Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your Amarillo personal trainer. Today we’re going to be talking about reading food labels, mainly talking about serving sizes. This is going to be the first part in a two part series, so be on the lookout for part two coming soon. We also have another blog out about reading food labels. If you haven’t read that, that would be a great thing to check out. And if you have any questions about today’s blog, then please give us a call at (806)-322-3188
So most people come in, and they say, “Well I’ve been reading food labels.” That could mean several different things. So a lot of times, we just read them because we have been told that we should. A lot of times we know what we’re looking for. A lot of times, we’re looking for really odd things.
So just wanted to clear up a couple things today. But you may have started to figure out if you are reading food labels just how deceptive they can be. Some of that, well really all of that is on purpose. So the nutrition facts as far as the actual calories involved, the protein counts, the sugar counts, all that stuff, that’s all regulated by the government. It has to be a certain font size, certain point, it has to have certain things in there, it has to look an exact way.
On the front of the package, the side of the package, the bottom, the top, the government does not regulate that. It can say and look like anything that they want it to. So if they feel like they’ve made an organic product, they can say that on the package. Now, if it doesn’t have the USDA seal that says “USDA Organic,” then it’s not certified organic. But they can certainly still say it on there.
They can also say things like, “Sugar free, fat free, low fat,” whatever they wanna say on the package. The only thing that’s regulated is that nutrition facts part with the numbers on it. So the rest of it, they can pretty much do and say whatever they want to.
So kinda deceptive again. I’ve seen cases of sugar free honey, meaning that they didn’t put any extra sugar in it. But if you know anything about honey, then you know that honey is sugar. It’s pure sugar. So to say sugar free honey is kinda funny to me. I’ve seen gluten free fish, gluten free ham, things like that, where I know that there could be a possibility of them putting a flour product on there. But for the most part, they’re banking on the fact that you have a very minimal knowledge of what it is that these words actually mean.
Gluten free is such a hype now, that obviously there are some people who definitely are using that because of a medical issue. But there’s so many more that have jumped on that bandwagon just because gluten free typically takes out some of the things that they really enjoy eating. So they consume less, and they start to see weight loss and those kinds of things. Other people get on health kicks and don’t fully understand what these things were created for, why they’re being promoted now, and why so many people are on them.
And then so they just kinda jump in to be a part of that. So gluten free, if it doesn’t have a wheat product in it, then it probably didn’t have gluten to begin with. But they’re banking on the fact that you’ll probably buy that product because it says gluten free. So it’s a marketing tactic at that point to be able to make more sales because it says something.
Kinda like the juice. So I’ve brought this up before, that your regular fruit juices are not, obviously all that healthy for you. Most of them are heat processed, and go through lots of different steps in the processing to where they lose most of their nutrition, and pretty much all you’re left with is a bottle of sugar. Marketing wise, in order to sell more bottles, they actually refrigerate it even though it’s unnecessary because the heat processing that it goes under typical bottled juice does not have to be refrigerated. So it can sit on the shelf. But they see a 68% higher sale rate whenever it’s in the refrigerated section. So they’ll move it to the refrigerated just so that you’ll be more likely to buy it, so there’s a lot that goes into marketing.
So i’m going to end part one here. In part two we’re going to be talking more about navigating the world of food labels. I hope that you all got a lot of great information out of the first part, so if you are waiting for the next part, then I’ll remind you that we do have another great blog post about food labels on our site.
If can’t wait for part two, or you want to know more about Custom Fitness and what we do here, then please give us a call. If you’re wanting the accountability and help with creating an action plan to see results, or are wanting to someone to help create a workout plan to push you to your greatest potential, then that’s what we’re here for. Our trainers are here to look out for you and make sure that you are meeting your goals in a safe way.
At Custom Fitness, we customize a plan for you. We sit down with you and find out what your needs are and then build a health and fitness plan around that. We have an entire team of dedicated professionals to help you with your health and fitness goals. To get your consultation set up, give us a call at 806-322-3188 or email us at info@customfitness.biz At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day.