Who’s responsible for nutrition? Nearly half say food makers
Posted On May 26, 2011
Nearly half of people hold food manufacturers and processors responsible, according to a new survey.
Really? You mean the people who make Twinkies are responsible for making sure they are nutritious? You mean the people who pour out 600 calories of sugar in a Venti, Bucket-o-Caramel Macchiato are responsible for making that nutritious?
Dude, I hate to break this to you, but a nutritious Twinkie is an oxymoron. A healthy Caramel Macchiato lives over in the fiction section.
Do you need a rule?
How about this one? You buy junk food, you get junk food.
The people who make food products are not here to make them nutritious. They are here to sell them to you. If it makes you buy more of them, they’ll grind up a multi-vitamin and put it in a box of Sugar Smacks or Fruit Loops, but that doesn’t make it an important part of a balanced breakfast.
Food makers must “do no harm”, by making sure toxic things aren’t in your foods, but even that is not their responsibility, but that of the FDA.
_____________
The survey also showed that concerns about rising fuel and commodity costs are complicating decisions about healthy eating.
The proportion of survey respondents saying they are ‘very concerned’ about healthy eating has dropped to 39 percent, from 45 percent last year – and although most (82 percent) hold themselves responsible for ensuring the nutritional value of their food, others are looking to food manufacturers (48 percent), government agencies (30 percent) and retailers (29 percent) to make sure the foods they eat are nutritious.
Nevertheless, only 44 percent said they incorporate at least one healthy food into their diet.
The FMI survey revealed that consumer confusion about nutrition labeling is a possible barrier to healthy eating. Although just 17 percent said they could use some help in understanding nutrition information labels, less than one-third (29 percent) said they consider themselves ‘very knowledgeable’ about nutritional information and nearly half (49 percent) said they were not expert in this area.
The FMI also found that as a result of relatively few high-profile recalls in 2011 and better technology for quick communication of food product recalls,consumer confidence in food safety is at its highest point in seven years. It found that 88 percent of consumers said they are ‘completely’ or ‘somewhat’ confident in the safety of the food sold at the supermarket.
The survey also found that men are much more likely to be comfortable with the safety of food imported from Latin America than women, at 76 percent and 58 percent respectively. Meanwhile, 97 percent of consumers said they were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ comfortable with the
safety of food grown in the United States.
(Visited 4 times, 1 visits today)
About The Author
Will Clower
One Comment
You know, I just wish they would use higher quality ingredients in their products. My whole family recently took a week-long trip to Ireland. While we were there, I ate whatever I wanted which included drinking soda (made with real sugar), eating candy (made with real sugar), eggs and bacon for breakfast every day, steak for dinner, and I lost 3 lbs. We spent much of our time in the car driving from city to city. I have to believe it is because they don't use as much faux ingredients as we do.
I"m not sure who would be responsible for that but I do know it was nice to walk through a grocery store there and not see the shelves completely laden with junky food items. There were some things but not the junk-food-pornucopia that greets us in the supermarket. It totally changed how I perceive and approach eating. Now I want to eat good, freshly made food. Now I want to spend time leisurely eating meals as they do there. Perhaps the answer is the lions share of the responsibility is mine but it would be nice for the conglomerates who control the American food supply to give us some better things to choose from at the store.