The Smart Choices Grocery Program, the very program that DietsInReview panned last month, has been voluntarily discontinued. Officials with Smart Choices said that the group will “postpone” active operations and not encourage wider use of the logo while the FDA investigates labeling issues, reported MSNBC over the weekend.
The FDA cited the use of multiple nutritional markers on foods, from check marks to stars, icons and even numerical ratings, that can overwhelm the consumer and in reality label foods healthier than they really might be. Foods could contain as much as 50% sugar and still receive the green check mark if they had extra fiber or were high in one of twenty nutrients. In my book, there’s not one food that is 50% sugar that I’d label as “healthy.”
If you count calories, food journal, or are simply concerned with keeping track of what exactly you’re consuming each day, then you must try the Daily Burn Food Scanner app for the iPhone. This hot new app might be the best new thing to happen in dieting and weight loss. Using the camera in your iPhone (any model), you can scan the UPC code on packaged foods, and within seconds have the complete food label in front of you. The best part, it will also log all of those nutrition facts for you.
Watch this video, and then continue reading, to learn more.
More and more products are coming out touting that they are less harmful to the environment or are earthy friendly, but in order to use this type of labeling the product must be manufactured with minimal energy and packaging should be made of recycled materials (think the paper grocery bags at Whole Foods supermarkets). Not all manufacturers follow the full guidelines that entitle this “green” messaging, so by referencing the logos listed below you can ensure that the products and produce you purchase are in fact “green”:
For products to use the USDA labeling it must contain at least 95% organic ingredients that have not had any chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides or genetically modified organisms used.
I was recently invited to attend the launch of the Smart Choices food labeling system. Smart Choices is a front of packaging nutritional food label system developed by an alliance of U.S. food manufacturers and retailers. Products must meet specific guidelines to be included. The program is funded by the participating food companies – basically, a company pays for the label. Smart Choices is “designed to promote public health by helping shoppers make smarter food and beverage choices,” says the program’s press statements.
The basic premise couldn’t be more simple. Qualifying foods are stamped with a green check mark, which is designed to help a shopper make the healthiest choice within a particular category. (All fresh fruits and vegetables are automatically included – but they don’t get a green check mark because they are grown on a farm and not represented by a company.) If you are buying peanut butter, the green check mark container might contain the best choice in terms of health.
You read the ingredient list and looked at the nutrition label, but you’re still uncertain as to how healthy that box of granola is that you just tossed in your grocery cart. Well, wonder no more.
Developed by two doctors, Drs. Adam Drewnowski and Victor Fulgoni, the Nutrient Rich Foods (NRF) Index is a validated, objective, and consumer-driven guide that ranks foods according to how nutrient-rich they are. Using the USDA Healthy Eating Index as a base, this new NRF Index takes into account all of the nutrients a given food contains, not just the ones to avoid or limit, like fat, sodium or sugar grams.
The Smart Choices Grocery Program, the very program that DietsInReview panned last month, has been voluntarily discontinued. Officials with Smart Choices said that the group will “postpone” active operations and not encourage wider use of the logo while the FDA investigates labeling issues, reported MSNBC over the weekend.
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