How to detect fake ‘healthy’ products

Don't fall victim to deceptive marketing

- CHESHIRE QUE, RND, RN, RD

Sugar-free, fat-free, cholesterol-free, trans-fat-free, organic, no sugar added, vegan, and so on.

We see these labels on food products that are sold not only in health stores but ordinary supermarkets as well. Are they genuinely as healthy as they claim to be?

The principle of the adage, “Don’t judge the book by its cover,” also applies to food products. Do not judge the product by its packaging. Simply put, we should not fall prey to the ploys of ingenious marketing. You see, packaging is meant to entice us to grab hold of a product the minute we lay eyes on it. Just like love at first sight. Before we decide to put that thing inside the shopping cart, the most prudent thing to do is to first take a look at the nutrition label and the list of ingredients.