Navigating Grocery Store Traps: How to Avoid Misleading Food Labels and Choose Healthier Options
The other day, I was walking through the grocery store when I saw a woman who looked like a young mom staring at the peanut butter jars for (no joke) 10 minutes.
(How do I know it was 10 minutes? Well, I did a quick lap around the store, and when I went to check out, SHE WAS STILL THERE!…. 😢)
I wanted to take her hand and kindly lead her away from the Jifs, Skippys, and Peter Pan’s of the peanut butter aisle and take her to the more wholesome options with minimal ingredients – I’m talking just peanuts and salt, yo!
The truth is, Peanut Butter Mom is not the only one suffering from decision fatigue at the grocery store.
Food labeling is designed to confuse, complicate, and hyperbolize the words on the package.
Low-fat
All-natural
Sodium-free
High-protein
Fat-free
Vegan
Keto
These claims mean nothing.
They are food companies’ versions of clickbait – designed to catch your eye and lure you in but tell you nothing about the quality of the food or the ingredients that make it up.
The worst part? the FDA does NOTHING to help the consumer decipher label lies or confusing misinformation.
Take these two (seemingly different) Fair Life drinks I stumbled upon at Costco for example.
The FairLife Nutrition Plan drink claims “30g High-Quality Protein”
Whereas THIS Fair Life Core Power “Protein” drink (same company, totally different branding, and label claims) only has 26 grams of protein.
That means the Core Protein drink, marketed FOR its protein content, has LESS protein than the regular Fair Life Nutrition Plan drink.
Do you hear the Twilight Zone music playing? 😵💫
But what are most people picking up when searching for a high-protein shake?
The Core Protein Drink!
Maddening!
And I haven’t even mentioned the ingredients in these protein shakes – they’re… not good.
Carrageenan (a gum linked to cancer in rodents), Sucralose, Ace-K (artificial sweeteners) — a tummy bloat bomb waiting to explode! (Sorry, Fair Life fans 😢).
No wonder people grab whatever they see and believe the claim on the box!
You need a PhD to make sense of label claims and ingredient lists these days (and even then, I’m not convinced)
(P.S. If you’re looking for a “clean” protein option, you’re better off with a powder — read through to the end for suggestions!)
Why do we want to avoid ultra-processed foods? Well, a new study, on the heels of countles others, linking ultra-processed foods to 32 harmful outcomes, including a:
50% increased risk of cardiovascular disease-related death
48-53% higher risk of anxiety and common mental disorders
12% greater risk of Type 2 diabetes.
21% greater risk of death from any cause
40-66% higher risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, sleep problems
22% increased risk of depression.
Examples of ultra-processed foods:
Snacks: potato chips, crackers, pretzels, candy, microwave popcorn, muffins, donuts, sandwich bread and cookies, flavored yogurts, puddings, jello, breakfast cereal/granola bars — pretty much anything in a package with added sugars, food dyes, natural and artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, gums, and emulsifiers.
Ready-to-eat meals: instant noodles and soups, frozen TV dinners, canned ravioli and pasts, packaged meal kits.
Processed meats and dairy: hot dogs, deli meats, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, processed cheese slices and spreads, flavored milk, non-dairy beverages (coffee creamer, protein shakes, flavored/sweetened nut milk)
Sugar-sweetened beverages: soft drinks (lemonade, iced tea), soda, fruit drinks and punches, energy drinks, flavored coffees.
Since we ALL have to go to the grocery store once, maybe twice a week… We need a system for reading labels quickly! — to avoid the Ground Hog’s Day scenario of staring at countless versions of the same food item, like the lady in the peanut butter aisle.
5 tips to simplify your grocery shopping:
Don’t trust the claims you read on the label. The only thing the label is good for is identifying the food product. (Sidebar: isn’t it crazy that we are SO accustomed to an ultra-processed food system that you HAVE to read the package’s label to know exactly what the food is?)
Say NO to long ingredient lists. Anything that resembles a laundry list of ingredients is a hard pass. Paragraph-long ingredient lists are often accompanied by refined flour, added sugar, artificial flavors, chemicals, dyes, gums, and seed oils. Speaking of seed oils….
Say NO to seed oils. This includes canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, and safflower oil. They are highly refined and inflammatory.
Say NO to added sugars. A good rule of thumb = no more than 5 grams of added sugar per serving…
Say YES to whole foods. This is the easiest nutrition advice you can get! (and what I get paid big bucks to advise people – these are the fundamentals of healthy eating).
With a little practice and patience, you can get into the habit of identifying (and thus, avoiding, and thus (thus?) not falling into the trap of Big Food companies convincing you that their ultra-processed food product is healthy.
(PS: Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s aren’t a free pass. They are just as guilty as regular old grocery stores of healthwashing —a deceptive marketing practice in which a company or organization exaggerates or fabricates the health benefits of their products.)
Bottom line: You are best sticking to the outer aisles of the grocery store and eating real, whole foods (that don’t come with a label!), and you’ll be in great shape.
In health,
Taylor
Cleaner Protein Options:
Paleovalley Bone Broth Protein Powder (Best Quality)
Grass-Fed Beef Protein Isolate (Best Value)
Truvani Protein Powder (Vegan)
