Between the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Health Check, Pepsico’s Smart Spot, and President’s Choice’s Blue Menu, one would think that making healthier food choices would be a breeze. Personally, we find all of these different labeling systems confusing. For instance, when we went to the store the other day we saw Pepsico’s Smart Spot symbol on a bag of Ruffles potato chips. We decided to look at the label to see why these chips received the Smart Check of approval. It turns out that they contained 25% less fat than the original Ruffles chips. Does this really mean they are a healthy choice though?
This brings us to a conundrum as to whether or not these symbols actually help the general public make healthier choices? On one hand, offering the public healthier options compared to the original product can be beneficial, but what if people believe that eating a food with a healthy label means that they can eat more of that food? Wouldn’t this take away from the purpose of the label in the first place?
In order for these labels to work we think the general public first has to learn about and understand portion sizes, ingredient lists, and the nutrition labels on food products. By doing so, they may be less likely to eat the whole bag of chips with the Smart Check label on and leave thinking that they just consumed a rather healthy snack.
Another issue we came across involved the Heart and Stroke’s Health Check. Early last week we read that Health Check was going to be placed on selected McDonald’s products and it already exists on some Pizza Hut products. It seems as though the rational behind this initiative is that when people go to eat out, they will see this label and feel as though they are making a 'healthy' choice. Showing people “smarter” options on the menu may lead them to make wiser choices, however, what if people do in fact believe that these options are healthy? Sure it is fine to eat out once in awhile, but some people may get the wrong idea. What if they fail to read the small print indicating that the Health Check portion size is only two slices of pizza? Additionally, on the Health Check website a ‘’large entree’’ can have up to 960 mg of sodium! Considering that the recommended intake of sodium is between 1500-2000 mg/day, this entree could be at least half of the daily requirement.
Additionally, these ‘healthy’ labeling systems are either owned by large companies, such as Pepsico, or purchased by a large company, such as Dempster’s, from the Heart and Stroke Foundation. What if a smaller company has the same type of product, at the same price, but they cannot afford to have a labeling system? Consumers may be more inclined to buy the product with the healthy choice/smart label than the other product. Thus, although the products are the same, one may be viewed as a less healthy/smart choice. Maybe a standardized labeling system is needed? We think it would make the market more fair for both consumers and corporations.
References:
http://www.healthcheck.org/
http://www.presidentschoice.ca/LCLOnline/products.jsp?brandId=2&type=browse
http://www.smartspot.ca/terms.aspx
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