Reading food packaging labels is becoming increasingly difficult. You practically need a chemistry degree to understand half of it, and the rest confuse and contradict.
For a start there may be several types of sugars in the product but they all have different names. Some of these names may not even sound like sugar. All of them are processed and should be avoided at all costs if you want to remain slender, avoid developing type II diabetes and cardiovascular issues.
Then there are the 'daily percentages' of each product, which if believed would mean that in some cases it is apparently fine for you to consume up to 30% of your daily food intake as sugar.
More concerning though, are the health claims. You know the ones. Reduced fat; fat free; low fat; GM free; no added sugar; all natural ingredients and the latest food fad: gluten free.
Technically you could slap a 'gluten free' sticker on a lot of food including fruit and vegetables, meat and fish and nuts. Much in the same way that you could claim that meat was 'sugar free' or that an apple is 'fat free'.
There are an increasing number of people who have a gluten sensitivity or intolerance, which is thought to be due to the change in the wheat produced which is now shorter, stronger and has more gluten in it. Being shorter makes it easier to harvest and having more gluten makes your bread even more sponge-like.
As someone who has a wheat sensitivity there are some specific products that I have to avoid if I don't want to experience abdominal pain. It can be useful to know that certain products are gluten free so that I can use them as a replacement for the product that I used to use. For example gluten free pasta.
But just because it is gluten free does not mean that it is good for you. Yes, the cereal in the middle of the picture at the top is gluten free because it is based on rice. In fact the cornflake cereal next to it is also wheat gluten free. However that doesn't make any of them nutritious. Porridge oats are far more nutritious and eaten in their natural form. They haven't been gleaned of all their fibre and tampered with by a large food corporation. Or have they?
You can still buy wonderfully natural porridge oats but you can also buy ones that have been turned into sugary breakfasts by the adding of sugar and flavourings. Again, not everything advertised as healthy is nutritious.
Enjoy avoiding being conned by food labelling
Sarah
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