Confusing food labels are ‘tricking’ shoppers, researchers say

Researchers are urging us to see past the marketing, which they say tricks shoppers with clever and enticing terms.

Keddie Waller juggles work, life, and a family of four, and thinks confusing food labels make the balance harder.

“Meal choices and prepping is my biggest bane of the week,” the mum-of-two said.

“Trying to please the family and keep everyone happy every night is definitely a challenge.”

She said that some food companies are trying to mislead customers.

“One hundred per cent they’re trying to trick you,” she said.

“We cannot rely on the food industry to do the very best for us.”

Experts at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute want to help you decode common terms.

“Food labelling is far too complex, it is regulated, but unless you really understand what they mean it’s pointless,” Director of Allied Health Alison Bennett said.

“I think people are incredibly vulnerable to the marketing.”

Some common traps include the label “no added sugar,” as sugar can still be present.

In labels with a choice between “reduced” versus “low” – low is the better alternative.

Some products were labelled “cholesterol-free” even when they had no cholesterol to begin with.

“Light can mean light anything, it could be light flavour light colour,” 

Reading the back of the product provides the best information.

If you’re looking at the ingredients, a good tip is to look at what’s listed first – that’s what the majority of the product is made up of.

The rest are listed in descending order. 

“Start in your pantry, look at a product and determine ‘are you happy with this?'” Bennet said.