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will new food labels chage your eating habits?

will new food labeling change or help your food picks??

  • yes, it's much clearer, i'll be able to watch my nutrition easily

    Votes: 5 12.8%

  • yes: previously i hadn't looked at food labels

    Votes: 1 2.6%

  • no - I don't care what the label says, it doesn't influence my diet

    Votes: 10 25.6%

  • no: I already look at food labels, and this isn't going to change my diet

    Votes: 25 64.1%
  • Total voters
    39
annata said:
Calorie counts would appear in larger, bolder type, and consumers would know for the first time whether foods have added sugars.

Under the Obama administration's plan, labels would also feature more realistic descriptions of a serving.
Under the plans, a 20oz (0.5kg) container of soda would count as one serving, rather than 2.5 servings, as it is currently.

The serving size listed on ice cream cartons, currently half a cup, would increase to one cup.
The food label revisions would also include mandatory potassium and vitamin D amounts.

BBC News - Michelle Obama promotes plan for food label overhaul
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No, I don't look at food labels.
 
i'm surprised at how many think this is helpful, the only thing I find helpful is the added sugars. I gotta watch what I eat or I will gain weight - life long struggle.
So maybe since I'm already so cognizant of every freaking thing that goes into my stomach, it doesn't mean all that much... in that I watch everything already.
 
grip said:
I have the discipline now to do the same. But buffets and large portions encourage some less experienced, younger folks to over eat. I don't think they should force restaurants to offer less portions but our culture could address the problem in other ways, thru information.
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Information can only go as far as those are willing to listen. The wife and I like to go to the Golden Corral buffet. But we will usually go around 2 in the afternoon and eat our fill. One meal will suffice for both lunch and supper. usually we do this on Saturday afternoons.
 
ecofarm said:
More like 2 meals for the price of 10 (home cooked).
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I don't know about that. It probably all depends on what restaurant you go to. The wife and me do not visit expensive restaurants at all. No Longhorns or Outbacks for steaks, Golden Corral or Ryans will do. No Red Lobster when we have Captain D's and Joe's Seafood place. Heck for 14-16 dollars for the two of us we have a nice meal. The expensive places, why? No matter what you eat it all comes out of the same hole and into a toilet someplace.
 
annata said:
i'm surprised at how many think this is helpful, the only thing I find helpful is the added sugars. I gotta watch what I eat or I will gain weight - life long struggle.
So maybe since I'm already so cognizant of every freaking thing that goes into my stomach, it doesn't mean all that much... in that I watch everything already.
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The reality is these labels will only help those who read and are very dependent already on the labels. More information is good... but as to helping people not get fat, not so much. The way to control weight is the easiest way.... everything in moderation. I love pizza but I don't eat it three times a week. I love ice cream and don't eat a pint a day. They key is portion control, and limiting the amount and frequency of things that are fattening as well as balancing the fats with veggies, fiber and non fatty sugary things. In other words, control and common sense.
 
Perotista said:
Information can only go as far as those are willing to listen. The wife and I like to go to the Golden Corral buffet. But we will usually go around 2 in the afternoon and eat our fill. One meal will suffice for both lunch and supper. usually we do this on Saturday afternoons.
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Yeah, if I overeat at one meal or have too many snacks, I compensate by missing the next. But as I've gotten older, I literally can't overeat as much without feeling like I'm dying...lol

When I was younger, I could eat 3 times as much and often did. But I was also very active in comparison to today's, electronic monkeys. This generation needs to be outside more and schooled on eating habits that benefit their lifestyle. There wasn't more than a couple of fat kids in our whole school, back in my day.

Information and constant reminders do help with healthy choices. Look at what they did to cigarettes, without banning them completely. It's a fine line when socially tabooing an unhealthy choice and completely removing the option, which limits freedom.
 
grip said:
Yeah, if I overeat at one meal or have too many snacks, I compensate by missing the next. But as I've gotten older, I literally can't overeat as much without feeling like I'm dying...lol

When I was younger, I could eat 3 times as much and often did. But I was also very active in comparison to today's, electronic monkeys. This generation needs to be outside more and schooled on eating habits that benefit their lifestyle. There wasn't more than a couple of fat kids in our whole school, back in my day.

Information and constant reminders do help with healthy choices. Look at what they did to cigarettes, without banning them completely. It's a fine line when socially tabooing an unhealthy choice and completely removing the option, which limits freedom.
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Exactly, I remember when I was a kid, no one could get me to go inside unless it was bed time or time to eat. i was always doing something outside. But today with all the computer games, cable TV, etc. kids just don't get outside and play like they use too. I suppose I shouldn't talk real loud, as this old foggie has become kind of addicted to the computer himself.
 
Perotista said:
Exactly, I remember when I was a kid, no one could get me to go inside unless it was bed time or time to eat. i was always doing something outside. But today with all the computer games, cable TV, etc. kids just don't get outside and play like they use too. I suppose I shouldn't talk real loud, as this old foggie has become kind of addicted to the computer himself.
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Same here. It's all about money and things in this techno culture. Decades from now, they'll wonder how they let their kids get so addicted to the indoors activities. They'll have senior citizen diseases in their 40'-50's.

No, us old folks can't do what we used to anymore. We get a pass to play on our PC's, otherwise we'd just watch Sanford & Son reruns all day, slobbering on our bibs.
 
grip said:
Same here. It's all about money and things in this techno culture. Decades from now, they'll wonder how they let their kids get so addicted to the indoors activities. They'll have senior citizen diseases in their 40'-50's.

No, us old folks can't do what we used to anymore. We get a pass to play on our PC's, otherwise we'd just watch Sanford & Son reruns all day, slobbering on our bibs.
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I enjoyed Sanford and Son. I bought a 6 DVD set of Groucho Marx's "You bet your life." I have been watching that and that probably dates me. I have some of the old Jack Benny show too. I also love the old westerns of the 1950's. you would be surprised what one can get on DVD's these days. There is definitely something positive to say about modern technology.

Speaking of illnesses and diseases, I notice a whole lot more kids are suffering from asthma, allergies and the like. I wonder if not getting outside like we use to all the time, that they haven't built up an immunity to these types of diseases. The do nothing but stay inside in the air conditioning in the summer and in the heat in the winter.
 
humbolt said:
I agree. I don't buy any food items from China (among others), and I hate having to look all over the packaging to find the source country. They intentionally try to hide it.
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Not only that, but chickens slaughtered in North America and sent to China for processing don't have to mention their little side trip at all. There simply is no way to know.

Here's the story, from last December. As far as I know, nothing has changed.

Recently passed federal regulations make it impossible for you to know just where your chicken has been. Even if it is “Made in the USA” it may be traveling 7,000 miles to China to be processed just to come back here to be sold.
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soot said:
I would argue that if your diet is such that a 900 cal. package of ANYTHING is a possible food choice there is no way to parse nutrition information in a manner that it might benefit you.

I would actually argue that unless you're already in the camp that is eating "whole" you either don't know or care enough about nutrition to benefit from this.

The biggest effect this will have is that people will now knowingly, and happily, continue to serve their children 800 cal. worth of Cheese Wiz rather than laboring under the illusion that their customary and enormous glop-serving was a mere 400 cal.
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That's their choice, and not much can be done about it other than make it an informed choice.

I used to like to order the prime rib in restaurants until they started posting their calorie counts. Did you know that the typical prime rib dinner is 2,000 - 3,000 calories?

I didn't, but I do now.
 
Helix said:
won't change my eating habits, because i already look at the labels. however, it will make shopping easier, and serving sizes really should be more realistic. i mean, sometimes serving sizes are just ridiculous.

it would also be nice if they'd stop doing the "hide the nutritional info under a fold in the candy bar / protein bar wrapper" thing. sometimes you almost have to open the damned thing just to find out how many calories it has.

as for the new lower salt recommendations, no thanks. i already eat limited cal / low fat for the most part. leave my salt alone.
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I don't think the new law goes far enough. I think the very name of the product should reflect the truth:


truthful+candy+labels+dr+heckle+funny+product+names.jpg
 
Dittohead not! said:
Not only that, but chickens slaughtered in North America and sent to China for processing don't have to mention their little side trip at all. There simply is no way to know.

Here's the story, from last December. As far as I know, nothing has changed.
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It's pretty disturbing. A Chinese firm recently bought Smithfield. Who knows where that might lead eventually? Considering the standards in China, no where good.
 
Perotista said:
I enjoyed Sanford and Son. I bought a 6 DVD set of Groucho Marx's "You bet your life." I have been watching that and that probably dates me. I have some of the old Jack Benny show too. I also love the old westerns of the 1950's. you would be surprised what one can get on DVD's these days. There is definitely something positive to say about modern technology.

Speaking of illnesses and diseases, I notice a whole lot more kids are suffering from asthma, allergies and the like. I wonder if not getting outside like we use to all the time, that they haven't built up an immunity to these types of diseases. The do nothing but stay inside in the air conditioning in the summer and in the heat in the winter.
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I used to buy lots of the old shows on DVD, until I figured how to watch them for free on the PC, which is connected wireless to the TV when switched.
Hulu, Youtube, Google, Amazon and other sites offer TV shows and movies for free or pay.

Most of the increase in auto immune diseases like allergies, asthma, autism, ADD, Alzheimer's, MS/MD, arthritis, etc have been on the rise, since the Industrial Revolution has picked up speed. The more urban, polluted and exposed to toxins and chemicals, the more physical reactions on genetic levels are occurring. Even cancers and heart diseases have dramatically increased the last 100 years, though thru modern medicine, we've eliminated many other diseases and common causes of death.
 
grip said:
I used to buy lots of the old shows on DVD, until I figured how to watch them for free on the PC, which is connected wireless to the TV when switched.
Hulu, Youtube, Google, Amazon and other sites offer TV shows and movies for free or pay.

Most of the increase in auto immune diseases like allergies, asthma, autism, ADD, Alzheimer's, MS/MD, arthritis, etc have been on the rise, since the Industrial Revolution has picked up speed. The more urban, polluted and exposed to toxins and chemicals, the more physical reactions on genetic levels are occurring. Even cancers and heart diseases have dramatically increased the last 100 years, though thru modern medicine, we've eliminated many other diseases and common causes of death.
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Perhaps I am old fashioned with the DVD's, you would be surprised by my VCR tape collection. I don't know the reason for all the diseases, both explanations make sense to me. I was born and raised on a farm and I haven't any allergies which surprises my doctors.
 
grip said:
.......Most of the increase in auto immune diseases like allergies, asthma, autism, ADD, Alzheimer's, MS/MD, arthritis, etc have been on the rise, since the Industrial Revolution has picked up speed. The more urban, polluted and exposed to toxins and chemicals, the more physical reactions on genetic levels are occurring. Even cancers and heart diseases have dramatically increased the last 100 years, though thru modern medicine, we've eliminated many other diseases and common causes of death.
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While I agree with this, the 'increase' in cancers and heart disease seems to come from the fact that no longer can you die of just plain old age, they need to specify what took you down, even if you are 95 years old.

Personally, I relate a lot of the autoimmune issues to environmental toxins and the treatment of our food sources with pesticides, fungicides, weed killers, antibiotics and other assorted things that are 'for our own good'.
 
GottaGo said:
While I agree with this, the 'increase' in cancers and heart disease seems to come from the fact that no longer can you die of just plain old age, they need to specify what took you down, even if you are 95 years old.

Personally, I relate a lot of the autoimmune issues to environmental toxins and the treatment of our food sources with pesticides, fungicides, weed killers, antibiotics and other assorted things that are 'for our own good'.
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They don't know for sure if the reason for heart disease and cancer increases are due to older ages or environmental conditions. The top killers in the 1900's were TB, pneumonia and bacterial infections.

But I agree the exposure to chemicals and toxins is everything from building materials to foods, pesticides, air pollutants, water, medications, etc etc.

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nutrition-food-label-merge-v04.jpg


What I want to know, is why the %DV column is even there?

If it is supposedly a "Nutrition Facts" label then why is it so full of non-facts?

The most disgusting thing is that this government mandated disinformation on "Nutrition Facts" labels is likely to make people obese because it promotes a high carb diet.
 
annata said:
Calorie counts would appear in larger, bolder type, and consumers would know for the first time whether foods have added sugars.
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That simply isn't true. If a food has added sugars they are on the ingredients list.
 
I'm not concerned enough about my eating habits to care, ask me again when my health is an issue.
 
Food labels don't affect my eating habits much, so I don't see the new ones really changing anything. Counting calories just doesn't work for me.
 
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