The food industry is in perfect tune with understanding the chemistry and social aspect of eating and uses it to maximize profits, while destroying the health of a nation. Just about every disease and health condition can be traced to obesity, chemicals additives and digestive overload. A natural death in America will soon be as rare as a lottery winner.
Even those individuals who attempt to rise above this deception are thwarted and deceived at every level. A prime example is the FDA requirement of full disclosure of all ingredients and nutritional value, including caloric content. On the surface, it provides a sense of security to the public that the FDA is there to protect you and has your health and wellness as its primary concern. At the same time, they allow the industry to manipulate that information in the same manner as a corner "pea under the shell" scam.
The food industry is allowed to alter the format of this information and does so in such a manner that the shopper can never expect it to be consistent and easy to find. A classic example is where the information is tucked under a flap, as often is on energy bars. The consumer than has to pull back a flap to find the content during shopping, which is a rushed chore to start with. Then the industry is allowed to list the information in a font size so small, the 40-60 year old consumer cannot read it without reading glasses or brighter lighting. This has been shown through studies. Most women shoppers will not don reading glasses in public, if they are even available at all during shopping. Supermarket design also reduces wattage of lighting to the degree that only the information the manufacturer wants you to see can be at casual glance. It is a fine tuned process designed to frustrate any consumers who dare attempt to take command of nutrition and health.
The next step is the obvious deception in serving size and calories per serving size. What should be the most important information for a consumer in determining how much to consume without over-eating is distorted the most. A good example is a breakfast cereal where the manufacturer wants you to pay more for a brand that has reduced sugar and the perception of fewer calories, thereby supporting the higher price. The normal brand may have 150 calories per serving and the serving size is one cup. A quick view of the diet product will show it has only 110 calories per serving. Most consumers stop there without realizing the serving size has been changed to ¾ of a cup. If adjusted for equivalent serving size, the content would be near equal.
Although American abandoned the attempt to convert to the metric system decades ago, nutritional information is still allowed to be presented in metric. If the product was imported from a European country where metric was the standard, this fact could be overlooked to some degree. But many American manufacturers use metric serving sizes with full knowledge that the majority of consumers have little or no idea how much that serving size really is. A casual survey among friends will illustrate this point and not many will know about 28 grams are in an ounce. The serving size itself has no bearing whatsoever as to how much a consumer could be expected to eat as a serving. Take ice cream, for instance. With a standard serving size of ½ cup, is it possible that anyone in America would ever consume just that amount at a sitting? That serving would be consumer in a mere few spoonfuls, and many would sample that amount alone from the container before actually placing scoops in a dish. In actual consumption, the majority would easily consume three to four servings and not view it as excessive. A 150 calorie per serving desert winds up being 600 calories with little recognition that it even occurred.
As an experiment, pick up cans of any product that you would assume represents a single serving to you, and read the servings per container. You will see that many list the servings per container as two. Without thought, twice the calories are ingested. One almost has to shake their head and wonder if the intent of the product was for distribution to the Munchkin population in Oz. It is a clever game and an uneven playing field for you, the consumer. Packaging, distorted nutritional information, supermarket lighting and display are just a few of the tricks to entice you into making a hasty purchase. The food industry's campaign is based on market study and shopping habits. They assume a female will be the shopper most of the time and the actual shopping is considered a chore and often a rushed chore. The average female is height is a key factor in positioning of products on the shelf with respect to reach and view. Higher priced, brand products are at eye level. Light wattage is carefully factored in to allow only the larger font size to be easily seen with clever use of print color and angling. Did you ever consider that aisle size in any market is a constant? Barely enough for two carts to pass and if you linger too long to study a label, you often hold up someone behind you seeking to pass. This forces you to act quicker when you have the perception you are inconveniencing someone else.
There you have it, just a few of the ingenious and carefully researched techniques used to entice you to spend more and care less about the actual content of the product. This result in the average food budget continuing to rise and the average American getting more and more overweight from over-consumption. A full two-thirds of Americans are now considered overweight or obese and the charade of the marketplace tops the list of contributing factors.
