The Smart Choices Program is intended to help shoppers make healthier choices at the grocery store. It seems like a great idea - just look for the check mark on the package and you found your healthy choice, or go to their website and search for foods that make the cut.
The program is based on healthy eating patterns for someone who needs to eat 2000 calories per day - not too much fat, sodium or sugar, and ample amounts of vitamins, mineral and fiber. Each food is judged per serving size as it fits into that 2000 calorie per day diet.
It still sounds good, but oddly a sugary cereal like Froot Loops (almost half of it is sugar) actually fits the criteria. William Neuman of the New York Times has an interesting article on this subject - let's just say some well-known nutrition experts are dismayed.
I'm trying to stay objective on this Smart Choices Program, but I don't know. Can Froot Loops really be considered a healthy food? Tell me what you think.
Many food manufacturers would cheerfully put “No sugar added!” on the label of a can of bacon grease. I am continually dismayed by the efforts of the industry, taken as a whole, to waylay consumers with superficially valid but misleading information.
Clearly something is wrong. Perhaps it’s that Americans are too lazy to read the nutrition information and use common sense about the foods that our bodies need. Perhaps it’s that some manufacturers take no responsibility in providing healthy foods for us to eat…just what will sell and make them profits.
Probably some of both.
I realize that this is another “grand idea” to help the general population, but come one!!! This is ridiculous. I am in the nutrition field and half of the items listed as “smart choices” are not even actually food- they are just processed conglomerates of chemicals. Why do the companies keep trying to come up with new programs, when the answer is simple: Eat whole, REAL foods. Mostly vegetables, whole grains, some fruits… REAL FOOD. I don’t understand why this country wastes so much money on programs and research like this. We already know the right way to eat. It is pathetic.
I’m not sure why everyone sounds so angry. I use common sense to choose foods and sometimes that involves taking short cuts with cooking. I work 12 hour days and take care of my family on a budget. They try to help but I am the one who is really good at making great tasting healthy meals so the responsibility falls on me more often. I don’t always go for “smart” choices because I see that it has partially hydrogenated oils in it or other chemicals that mimic creaminess nor whatever consistency is missing when fat or sugars are removed. Those ingredients scare me. Am I over reacting? I try to buy smart and eat from the local markets. It seems to work for us. My family always loves dinner time! What I’d like to know is how to keep fresh food fresh longer.
The Smart Choices Program was developed by large multinational food conglomerates as a way to make their foods seem more healthy. Companies can “buy” the label to out on their foods, this is why Froot Loops makes the Smart Choice cut.