Are we being mislead? Since so much of the food that we eat is processed and full of salts, sugars, preservatives and ingredients that we can’t even pronounce, we tend to eat a surplus of things that our bodies don’t need. Generally, if you put aside most habits of overeating, there really isn’t much out there that has good nutritional value.The Food and Drug Administration now believes that “Smart Choices” nutritional logos from food manufacturers may be misleading consumers about the health benefits of processed foods.

The program came out last year, when concern grew more and more over high obesity rates. The logos are slapped on food containers to help the consumer decide what is a better choice when grocery shopping. The labels appear on boxes of foods that meet certain standards for calories per serving and fat content, but the problem is that the labeling system doesn’t take into consideration the extreme amounts of sugar that may be present within the food.

The FDA is stepping in and developing new nutritional standards that would have to be met before manufacturers place such claims on their packages. It won’t help obesity rates if people just think they are eating healthy, although is still is and always has been a responsibility of the consumer to read the side labels and have a real understanding of what is truly healthy.

-Nora Reed