Friday, 13 November 2009
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When Food Labels Aren't What They Seem
This is a guest post from Christie's Corner.
If you saw the label above on the side of a scone mix, how many calories would you think was in a scone?
If you’re like me, you thought, “Hey, 120 calories? That’s not bad.”
If you were buoyed by the reasonable calorie count, how long would it take you to realize this imagined scone would also have no fat? And yet, if you flip the box over, the instructions clearly call for butter, milk and an egg. All of which have varying degrees of lipids.
Is it just me or do you find the nutritional information misleading? If the manufacturer knows what the customer is going to add to the mix — and they even specify whole milk – shouldn’t they calculate the nutritional data based on the final product? Unlike breakfast cereal, no one is going to eat this straight from the box. And yet cereal companies provide two sets of numbers for their flakes – naked cereal AND a bowl soggy with 1/2 cup of 2% milk. Why can’t the scone makers do this math?
What further irks me is they look all above-board and helpful when they warn you the product might have come into contact with soy, milk, eggs, nuts, dairy and stray cats. But they can’t give you the calorie count of a scone prepared as per their own instructions?
Now, before you ask why I made scones from a mix, they were a very thoughtful gift from a friend. They had no artificial flavours or colours and were actually quite tasty. Once I added butter, milk and an egg.
Did you see the catch right away or, like me, were you momentarily fooled into thinking these were low-cal treats? Is half-baked (pun intended) nutritional information helpful or harmful? Or are there other sneaky label tricks that bug you more?
Grumble away. For your trouble, here’s my own scone recipe. I have no calorie count for any aspect of the recipe, but be warned. With a 1/2 cup of butter, they’re not low-cal.
Do you ever find food labels to be misleading?
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- From: christiecorner
- Name: christiecorner
- About Me: I'm a professional writer who loves food, travel and the occasional rant. Visit me: http://christie-corner.blogspot.com/
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Comments (5)
That scone mix is a joke to begin with. Most people already have those ingredients in their cupboards already!
Almost all information on packaging is misleading, I do no take any of it seriously anymore, in fact, I do not even bother looking. All the serving sizes tend to be ridiculously small too, and unless you pull of the measuring cup, chances are you are eating more than what is a recommended serving. I really do not worry about the calories in anything as a vegan... I just know that if I eat past full, or decide a loaf of bread is for dinner thats a little to much.
I think companies should label by the end product prepared by their instructions though.
My big beef is combines that get to label their own food with health checks and things like jello get the health check because there is no fat!!! Who cares if the whole thing is made out of sugar, food colouring, artificial flavour and ground up pigs feet? NO FAT!!! Thats such a joke.
It clearly says right before the nutritional info that it is "for scone mix". I'd generally assume that the calories on the box were solely for the contents of the box, not the final product.
I only read direction part. Don't care about Nutrition facts.
Mmm flour. It's a marketing ploy.