Food Labels

I recently went on a food label scavenger hunt at Save-On Foods for my foods class! It was very fun and enlightening, helping me to get a better grasp of the advertisement world of food labels. One thing that I noticed was that the calories per serving was very low for most items! This really surprised me because I was surprised that the 2 cups of cereal, I eat everyday was only 80 calories. Then I noticed that, in small printing, 1 serving size is only ½ a cup! It’s really important to not completely trust the labels because though they have to display true facts it won’t stop companies from trying to manipulate the labels however, they can to look good!

Now I’m not a keener for food labels as I basically eat whatever I can get but I was given this awesome interactive website tool to learn more about it in an easy to understand way! Basically, this website sums up all the important things you need to know about food labels and puts in some nice images to help you understand. I learned quite a few tips and things to look for in food labels through it! One of the biggest game changers for me was learning that companies are not allowed to display false information about their products. Me, being a skeptic, never trusted the “0 grams of fat!” labels and immediately thought the companies were trying to trick me but now I’ve learned that it really is true. So, a tip for you is to not disregard the ad labels as they are worth considering. Though the information is true another tip is to make sure the label matches up with the food nutrition table. Though companies are not allowed to lie about the nutrition you can never be too careful about it! Some companies might have 0 grams of fat and a lot of other random chemicals as a result of that. Lastly a tip for those concerned with how the food was made, a symbol to look for in the food you buy is the fair trade or certified by ABC organic certifiers etc. These symbols mean the product is sourced by companies that treat their workers fairly. Coffee for example, some companies traffic and trick children into becoming workers for them and they don’t need to pay them fairly at all. Fair trade companies ensure their workers are being treated properly and well.

I was able to look into some aspects of food labels in more detail and some of these are worth noting!

The Best Before Date: This label has 3 different types: the best before date, the packed by date, and the expiration date. The best before date and packed by date are very similar as they are both recommending the date when the unopened product will no longer retain its fresh quality and nutrition. The expiration date is placed on items that have chemical composition issues after this date. Be aware that the foods should not be on the shelf if the expiration date has passed. The CFIA should be notified immediately if you notice something like that on the shelf and they will investigate the issue more deeply. Through routine inspections, the CFIA and the government of Canada keep tabs on the expired foods and ensure they are discarded and meet with the standard.

The Product of Canada Label: The Canadian Government decided to accommodate to those that wanted to buy locally sourced foods and so they implemented a new label to include if the product was made in Canada. This label tells the consumer that the product is made in Canada. This means that the food is nearly all grown and processed in Canada, whether it be through farms or companies it’ll be nearly 100% Canadian.

Food Allergens Label: This label is extremely important for everyone around the world! Food allergens, if severe enough, could cause death and so it must be strictly monitored. The CFIA works with all companies to ensure products are labelled properly in order to minimize cases of allergies. In extreme cases a food recall could be issued by the CFIA.

All in all, I think these labelling aspects are extremely important to learn and could be applicable to everyday life. However, personally, I am not in a state where I can decide what my parents cook, nor do I need to worry about the food I put into my body and so I am privileged to be more ignorant on the subject. But in the future, I will need to start watching my health as I get older as my body will not be able to sustain itself through cereal as a meal anymore so I will keep this information at the back of my head and might look even more in depth on it in the future.