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A lot of the food we eat may seem healthy, but are they really?
Buzzwords are used a lot by companies to advertise their products and have them seem healthier than they really are. Eating healthy while on the go is a very common trend, people are easily fooled by packaging and advertising. ‘Superfood’ and ‘detox’ are a few buzzwords that do not have a definition or regulation by the FDA. It is very easy for advertisements to contain buzzwords and catch the eye of consumers. Consumers are always following the latest media trends instead of the scientific trends. Science is actually proven to work, while the media trends are said to work for a short period of time, if at all.
Detox
Seeing detox on a label in the grocery store or market can cause many consumers to be mislead about the health benefits. Our bodies are always naturally detoxing, so detoxing with a beverage or food is usually unnecessary. Labels with detox on them usually want to seem healthier than they are because the product contains lemon, cayenne or some other pretty normal ingredient. Detoxification is medically used for treatments of heavy levels of poison, metal, drugs and alcohol. If you really needed to detox, you would be laid up in the hospital.
Superfood
Everyone would love to have a magic bullet food that would fix all of their problems. That being said is the main reason why the word ‘Superfood’ is widely used. Having a magic bullet food would be amazing but in reality, if the food was so great large amounts of people would be eating it and benefiting.
Some Buzzwords and phrases actually do have definitions and are regulated by the FDA such as ‘Organic’, ‘Made with “Organic”’, and ‘100 Percent Organic’. When consumers think of organic, they do not realize that there are different thresholds of organic regulation. Not all organic products are 100{44c8773cfc5435cd81ad20e0c4d9124b8149e87e023df21bb722cbe5a8d7cc51} organic.
Organic
Many products throughout the grocery store may claim to be organic. Did you know that all organic foods or products that claim to be organic only have to have 95{44c8773cfc5435cd81ad20e0c4d9124b8149e87e023df21bb722cbe5a8d7cc51} of the ingredients actually be organic? Buying organic mac and cheese may seem better, but in reality there is still the 5{44c8773cfc5435cd81ad20e0c4d9124b8149e87e023df21bb722cbe5a8d7cc51} that is not organic or unknown.
Made with ‘Organic’
Many products may not be completely organic, but they are pretty close. Seventy percent must be certified organic ingredients besides salt and water. Organic ingredients must be labeled as organic since not all ingredients will be organic.
100 Percent Organic
All ingredients of this type of product must be certified organic. This is the safest bet if the consumer is looking for a fully organic product, but this does not ensure the product is healthy even if it is 100 percent organic.
Packaging on products can be confusing and can lead to many people being mislead. Realizing that buzzwords are used by companies solely to market products is essential to actually being healthy. The best way to actually know what is in your food is to read the ingredients label. The ingredient label does not usually lie and can tell you exactly what is in the product, listing things from the highest concentration to the lowest.
Stephen Matthew is a student at the University at Buffalo studying Communications. He is currently the PR/Marketing intern at Farrow Communications and handles editing for brainhackers.com.
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