Nutrition is the fundamental right of all people, but getting the right information about the values and contents of foods is just as important as the right to nutrition.
The labels on the foods are actually like the identity of the foods, as you read them, you kind of get to know what you eat and drink. Of course, the habit of reading the product contents of foods is not very common in our country, although we do, we often do not read it correctly. We would also like to open a small parenthesis, since all the information in this content is compiled from the labels written on the products in question, you can check and confirm. So, let’s see together that the contents of some products are not like that, and let’s become conscious.
Fruit-flavored and artificial sweetener drinks contain little to no fruit.
There is 100% fruit in pure fruit juices, but drinks that are sold as fruit juices and contain 10% fruit are classified as fruit drinks. In addition, these types of beverages contain sugar, acid, flavoring, coloring and preservative additives. Likewise, fruit nectars do not contain 100% fruit; In the brand you see in the picture, peach nectar contains 0.5%, orange nectar 25%, apple nectar 16% and grape nectar 0.6% fruit. In other words, the most important detail that distinguishes these drinks from each other is the fruit ratio. You may be saying “I’m buying fruit juice” and buying flavored drinks with a very low fruit ratio.
But what about the fact that Fanta only contains 3% orange?
One can of Fanta contains 24.1 grams of added sugar; so that’s roughly 12 cubes of sugar. In addition, this product contains artificial flavoring, corn syrup (fructose) and coloring. In short, Fanta is a product known as orange flavored soda, but the proportion of orange in it is quite low.
Did you know that Knorr chicken bouillon contains only 0.05% chicken?
Knorr chicken stock bouillon is available in packs of 3, 6, 12 or 24. In addition, one bouillon in a package is 10 grams. The packaging of the product says “Delicious meat without cuts or giblets is used in our bouillons. Our meats are boiled and dried”, but the rate of chicken in the product is 5. This means that there is 5 grams of chicken meat in one ton of bouillon.
Let’s not forget that there is 0.005 grams of chicken meat in a single 10-gram bouillon, that is, one-2000th of a gram. This product contains sweetener, salt, sugar and spices rather than chicken meat. When you look at the product label in detail, you will see that there is 49.3 grams of salt in 100 grams of product. This means that you have added a product that is half salt instead of bouillon to your meals. Also, consider the extra salt you add while cooking. It may be good not to add too much extra salt when adding bouillon to your meals. Let’s also add that there are 19 grams of palm oil in 100 grams of the product.
Let’s get to the lemonade…
Lemonades are one of the indispensable drinks of the summer months. Well, if you ask how much lemon is in the lemonades sold in the markets, we can say that natural flavorings are used to give lemon flavor in these drinks. However, this rate is around 10%, so it is not very high. A single 250 ml glass of lemonade contains 30 grams of added sugar, that is, approximately 15 cubes of sugar. In fact, this product we drink to cool down consists of sugar; In addition, it does not contain protein, fiber and fat.
What if we say that there is no chicken in Indomie Chicken Flavored Instant Noodle… Which is a pun on saying “chicken flavored” instead of saying “chicken”.
This product contains 2% artificial chicken flavor. In other words, this product that you eat as chicken is actually vegan. This food contains gluten, emulsifier, colorant, salt, palm oil, leavening agent, thickener, potassium carbonate (acidity regulator), sugar, yeast, various spices and flavoring.
In Algida Max Twister Forest ice cream, milk is 1% and fruit is 0.4%.
When you think of ice cream, you think of a food made from milk. However, as you can see, the amount of milk and blackberry flavor in this product is quite low. In short, this food contains ingredients such as milk cream, water and sugar, as well as a lot of artificial sweeteners.
If only the pomegranate sauce hadn’t done this to us…
When it comes to pomegranate syrup, most people may think of 100% pomegranate juice, but unfortunately not every product sold in the market can carry this ratio. For example, the ratio of pomegranate juice concentrate is 30% in most of the market. Moreover, sometimes we can see that glucose syrup is used on the product label, even if it is written on it as a natural product.
A study of 500 people in the UK looked at whether there was a relationship between healthy eating and reading and paying attention to information on food labels. It is determined that the participants with a high level of education examine the food labels and care about the fat-sugar ratio in foods. In the research, it is seen that the percentage of reading the product content increases in parallel with the increase in the income and educational status of the people.
In short, reading the product label correctly is necessary for you to know what you are consuming. This means paying attention to the expiration date, production date, manufacturer, product content, calories and nutrition.
Sources: Food Information, Lab Medya, A101, Twitter, Food Detective, Food Detective 2, Migros, Migros 2, Migros 3, Coca Cola, Gastrofest, YouTube, Behance