(no subject)

[momsalive1]

I saw this phrase "health-giving bio-live cultures" in an ad for some very delicious looking and undoubtedly good for you yogurt (http://www.rachelsorganic.co.uk/products/greek/gs-coconut.html).It is the type of advertising claim that catches my eye all the time - a string of words designed to evoke a good feeling or scientific legitimacy but that makes no sense whatsoever. They are amusing unless I think about them long enough to get pissed off - people want accurate information about what they are buying and they get manipulated instead. Maybe I should keep track of these in a list that would be headed by "natural goodness of nature". They are just begging for snark laden commentary, but I haven't figured out a way to do it that doesn't sound impossibly smug and wonkish. Then again, maybe I am impossibly smug and wonkish, and so should just go for it...

Comments

[ffiondove.livejournal.com]

I couldn't open the link but i recognise the product, I have been looking out for it since mrs sean bean recommended it, is there something suspect in it?

[momsalive1]

No! It was just the phrase that got me - I see the same sort of thing on my breakfast ("heart-healthy") cereal.

[andien.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be all nerdy and say "there are EU regulations that govern the claims that can be made on food packaging!"

[momsalive1]

Do you think they do the job?

I'd rather have regulations than not, but in our case I don't think they go far enough, and I am not sure they ever could. Part of what makes these ads so interesting to me is figuring out what regulation they are working around in their phrasing. The USDA owns the word "organic" now - you can't market your product as organic unless it meets certain standards. I am all for that, both because organic is good on some (tho not all, and what does "good" mean in this context?) levels and because the regulation effectively stops a particular brand of false advertising. So you can't use the work organic, but you can say "natural", "wholesome" or "earth friendly" and the consumer is left with the impression that something is organic (whatever that means - another whole rant).

People are smart, and they do pay attention, but there isn't much you can do about making a good choice when the information is false or misleading.

[andien.livejournal.com]

To be organic foods have to be certified by a certification body like the soil association within the EU regulations, the farm and processing plant have to be inspected and there has to be no cross contamination with food not grown to the organic standards - and the standards are a public document.

So "organic" is tied up with steel hawsers but other terms are a bit more "fluid"

[momsalive1]

Same here - so do you think that is enough? Do you feel you get the information you need when you are chosing a food item? And do you think that the consumer who isn't a lawyer with an ag background is likely to get the information they need?

[andien.livejournal.com]

Well the government is suggesting a "traffic light" labelling system

Red if the food is high in fat and or sugar or salt

Amber if it's not so bad

Green if it's positivley good for you

So far only one supermarket has adopted the system

There is also regulation stopping "unsupportable claims" of health benefits.

It's pretty complicated I concede - and likely to get more so with the advent of "functional foods"

I buy a "probiotic drink" - to get the old good bacteria, not quite sure what it's supposed to be doing for me though!

[momsalive1]

On the colors - that is an interesting approach. Like the terror threat levels we have - do you as well? Orange I think is the highest, probably because the red lobby got involved and convinced the government not to perpetuate the negative sterotype that red is an Angry Color.

"probiotic drink...the old good bacteria"

I know nothing about this but my first guess is that we have no problem getting those bacteria through the normal course of events and if you didn't have the ones you need your gut wouldn't be functioning right, so you would know. If you take antibiotics you can temporarily disupt the community, but they re-establish on their own.

What are functional foods? More to the point, what is a non-functional food?

[mdunnbass.livejournal.com]

Sounds a lot like the "Visco-elastic memory cells" advertised on the commercials for a TV-order bed around here. I mean, WTF does that mean???

Matt

[momsalive1]

"visco-elastic memory cells"

LOL!!! I have those, more and more as I get older. I'll be trying to think something through...trying...trying...then !!ping!! it snaps back and takes out a little piece of flesh.