Forget fruit, vegetables, whole grains and other good sources of nutrients. Now you can enjoy added vitamins with your diet coke, milk is added to cereal bars, and veggies are fried into chips.

Food manufacturers claim that they are responding to customer’s requests by offering low fat, low carb and now foods “enriched” with nutrients and pharmaceuticals. (Hence the term “phoods”) They state that they are in now way encouraging people to abandon a balanced diet, instead offering consumers the same product but with added (nutrient) benefits. Many nutritionists and dieticians disagree, often products claiming to be enriched with vitamins, vegetables, grains, or Omega 3 fats contain miniscule amounts whilst simultaneously containing high amounts of sugar, salt and fat. For example, a popular brand of peanut butter that contains omega 3 fats, may offer a slight nutritional benefit but it is also high in fat and calories.

Even more unfortunate for the average consumer is the complicated labeling. With bold statements such as “calcium builds strong bones” and “Omega 3 is essential for…” These don’t have to be cleared by the FDA, but do have to be derived from the products nutritional content. A product made with whole wheat may not include totally whole wheat, they may be combined with enriched or unbleached flours, similarly potato chips may be dyed red or green with beets and spinach. In most cases you really need to read the fine print on the back.

According to a report from Plunkett Research Ltd sales of functional foods have increased to over $37 billion (USD) in 2007, from $20 billion (USD) in 2006.
Despite the fact that the average human doesn’t need the additional calories associated with this “new and exciting” food category, food manufacturers are always looking for new products to sell.

Source: The Baltimore Sun.

In this day and age we are certainly being forced to educate ourselves on how to eat. Many foods available in our supermarkets today are far from nutritious. At Real our goal is to help you make better choices.