Be Aware of Deceptive Food Packaging

When we go to the grocery store to find healthy products, we will find a bunch of them on every corner of every shelf in the market. Looking through it all, it seems like what is written to the package is promising. We see this package full of hyped words and promises saying “healthier than ever”, “one hundred percent made with natural fruits”, “delicious and healthy”, “this product burn fats as fast as two days”, and the lists goes on and on.

As normal citizens, we are oblivious to its hidden agenda. You might not know but most of these products may be a hundred percent real, or a hundred percent fake. It’s a hundred or none. And most of these products are very deceptive and well written to persuade your naïve self.

And as desperate as we are, we might end up buying such products without knowing if what is written there is true or fake. But there is something you can actually do about it. In this article, we will show you how to be aware of deceptive food packaging.

And once you already do, it’s time to throw those products and replace them with the more authentic ones.

1. Search Online

We are in the age of “technology” and almost everyone is equipped with a device which they call a cellphone. As you all know, cellphones have beyond capacity than being just a source of entertainment and communications.

Cellphones- smartphones, in particular, can go deeper than what you expected. Now, why am I telling you this? It’s because I want you to know that you can do so much on your phone.

When you find a product that caught your interest because of its well-written packaging, do not take it from the shelf in the market immediately and pay it to the counter. Instead, read the label of the product over and over again and most of the time you are not familiar with it.

What you can do is to take your phone, turn on mobile data (or WiFi if available) then go to a product reviewer website. Once you are in, click the search bar of that website to see if the product is being reviewed or not. But be careful, some of these websites are also fake.

Here are some authentic product reviewer websites that you can search online;

• Amazon Customer Reviews
• Angie’s List
• Trust Pilot
• Quora
• Capterra

2. Beware of Cheap Packaging

If you’re a product user enthusiast, you can tell if the product is authentic or a copycat by just the looks of it or by touching it. Some known companies invest in their products and most of their packaging is well-made and has good textures. Such companies include;

• Coca-cola
• KIND
• Chobani
• Oxford Pennant
• RxBar

3. Don’t Be Lured With Cool Packaging

Don’t forget that most food marketing strategies are now smarter. They will make their packaging more appealing and engaging. Just because a particular product is developed by well-known individuals doesn’t mean they are more nutritious and authentic. Look past these cool packaging as much as possible.

As opposed to cheap packaging, they will make it presentable to persuade buyers. But you can still feel its authenticity by the texture.

4. Be Hypervigilant

Being extremely sensitive to your surroundings will actually help you in finding good products. Assume that the label “Made with 100% fruits” means there’s only a small amount of fruit percentage in it or “This product contains whole grain” also means that those particular products contain a tiny bit of whole grains.

These claims don’t always mean it has the highest quality amount of an ingredient.

5. Don’t Believe All Claims on the Packaging

Let’s be realistic here. Some manufacturers are not always honest on their packaging. Sometimes, they add a certain percentage of the ingredients to make it appear healthier. They even use false claims just so their product will sell.

The product may imply “100% made with organic” doesn’t mean it’s already healthy for you.

6. Know the Ingredients Lists

Most manufacturers list their ingredients based on the quality from highest to lowest. Know the first three ingredients which make up the most part of what you consume. It’s safe to assume that if the three products are types of sugar, hydrogenated oils, and refined grain- it’s all unhealthy.

Bottom Line

Being sensitive to the products you are buying is not wrong. We are for healthy foods- not the other way around.

Make yourself more knowledgeable about certain products. Good buyers are those who know what they are purchasing.