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by antisthenes 3603 days ago
> that every sugary breakfast cereal and energy drink would seem quite healthy if all you looked at was the nutrition facts label.

That is factually false, since their labels do quite accurately reflect that they consist of nothing more than carbs (and a bit of protein, for some cereals). I'm not sure how one would come to a conclusion that energy drinks are good for you from their nutrition label, unless you're assuming sugars, artificial colorings, taurine and caffeine are all healthy compounds.
2 comments
chjohasbrouck 3603 days ago
Those are just two product categories well-known for their manipulation of the nutrition facts label, and there are definitely millions of consumers that think they confer health benefits as a result of how the nutrition facts label was manipulated.

Most people think VitaminWater is healthy, and feel like they're doing something good for their body when they drink it. They'd probably be more discerning and come to a better conclusion about that product if you completely removed its nutrition facts label.

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unprepare 3603 days ago
thats because of how the products are marketed, not the nutrition label.

people think vitamin water is healthy because its called vitamin water. because the flavors are called things like "immune booster" "essential" "multi-v" and because they give descriptions on exactly what ailment this drink is designed to combat.

putting 1/2 cup as the serving size for ice cream is manipulating a nutrition label to sell more product, putting truthful information on the label and advertising your product as health food anyways is just dishonest marketing.

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stevenwiles 3600 days ago
You don't seem to understand the difference between marketing on the package and the nutrition label. Do you acknowledge these are different?
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dpritchett 3603 days ago
Some people don't balk at the sight of a mostly-grain ingredients list. Lots of people aren't into macronutrients.
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antisthenes 3603 days ago
It's interesting that one of the first books I read as a child ~5-6 years old was describing how a human body works.

It had a full chapter on macro-nutrients.

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