In the past few weeks, major food companies have rolled out the new, so-called Smart Choices Label. The label—which was announced last year—is supposed to simplify the nutrition information on food packaging.
Instead of including all those small numbers that list out servings, calories and the mix of fat, sugar and fiber, the new label offers a big green check if it’s a “smart choice” for you, plus calories per serving and number of servings per package.
The goal is to provide easy-to-understand, at-a-glance guidance for consumers who want to make better choices in the grocery aisle.
To qualify for the Smart Choice label, products cannot exceed certain levels of fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium and must provide nutrients such as calcium, fiber and vitamin C. Healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy, also comply. Consumers don’t need to know all the background information, though. They just need to know the checkmark means good for you.
It’s a nice idea, but I’ll bet my retirement that the average American will still eat too many fries and not enough broccoli.
The problem with the American diet isn’t that we don’t know that fried onion rings and chocolate milkshakes are inherently unhealthful. The problem is we don’t care enough to make the healthful choice nine times out of 10.
The food that isn’t good for us tastes better than the food that is. It’s cheaper, easier to fix (microwavable) and we believe (erroneously, perhaps) that most future medical problems will be solved with a pill or surgery.
The real problem, in my opinion, is we too often view prevention (like moderation) as a good but impractical idea for our too-busy, I-don’t-have-time-to-cook-right lives. And while the new label may help steer a few people from potato chips to apples, it won’t do much in the overall campaign to change in America’s eating habits. We need to rethink our attitude about food to do that.