feature
LIFESTYLE
Demystifying
FOOD
Food labels should make shopping easier, but
often have the opposite effect. The Animal Welfare
Institute released a report on the labeling terms
“humane” and “sustainable,” as they are applied
to meat, eggs and dairy products.
80% of the
approved claims
were backed by
no supporting
evidence.
The group has sifted through three
years worth of industry applications
to the USDA to use the terms in
packaging, and found that a shocking
80% of the approved claims were
backed by no supporting evidence.
The group is now petitioning the
USDA to require third-party
certification for these claims.
In June, Consumer Reports and
TakePart.com also launched a petition
to both the FDA and USDA to ban the
“natural” label, stating that seeing it on
packages “leads consumers to believe
the food they buy does not contain such
things as artificial ingredients, GMOs,
pesticides, and hormones,” when in fact
the term is undefined, unregulated and
virtually meaningless.
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