industry funding creates an inherent conflict of interest for the administration of the program. If the program standards were too high or burdensome, then food companies would drop out.

Labeling should apply to all foods in a company’s portfolio; not just those it wants to puff up.

This is good PR, but it is bad policy.

Read my blogposts at: http://www.foodrecalls.blogspot.com

]]> By: Jamie Zekofsky http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2008/10/28/smart-choices-food-labeling-a-step-in-the-right-direction/comment-page-1/#comment-50 Jamie Zekofsky Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:16:23 +0000 http://www.fooducate.com/blog/?p=474#comment-50 I would like to thank you for taking time to write on this subject matter as well as your blog. I find this subject matter very educational and highly interesting. It makes me feel great to know that there are people that take the advancement of nutrition seriously. One great element to your posts is the brief history behind past regulations. Many other posts did not have this information which can make it difficult to see how new regulations are a step in the right direction. I agree with your comment, “Consumers embraced the nutrition information that became available, and began making more educated purchase decisions. However, many became confused with the information overflow. Cryptic ingredient names and Daily Value calculations presented new challenges to shoppers. If the FDA hoped through nutrition labels to encourage a healthier consumer, quite the opposite transpired in the past two decades, as obesity rates and diet related illnesses have shot up.” It is true that at that time the regulation was a good idea but I believe there were factors missing. The consumers were not educated in just that, the daily intake. I believe this same situation is about to present itself again regarding the Smart Choices Program. The comment, “So recently, manufacturers stepped up individually to the challenge, and began offering their consumers healthy choices within their product families. Several manufacturers launched marketing campaigns promoting their “better for you” brands,” makes an interesting observation. Do you feel that due to the fact it is not a project regulated by the FDA that it is in fact a well thought out marketing campaign? I agree with your comment on how people might be ignoring other elements to what is considered healthy. It is possible people are being educated on portion control, which insinuates fat and calorie content but are forgetting the other elements to what is being considered healthy? Will these questions become an argument against the intentions of the Smart Choices program? I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post as it brought these specific questions to mind, specifically aimed towards the real intentions behind this program. It would be great to see a following post, possibly regarding this matter. I would like to thank you for taking time to write on this subject matter as well as your blog. I find this subject matter very educational and highly interesting. It makes me feel great to know that there are people that take the advancement of nutrition seriously. One great element to your posts is the brief history behind past regulations. Many other posts did not have this information which can make it difficult to see how new regulations are a step in the right direction. I agree with your comment, “Consumers embraced the nutrition information that became available, and began making more educated purchase decisions. However, many became confused with the information overflow. Cryptic ingredient names and Daily Value calculations presented new challenges to shoppers. If the FDA hoped through nutrition labels to encourage a healthier consumer, quite the opposite transpired in the past two decades, as obesity rates and diet related illnesses have shot up.” It is true that at that time the regulation was a good idea but I believe there were factors missing. The consumers were not educated in just that, the daily intake. I believe this same situation is about to present itself again regarding the Smart Choices Program. The comment, “So recently, manufacturers stepped up individually to the challenge, and began offering their consumers healthy choices within their product families. Several manufacturers launched marketing campaigns promoting their “better for you” brands,” makes an interesting observation.

Do you feel that due to the fact it is not a project regulated by the FDA that it is in fact a well thought out marketing campaign? I agree with your comment on how people might be ignoring other elements to what is considered healthy. It is possible people are being educated on portion control, which insinuates fat and calorie content but are forgetting the other elements to what is being considered healthy? Will these questions become an argument against the intentions of the Smart Choices program?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post as it brought these specific questions to mind, specifically aimed towards the real intentions behind this program. It would be great to see a following post, possibly regarding this matter.

]]> By: Concerned http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2008/10/28/smart-choices-food-labeling-a-step-in-the-right-direction/comment-page-1/#comment-43 Concerned Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:54:09 +0000 http://www.fooducate.com/blog/?p=474#comment-43 I think this label is a bad move. It further confuses consumers, and worse, gives them the "green light" to eat as much as they want of any food as long as it's a "smart choice." Neither fat nor sugar is bad for you. Fat contains essential nutrients and sugar provides energy. Consuming a high fat food is not a bad choice, as long as you balance that food out over the day with other lower fat foods. We need to be teaching consumers restraint. Not good/bad. Portion size is our problem. This label is just one more food marketing tool, and a bad move for food education. I think this label is a bad move. It further confuses consumers, and worse, gives them the “green light” to eat as much as they want of any food as long as it’s a “smart choice.”

Neither fat nor sugar is bad for you. Fat contains essential nutrients and sugar provides energy. Consuming a high fat food is not a bad choice, as long as you balance that food out over the day with other lower fat foods.

We need to be teaching consumers restraint. Not good/bad. Portion size is our problem. This label is just one more food marketing tool, and a bad move for food education.

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