Do you get overwhelmed reading food labels at the grocery store? You aren’t alone! See what questions other shoppers have, and what labels they look for.
Food Labels at the Grocery Store
This year, I had the fantastic opportunity to participate in the TASTE 15: Unearthing the Art and Science of Food tour with Best Food Facts and the Center for Food Integrity. The folks at Best Food Facts pulled together a group of food bloggers and a group of farm bloggers, and we had a lot of fun! We visited farms all over the country, got some insight into how foods are handled between the farm and the grocery store, and of course we ate!
All this talking about food got me thinking about how we shop for food. I had the chance to chat with Jocelyn from Inside Bru Crew Life about what she looks for at the grocery store.
When she’s shopping, Jocelyn tends to look for labels that are bright and colorful – they catch her eye – and ones that show the main ingredients without being too busy. Too much detail on a label, and she’s going to pass on by.
One of her frustrations is labels that use “GMO-free,” but the ingredients don’t actually have a GMO component.
Sometimes it feels like companies are jumping on bandwagons because they know consumers will purchase their item if it has that wording on it.
Did you know that there are only 10 GMO foods that are approved to be grown? Two of those were just approved in 2015 and aren’t available in grocery stores just yet (as of December 2015).
(Infographic used with permission from Best Food Facts.)
I really don’t want to get into a big discussion about GMO foods right now. That could be the topic of many, many posts. (And I plan on getting into that in the future!) For now, let’s stick to a conversation about the labels.
The Non-GMO Project does third-party verification on foods and food processors. If you are concerned about avoiding GMOs, you can look for this label:
Just be aware that if you are buying something that does not include the foods in the infographic above, the food is not GMO in the first place.
Most of the time, Jocelyn will choose a brand or generic item that is less expensive. She does have a few brands she is loyal to – she is particularly a fan of Red Gold. She likes Red Gold’s quality and taste over many of the other brands or the generics that are available. But a “natural” label on packaging often makes Jocelyn look a little closer. Not necessarily at the product with that label, but with a comparable product that does not claim to be all-natural.
It makes you wonder what exactly that product is made from. In cases like that, I’m going to choose the label with 100% natural ingredients.
So while cost does come into her purchasing decisions (like it does for all of us!), that’s not the only thing she looks at. She might pay more for an item that has a “100% natural” label on it than she would for a similar item without the same label.
(By the way, the word “natural” has no official definition according to the Food & Drug Administration, who sets food label parameters. The FDA did recently request comments on the word “natural,” so there may be a definition coming soon.)
One other place she would spend a little more money? On local products. Jocelyn would love to see more locally grown foods in her grocery store – with brightly colored labels to catch her eye as she shops. Lucky for Jocelyn (who lives in Indiana), the Indiana Grown brand is launching a comeback and is becoming more prominent in many Indiana grocery stores!
You don’t have to live in Indiana to take advantage of a locally-grown label like this one. Many other states have a similar program. Contact your state’s Department of Agriculture for more information.
I’ve written about some food labels on my other blog, AgriCultured. You can find those posts here:
- Organic labels
- Labels on chicken and eggs
- Labels on meat and the natural label
Thanks so much to Best Food Facts and the Center for Food Integrity for sponsoring this amazing opportunity, and thanks to Jocelyn for talking with me about her food choices!
Be sure to check out a few of Jocelyn’s favorite recipes!
Oreo Peppermint Crunch Cookies
What other food label questions do you have? What doesn’t make sense? What labels do you want to see in your stores? Leave me a comment below with your burning food label questions, and I’ll do my best to help!
{Affiliate links were used in this post. This post was sponsored by Best Food Facts. All thoughts and opinions are my own.}
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