Today we
have a short review of a crunchy snack made from potato, oil and flour. The
product is presented as something reasonably “healthy”.
On the
front of the small bag is text claiming that it is Free From. In smaller print it then lists: MSG, artificial flavours and artificial colours and made with
100% healthy-sounding oil. Does it say: free from vitamins? Almost free from
fibre? Negligible amount of protein? No I’m afraid not.
A
smaller label on the front tells us that: 25g
contains 127 calories, and 0.25g of salt - 6% of an adult’s guideline daily
amount (GDA) and 8% of GDA for salt. So far, so not-too-bad. Free from “nasties”
and only 6% of your GDA for calories. Not too bad at all, you might think.
But if
you turn the packet over and look carefully, the bag contains 50g. No outright
lies here but more than a little misleading to put 25g on the front and tuck
away the 50g at the back. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that a
hurried shopper, trying to grab a not-too-unhealthy snack, would look no
further than the messages on the front of the package. But, like “free from”
this device is a common form of healthwash.
If you
double up the calories to allow for the 50g, it takes your insubstantial crunchy
snack up to 12% of your daily calorie needs. Just over 250 calories. No longer so
insignificant if someone it trying to control their intake.
If
challenged, the manufacturers would, no doubt, offer the "recommended
serving" defence that is all too common. But how many people buy one of
these small packets to share? Mothers of miniscule children maybe? More often a
whole packet is given to a child, or is eaten by an adult as an inconsequential bit of crunch to accompany a soggy sandwich.
Is this
a healthy snack, as the manufacturers would have us believe? No, it is a little
bag of calories with only traces of other nutrients. The best that can be said
is that it is better than eating sweets.
On this small
packet we have a classic example of the commonly-used marketing strategies used
to make processed foods look healthier than they really are.
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