Pre-package food is healthy...huh?

The standard pre-packaged meals I do not believe improves people’s health. They are full of preservatives to keep the product longer, they have added food coloring, sodium, and sugars that the average consumer does not recognize as sugar. Even sugar-free products contain alcohol sugars or fake sugars. Fake sugars may have no calories but on a hormonal level, it still creates the brain to crave sugar and an induvial becomes cranky without the craving fix, thus creating a habit for purchasing the “healthy” food package. Foods are striped, bleached than vitamins are sprayed on (usually rice after it has been polished white), fiber is taken out, sugars of all kinds are added along with salt and some type of added fat for taste and addiction center for the brain. Companies invest in studies on fat, sugar, and salt content for higher sales. All this is after the original plant has been altered to survive pesticide sprays, last longer, and resist bugs. So, what is in a package really?

A study was done trying to find out if the consumer buys healthier products with changing food labels. “A standardized fixed baseline improved females’ choice but not men, but once faced with varying baseline improvement was lost, but there is no baseline that any product follows” (Hieke & Newman, 2015, pg.622). One cereal company can state a serving is one a cup. This will increase the nutrition content. Another generic company can make the same thing and state the serving is half a cup. This will increase serving amounts and decrease calories per serving and other values. At a glance, the second would seem the better product. “Foodservice company reported regular complaints that portion size was being made smaller when the product had not changed from launching the product” (Arnold & Hackett, 2012, pg.366). In reality, very few people have a serving of cereal or product and there is no law stating what a manufacturer can claim a serving is. With the supersizing of fast food and added sizing at restaurants a person’s perception of serving size is construed.

The WHO suggests keeping sodium intake to five grams (2000 mg) of salt a day. That is a little less than a teaspoon. It would be hard to find pre-packaged products that have this. One’s that state no salt, has salt replacement such as celery salt which still affects the body and misguides the consumer. “Health claims on packaging increases consumption of ready to eat meals by 3-4%, even chocolate had a 28-50% increase with health claims” (Kaur, Scarborough & Rayner, 2017, pg.14). The packaging on products is misleading and they hide in plain sight other facts that a consumer gloss over.

Manufacturers are becoming better with some companies selling the ingredients and recipe on how to make dinners such as Freshly, Hello Fresh, and similar options. With what is at hand for the standard income, package products are typically poor for a person’s health on an everyday basis. A salad from a fast-food chain can be 700 calories and the sodium and fat-content be more than what a simple burger is. A completely other topic is on-the-go eating. This does not allow the body to properly digest and absorb nutrition. It can lead to ulcers, heartburn, and mindless eating that increases energy intake further that increases chronic diseases. I believe that prepackaged foods and on-the-go options are detrimental to one's health and proper nutrition.

References

Arnold, H., & Hackett, R. (2012). Filling the gaps: the need for more research on portion size of pre-packaged foods and intake behaviour. Nutrition Bulletin, 37(4), 364–367. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2012.01995.x

Hieke, S., & Newman, C. L. (2015). The Effects of Nutrition Label Comparison Baselines on Consumers’ Food Choices. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 49(3), 613–626. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291745-6606/issues

Kaur, A., Scarborough, P., & Rayner, M. (2017). A systematic review, and meta-analyses, of the impact of health-related claims on dietary choices. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, 14, 1–17. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1186/s12966-017-0548-1