Manufacturers are targeting more and more of their advertising directly to kids and at younger and younger ages. They are very conscious of making the packaging very appealing to kids.
Research shows that kids have more spending money and the food and drink manufacturers want to influence the kids to
- spend it on their products
- get their parents to spend it on their products.
Even though these products claim to be natural and organic doesn't mean that the ingredients are all healthy. In fact, natural is not legally defined, so manufacturers can use it even if a product has no natural ingredients at all.
Anything produced in a laboratory is processed to some degree. It's not going to be as healthy as something picked from a tree or from your garden, or made from fresh produce from your grocery store, no matter how natural and organic it is.
If you must buy packaged products, it's vitally important that you read the ingredients list. Nothing else on the package has any meaning if the ingredients are not healthy.
If you don't understand every ingredient on the ingredients list, you can get help from the book, Food Additives: A Shopper's Guide To What's Safe & What's Not. It classifies the additives according to safety and you'll know, you won't have to guess, if the product inside the package is healthy or not. The book is even simple enough for your kids to use when they're choosing products they want to buy or want you to buy.
So, parents beware! The food manufacturers are targeting your kids with their advertising more than ever. Arm yourself with the tools that will help you and your kids to make informed choices.
Learn more about food additives.
No comments:
Post a Comment