Americans are often advised to eat healthier, more nutritious foods in an effort to quell the nation’s epidemic of diabetes and obesity. However, researchers find that many can’t identify healthy foods in the grocery store aisle.
A research team from Attest, a consumer research platform, found that when presented with multiple food options, all with varying levels of health and nutrition, only nine percent of people can correctly identify which was the healthiest. .
Even more concerning, 13 percent identified the least nutritious food option as the healthiest, more than the amount that properly identified the healthiest.
Experts say many are fooled by front-of-package labels like ‘whole grain’ and ‘low calorie’ and don’t bother with or can’t properly read the nutrition label on the back of the box.
One study found that only about 9% of Americans could accurately identify which product was the healthiest based on its packaging.
“The American population very clearly fails to identify healthy products… it tells us a lot about this gap between perception and reality,” Jeremy King, CEO of Attest, who helped put together the research, told DailyMail.com.
The researchers collected data from 2,000 participants for the study. They were each shown a collection of cereal bars and asked to rank them from healthiest to least healthy.
The correct ratings were based on the Nutri-score A to E used to rate some food products in the UK.
King said many were misidentifying advertising slogans, which usually mean nothing, as markers that a food was healthy.
Jeremy King (pictured), CEO of Attest, said claims like “whole grain” or “natural flavor” on the front of food packaging can mislead people about which products are actually healthy for them.
These include phrases like ‘whole grain’, ‘natural flavor’ and ‘100 calories’. Other common culprits include ‘organic’ or ‘fat free’.
While many figurative foods that brand themselves this way are healthier, the bar for using them legally is extremely low, and it’s more of a brand name than anything else.
The failure of Americans to identify healthy products likely plays a role in the nation’s emerging obesity and diabetes epidemics.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 42% of Americans are obese, and more than 70% of Americans are considered obese.
The problem has reached crisis mode and has also led to an increase in diabetes, heart disease and other related conditions in the United States.
The CDC also reports that about ten percent of Americans suffer from diabetesa potentially devastating and debilitating condition.
King blames outdated food labeling regulations in the US for the problem.
The United States adopted its current food labeling practice, where nutrition facts can be found on a clear, black and white label, usually on the back or side of the package.
King says the US-style nutrition labeling is out of date and should be replaced with a system similar to the ‘Nutri-score’ system used in the UK.
While the label is informative, giving nearly exact amounts of the substances, vitamins, and minerals found in the product and comparing them to the expected daily intake for the average American, it can be difficult to read, and many may not even be aware of it. bother looking at that
Instead, most Americans, even those looking for healthy foods, will only scan the front of the package before putting it in their cart.
This is where terms like ‘whole grain’ and ‘organic’ can play a big role.
“Most consumers are not nutritionists,” King said, adding that they make a “snapshot” when deciding what is healthy at the grocery store.
Compare the US system to the UK system, where many products are labeled with a Nutri Score from A to E, with A being the healthiest.
While the system isn’t perfect and leaves out a lot of the nuances related to nutrition, it’s a great indicator for a person who wants to make a quick and health-conscious choice at the grocery store.
The researchers say that a bill presented last August by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, would institute this type of system in the United States and help add clarity to grocery store purchases in the country.
King notes that this would also be popular with Americans, with 51 percent of survey participants in favor of labeling.
“There is already demand for this change from consumers,” he said.
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