Has Your Food Become Less Nutritious?

A new study that has been published by Duke University indicates that the quality of our food is declining. The study evaluated packaged foods from various brands and found that since the nutritional labeling law went into effect, the nutritional value of food in general is diminishing.

That sounded very surprising to me because I expected the opposite to be true; however, if you think about it, there’s two ways this could have gone. When manufacturers were required to label the nutritional content, they had a choice: Compete on nutritional value or compete on taste. Most of them chose taste. This means that we can see things like fats and sodium increase while vitamins and minerals decrease.

As consumers, we seem to think that we’re protected somehow by this labeling system; so, we’ve become complacent. The truth is that we’re not really protected by it; it’s simply a form of transparency. If manufacturers were allowed to feed us rat poison, you’d find rat poison listed in the ingredients of some foods. The included rat poison would take the place of an actual food with nutritional value, so the overall nutritional value would be less. Just because the manufacturer has to disclose information doesn’t mean that said info is good for us.

Here are a few helpful tips for reading nutritional labels at the grocery store.

1. Always check the serving size. Is it what you intend to eat? Is it the same as the other brand you’re comparing labels with?

2. According to the American Heart Association, anything over 20 percent of your daily value is considered high. If you’re looking at vitamin C, high is good; if you’re looking at sodium or fat, high is bad.

3. Daily values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. If you eat more or less, your values should be adjusted. Just use the number as a guideline.