Oct 14, 2008 8:00 am US/Pacific
Food Label Rules: What They May Not Be Telling You
MINNEAPOLIS (CBS) ―
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To get the USDA organic seal, food must be made with at least 95 percent organic ingredients. (File)
CBS
Among the aisles of potato chips, cereal and soda are signs stamped on the sides of the packaging. Those words are supposed to help you make smart choices, reports CBS station WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.
"Especially having kids," said Jen Cabot, mother of two. "It's important that they eat organic, no transfats and no chemicals."
Cabot thinks it's important she understands what she's buying but for some consumers there are so many labels and so many rules.
"I think people are really, really confused," said Billy Burton.
So WCCO decided to clear up some of the confusion. The first lesson in labels: Don't believe everything you read. Take wheat bread for example.
"You want to make sure it says whole wheat, not just wheat flour," said Jen Finger of Whole Foods in St. Paul.
Or else you might as well just eat white bread. Finger said Whole Foods employees spend a lot of time educating consumers so they understand what makes something organic and what makes something natural.
"Organic foods are regulated by the USDA. There's the organic rule and there's specific criteria that need to be met for foods to qualify as organic," she said.
To get the USDA organic seal, food must be made with at least 95 percent organic ingredients. You'll find that same seal on some personal care products but not all. In fact, there are no requirements for personal care products. So if you see the word "organic" in a product title it may not tell you the whole story.
"Facial lotion could say organic and be made with six different kinds of organic essential oils but not necessarily 95 percent of the product," said Finger.
It seems only natural that the word "natural" would mean just that. When the word "natural" appears on meat it means minimally processed with no artificial additives. But see the word "natural" on any other food product and "it can mean different things to different suppliers," said Finger.
Consumers want transparency. They've seen what happened in China and realize we don't know much about what we're eating or where it comes from. The federal government is trying to address some of those concerns.
New rules which took effect in September require manufacturers to tell you where products originate. Those labels are called Country of Origin Labels or COOL, but they will not be required for everything including chocolate, bread or tomato sauce. Pretty much any food that has more than one ingredient will be exempt. Retailers will also have six months to comply.
"As a consumer I'm just overwhelmed with all of these different things," said Burton. "I don't even understand half of it."
So next time you see that zero transfat label don't be surprised if you find the product still has partially hydrogenated oil listed in the ingredients. Manufacturers are allowed to use that as long as the item has less than .5 grams.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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