Misleading food labels use healthy-sounding terms for additives

AS IF it wasn’t hard enough understanding the labels on your groceries, here’s how they make potentially harmful additives actually sound healthy.

FOOD companies are conning shoppers by giving dubious preservatives and additives more natural names to make them seem healthy.

Queensland nutritionist Cyndi O’Meara has warned that foods are littered with additives that have links to liver and kidney damage, hyperactivity and diabetes.

But she says manufacturers are adopting “clean labelling” to make the ingredients seem more natural.

‘HEALTH HALO’: Food marketing trick

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: New labels’ fatal flaw

Ms O’Meara said she was concerned that Queenslanders were living on a diet of manufactured meals believing they were healthy.

“Even some packaged ready-to-eat salads have been washed in chemicals,’’ she said.

“ ‘Clean labelling’ is food manufacturers’ terminology to make the ingredients list look more natural.

“Some of the additives that have been renamed have been banned in other countries – but not Australia or New Zealand – as some have links to liver and kidney damage, hyperactivity in children, DNA damage and hormone disruption.”

She said some were also linked with cancer, increases in heart disease, allergies and diabetes.

The author of Changing Habits, Changing Lives saidAustralia’s Health Star Rating system did not take additives into account when determining whether a food was healthy or not.

“While there are some wonderful ethical packaged foods emerging on the market, a more upfront and honest approach is required for educated shoppers,” she said.

Rosemary extract is just one of the euphemisms used to mislead shoppers on food labels.

The wording is a substitute for BHA and BHT, found in foods such as cereals, salami, fresh pasta, margarine and cooking oils to help preserve their shelf life.

Caramelised sugar syrup, which offers flavour and colour, sounds harmless, but Ms O’Meara says it replaces the controversial E150 caramel, which makes bread and cooked chickens look nicely browned.

Yeast extract, meanwhile, is actually MSG and it’s found in some spreads, soups, dips and microwave meals.

Mother Sarah Henderson said she tried to buy whole foods but always checked the ingredients of processed foods she bought for daughters Eliza, 2, and Edith, 4.

“Even in the health food aisle, you have to be careful because things are so heavily processed and high in salt and artificial ingredients,” she said.

“I already thought food companies were sneaky to begin with, so it doesn’t surprise me.’’

How you are being conned

Rosemary extract: Actually additives numbers 300-321, found in some cereals, salami, fresh pasta or margarine or cooking oils

Yeast extract: Hidden form of MSG found in some spreads, soups, dips, chips, microwave dinners

Rice extract: A chemical stabiliser and emulsifier used in ice cream, pizzas, savoury snacks

Natural Green Colour: Has several ingredients including curcumin extracted via petroleum products and propylene glycol found in lollies and drinks

Caramelised sugar syrup: Replaces E150 caramel which gives bread and cooked chicken a brown look

Roasted barley malt extract: Flavouring and colour enhancer makes cereals taste toasted

Originally published as Misleading food labels use healthy-sounding terms for additives