You can fool some of the people some of the time , but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

Many posts and blogs are discussing the health effects of misleading food labels. I believe that there is another more basic level to the issue.
People have the right to make informed choices.  They can eat what ever they like and eat as much as they want.

The issue is the misleading information that is put on the food label. The FDA regulates when labels can state "fat free" or "sugar free". They also require that when a health statement is made such as "sugar free", the manufacturer must add disclaimers if the fat content is high, as to not mislead people.

When one buys a food product, and actually reads the label it needs to be accurate and informative. Then, and intelligent person can make his or hers own decision.


Let us not forget that the front food label panel is advertising, and as such, when it is used to advertise and market a product it should fall under the deceptive trade practice act. It is in effect false advertising.


Several months ago I was helping a customer create his food labels ( we deal with the labels and printing side of it) The customer was very confused about the regulation. As a result we created a "human readable" (no need to be a lawyer) food labeling guide that is based on the FDA regulations. The section dealing with statements and claims is particularly relevant to this discussion.