Investigating Food Labels – Term Paper

Consumer exploitation is among the majorly discussed issues around the globe. Such exploitation occurs through various ways such as wrong labeling of the products. Ideally, many users face considerable challenges when it comes to making the difference between the good nutritional labels from those that are misleading. Various reports reveal that the manufacturers, in most cases, care about their business with the intent to make more sells and profits. Consequently, they choose to use the products description, despite the concerns that consumers are misled. Regarding such issues, the government and other concerned agencies have been dedicated to ascertaining that the industry is liable for ensuring the accuracy of label values. However, this has not been the case in Canada. This paper will, therefore, offer an expository analysis of the videos, about consumer exploitation and possible required improvements. 

After watching the video about lousy labels standard type, I have realized that consumers should not be deceived by the manufacturers who label their products as natural. If at all the goods are labeled as natural, they should contain or be made up of preservatives. Manufacturers have been reported to pick an ingredient from the natural product and say this is healthy for the consumers and in reality, it is not.

Another product that I found surprisingly shocking was “wonder + white with fiber.” Ideally, the majority of the consumers were likely to perceive it good for their health because of its constituents. In this way, the manufacturers will always employ all the strategies to convince the consumers that they are no longer taking white bread but in reality; something which may not be the case. When consumers go shopping, maybe for bread and crackers, they are prompted to look for those products written “100% whole wheat” or “whole grain.” However, it may not be a guarantee that the product’s components contain that particular food quantity. Sometimes, consumers will even go to an extreme of choosing colors, like in the case of bread. Notably, people resort to purchasing the brown bread thinking that the brown bread is healthier than the white bread. Both fiber and grains have health benefits. Contrary, checking their labels on the products does not mean that they are available. 

In the video, most of the products are labeled sugar-free and yet they contain a lot of sugars which may even not be good for people who have diabetes. Usually, the sugar-free products do not mean that the goods have few calories but may contain more. I also came to realize that manufacturers mislead the consumers by using confusing terms when labeling their product. In the video about lousy labels on natural selection, their product had another name for nitrate. They are aware that most of the consumers are scared of using preservatives. Evidently, some nutritional labels that were not mentioned in the video, and I found them totally misleading and deceiving. For instance, products which are written low calorie. Foods or drinks are written low calorie most of the time they contain sucralose, saccharine and other sweet chemicals. The presence of these compounds renders such products unhealthy for consumption. Nevertheless, the drinks such as soda may contain more damaging ingredients like phosphoric acids that corrode bones and teeth. 

In the video, there are products written, “trans-fat free’, which I believe are likely to cause substantial confusion on the part of the consumers. Ideally, such labeling does not mean that these products are free from trans-fat as the opposite may be true. Usually, the FDA allows people to consume food with 0.5 Trans-fat. According to FDA, 0.5 content is equivalent to zero, and therefore such products are safe for consumption. However, through the basic arithmetic, 0.5 can be converted to one when rounding off. The products which contain 0.5 content of the trans-fat are still not safe for human consumption.  

In conclusion, consumers should be protected against manufacturers who are out to make their products and sell the, without thinking the user’s health. The government should also be keen when allowing products to be sold because some of the products are not good for the people and they may lead to diabetes and cancer.