Food labels: Informing or misinforming consumers?

It is over the news since 20th October '09 that "The FDA is warning food manufacturers about false claims on food labels that may mislead consumers". Food manufacturers are touting their products for healthy or smart choices using all kinds of colorful logos, symbols to attract consumers.
Even though the primary purpose of these labels is to communicate health related information. Many food companies are using it as a marketing tool.

Labels like American Heart Association's heart shaped logo, Smart Choices check mark and many others appear on the front of food packages that contain large amount of sugar, salt and other ingredients that may be unhealthy.

Busy consumers shop for groceries by looking at the signs and symbols that indicate the food is healthy. Many consumers may not read the ingredients on the package before deciding to purchase the product. As rightly said "the devil is in the details", ingredients, nutritional information from the label would give the consumers better idea about the quality of food inside the package. It pays to take the time to read the label information.
FDA has warned consumers to read food labels before buying food products.

So the next time you go grocery shopping, plan to spend some extra time in the food aisles to look at those labels on food packages before buying them!