In recent years food manufacturers have struck gold with low-fat products, capitalizing big time on the booming interest in healthier eating. After all, everyone loves an easy way to eat more healthily and combat weight problems.
So why is it, experts ask, that despite countless “low-fat”, “light”, “lite”, and “reduced fat” food options obesity levels remain as high as ever?
The conclusion at Cornell University and other health authorities is that low-fat labels are a problem – they are actually contributing to the problem of obesity.
This is because most people believe that foods labeled “low fat” contain about 40% fewer calories than “regular” options, so they are far less vigilant about how much they eat. On average, people eat about 30% more of a food labeled low-fat and interestingly, the more overweight they are the higher this percentage gets.
The problem is that in reality, most foods labeled “low-fat” contain about the same number of calories as regular fat foods. (For examples, see this comparison of calories.) This is one of the key reasons why low-fat foods do not help people lose weight. Quite simply, low-fat foods are just as fattening – and all the more so when people are eating more of them than they would a regular food.
So why is this – why don’t foods labeled low-fat have far less calories?
On average, foods labeled “low-fat” have only 11% fewer calories. There are several reasons for this:
- All ingredients in a food item, not just fat, contribute calories. If 85% of a food’s calories come from sugar, reducing the fat content will not have much of an impact on total calories.
- Fat plays an important role in flavor. When fat content is lowered, flavor is lost. Food manufacturers often compensate by increasing sugar content so at the end of the day total calories are much the same, low-fat or not.
- Many food items are perceived to be “healthier” – lower in fat or sugar – because of clever but misleading packaging, labeling and marketing. People believe they have made a healthier food choice but they have not. For instance, take a look at the Sun Chips site. Looks healthy, doesn’t it? The reality is, their Original Flavor Multigrain Snacks have only 10 less calories per 28g serving than Lay’s Classic Potato Chips. Or put another way, only 6% fewer calories.
Because of all the above, the Food & Drug Admnistration (FDA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) are now working to encourage consumers to focus first and foremost on calories, not fat. “We’ve concluded that the emphasis on low fat and no fat has obscured the central message that calories are the main thing.”
In other words, low fat labels have obscured the fact that low-fat foods are just as fattening.
This is an original article, exclusive to this site
Copyright © 2010 Caroline Mackenzie
