A group of over a dozen major food companies have come up with a nutrition labeling program. The program, called “Smart Choices” utilizes a large green checkmark, which is starting to appear on packaged food items in stores across the country. The intention of the green checkmark is to help consumers make better food choices when purchasing. In other words, you no longer have to think for yourselves; just follow the green checkmarks to smart food choices like, uh, Fruit Loops.
FRUIT LOOPS.
As a college student, I once watched a thirteen year-old named Brooke for two weeks while her parents were away in Europe. During the course of that time, I taught Brooke a few things, namely:
a new route to her house,
that a big bowl of Fruit Loops contains a chunk of the RDA of Vitamin C, and
how to drive a stick shift.
Not bad for half a month. Well, not bad that is, if you overlook the fact that the new route to her house was forged by our being unbelievably lost out in the country one night. Oh, and that teeny tiny issue of the inevitable sugar low that hits after eating a bowl of Fruit Loops just as the school day begins. And, lest I forget, the incident of Brooke starting my car in gear and driving it through her garage door.
Closer inspection reveals a harrowing aspect to 14 days of fun. Not-so-smart choices.
What would a closer inspection of the “Smart Choices” campaign reveal?
History is full of decisions once labeled smart choice that now seem anything but. Is it possible that eating Fruit Loops might just be one of them? Yet, according to the food industry powers-that-be, a food made of 44% sugar is an intelligent option. They make the Fruit Loops, they market the Fruit Loops, they profit from the sales of the Fruit Loops. Beyond intelligent, the “Smart Choices” campaign is brilliant. Unless you’re the one who ends up holding the Fruit Loops.
“According to Michael Jacobson, the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the criteria for the new ’smarter food’ label is so low that : ‘You could start out with some sawdust, add calcium or Vitamin A and meet the criteria.’”*
Vitamin fortified sawdust? Hmmm. Follow those green checkmarks and they may just lead you to a smart choice meal of Brooke’s broken garage door.
To date, there isn’t a substitute for common sense. If there comes a time when we find one, chances are that it won’t look like a green checkmark placed on a package by the one who stands to make money off of your purchase of the product. Fortunately, as far as food is concerned, we still have a choice. In my opinion, ensuring that choice remains is, without question, one of the smartest things that we can ever do.