Labeling on food packages

[WuzzFuzz]

Now here's my rant, and I hope there are some members here employed where they can do something about it.

On many products, they look the same, but in the fine print they might be "Less sodium". (They taste different..case in point V8 juice) Or "Creamy", not Chunky as before. Plain ole mushroom soup, not the lower sodium, or "Golden mushroom", Mac and Cheese, if they are going to be little "O's" in the box, then don't put a picture of the long mac on the box, and small print that they're the little "O's" are inside. The box looks the same, but they're different. If it's different, then put it in a different looking box or can.

If it comes in a jar, then have the jar come in a straight sided jar, not ones that have the neck smaller than the main portion. (It's hard to get all the goodies out, if the jar has a necked down, and you're trying to get the last bit out with a knife).

They'd print the expiration date on bread, and not use those colored wire ties.

Print the directions in large print on how to fix the product. A person has to have a magnifying glass to read stuff any more.

Not having to have to a sharp knife to open just about everything now.

There's more, but I'll let you'all add to the list.


They were out of prune juice. That's why I am this way today


WuzzFuzz

 

[Gunslinger808]

Ever notice on microwave in the box items the directions are always on the bottom?

"Easy open" that isn't?

Powdered items always come in the most unstably designed containers?

Every pull top is a razor blade in disguise?

 

[timn8er]

I wish more stores would carry more reduced sodium choices. Things like chips, soups, along that line. Larger print instructions would be nice too.

 

[speedyquad]

i print the labels...when it comes to food labels, you would be surprised at how much goes into getting even the slightest change...everything needs approved, from the slightest type change to a spelling change...

the labels are designed to sell the product to you...label size and number of colors decides the price, which plays into design...

 

[WuzzFuzz]

i print the labels...when it comes to food labels, you would be surprised at how much goes into getting even the slightest change...everything needs approved, from the slightest type change to a spelling change...

the labels are designed to sell the product to you...label size and number of colors decides the price, which plays into design...

Then I sure do wish they'd sell me what I want, not what they want to sell to me.


Sometimes the only good I can get out of buying a package of something I thought was one thing, only to find out later it's not what I thought it was, is when there's one of those functions that has, entry by giving a can or package of food to the food bank, then I can give it away!!!!!!



WuzzFuzz

 

[speedyquad]

i know what you mean...the fda set the rules on how big the sodium content, etc things need to be...

the strict one is pharma labels...such as similac baby formula and other such things...the rules we have to follow are just outrageous...

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My wife assigns bar-codes and UPC numbers to products for her employer then just that part of packaging is returned to the supplier and they send sample labels back for approval, my wife only has to do with the bar-code, and still she has to reject a label design several times even when she sends along a sample of the correct bar-code. It is easier to understand with people who come from foreign lands that use different language, alphabet,and numerals. But the biggest offenders are right here in the go old USA. My best friend works with industrial products that are sold all over the world. The shipping labels ( MTSD ) are different for every country even inside the EEU. He uses a $80,000 computer program that has constant updates, and still has labels rejected (I believe for 2 reasons. First; They don't know their own regulations or changes. Second; There is no envelope of cash included with the sample label) In English the same product has 8 different labels, in French 18 labels, You see the problems he faces. Petty Bureaucrats are a world wide plague. Ivan

 

[the ringo kid]

Ever notice on microwave in the box items the directions are always on the bottom?

"Easy open" that isn't?

Powdered items always come in the most unstably designed containers?

Every pull top is a razor blade in disguise?

Aint that the truth! I cut my left foot badly the other day opening a can of soup-lid slipped out of my hand (I was wearing toe-less slippers) and the lid landed edge on--my foot--cutting it badly.

 

[Road Rat]

I'm with you.

I really dislike (should have said HATE) that I have to pick up and thoroughly read every word on a package/can/box/etc., to be sure I'm buying what I want!!

Packaging is a total waste of BILLIONS of pounds of paper and plastic (that you need a sharp knife to cut).

However, I do like the cans that I can open with the pull tabs!!

 

[speedyquad]

Packaging is a total waste of BILLIONS of pounds of paper and plastic (that you need a sharp knife to cut).

that is only the end product you see. every different work order we run use around 800 sheets of paper getting the registration(all colors to line up) and the color right. depending on the size of the run, we may throw out another 100 to 500 sheets. every time the press shuts down for any reason takes 30 at least 30 sheets for quality useable labels. we are pretty good and average about 7.5% waste per job. we have 3 presses, each averaging about 120,000 sheets a day. so we throw out roughly 27,000 sheets a day. which works out to 7,020,000 sheets a year just from us. our sheets range in size from 19" to 28" wide and 35 to 40" long. we print on plastic, metallized and paper substrates.

changes in labels mean trial runs which waste paper. i've printed labels that, after seeing them on the bottle, have been altered yet again and never see a store...sometimes minor changes are made without the consumer even realizing there was a change.

and we joke about how picky the customers are when the label just ends up in the garage anyway...

 

[loutent]

Here's the thing - if it has a label with ingredients - don't eat it - seriously.

Stay around the outside of the supermarket (veggies, fish, meat, some dairy).

I started doing this about 2 years ago - lost 55-60 lbs and maybe 10-15 years off my chronological age (66). I thought I was old, but I wasn't - it was just the processed c*** that I was eating (wheat, sugar, starch etc).

Here's an interesting article about cereals:

10 Grain-Free Cereal Recipes & More Breakfast Ideas | Satisfying Eats

You really can control your diet - and it's pretty simple.

 

[WuzzFuzz]

As I said at the beginning, I really don't like to get a surprise on what's inside a package, so I'm "ALMOST" inclined to have stuff come in a clear Mason jar, so I can see what's inside.

That would make for some good recycling of the jars ..I'll bet they would become a hit down in the mountain states


WuzzFuzz

 

[Salty RI]

I'm sorry they were out of prune juice, I hope everything comes out OK.

 

[WuzzFuzz]

I'm sorry they were out of prune juice, I hope everything comes out OK.

Nope, not yet, so I'll just have to grin and bare it

Maybe a Constitutional walk later this morning when it warms up outside


WuzzFuzz

 

[NCTexan]

How about a tiny 2 ounce package of some goodie that proclaims only 10 calories per serving... Read the fine print and it says something stupid like 50 servings per package.

Also... Bold labeling on something like a bottle of spring water that shouts out "Gluten Free". No kidding! And also "No Transfats".

However, all this must work effectively on the shopping sheeple. Yup, they shop and they vote too.

 

[GKC]

It's been mentioned already, but I have to say that I too hate the packaging...the "easy open" type that isn't, which comes sealed in industrial strength, armored wrap that a sawzall won't cut. AND when you get through that, you find that there is a plastic barrier between the lid and the product, that cannot be pried off.

I absolutely loathe those press-to-seal packages that won't seal...why can't they come in a zip-to-close style with the pull tab? You know, the one that actually works?

I have to laugh at the serving sizes listed on some labels, especially when it comes to things like low-calorie potato chips: "50 calories per 10 crisps" when ten crisps are about as thick as a sheet of paper, and a normal person could put a hundred at a time in his mouth and still whistle.

And on a completely different note, I have noticed that many products now have labels that are printed in both English and Spanish. I loathe "Press 1 for English" and I simply won't buy products labeled this way, if there is any alternative.

 

[WuzzFuzz]

Also,,,stay away from butcher shops, that you don't see any cats loitering around out back




WuzzFuzz

 

[walkin jack]

If I may I'd like to expand on some of Wuzz Fuzz's observations. (He said we could so I hope this ain't a hijack) But first, I agree that the print should be large enough for EVERYTHING on the label (even the stuff they don't want you to know but are required to put on it) that people over the age of 30 can read it without magnification. GRRRRRR. That's is one of my hot buttons. Especially for perishable items like milk. The print on the milk containers is small and (intentional or not) often the ink is blurry and illegible.

And wouldn't you like to get your hands around the throat of the idiot that thought it was a good idea to put these little stickers on every single piece of fruit in the store?!? I don't mind it on things like bananas or melons because I don't eat the rind/peel. But on tomatoes or peaches or plums it is just ignorant! They put 'em on GOOD to so that you can't get them off without tearing the skin of the fruit. GRRRRRRR.

And finally, have you ever noticed that you have to choose between 10 or 15 different flavors or varieties of a lot of the food products that originally only came in one flavor?

Doritos, for example, now come in about 8 different flavors maybe more, I haven't been to the store today. I think it was in the early '70's when Doritos came out. I LOVED 'EM!! They got very popular very quickly. This is because they were good and lots of people liked 'em.

Now the producers of them want, like all other producers of food products, to be all things to all people, they have to try to have a flavor to suit every taste. And the irony of this is that now a lot of places don't even carry the original Doritos anymore. GRRRRRRR. I now have to pic through all the fad flavors of the day and STILL can't get the ones that make Doritos so popular to begin with.

I just happened to encounter a young Frito-Lay guy putting them in the shelves one day and read him the riot act. I told him that even though he was not even born yet when they came out he needed to be aware that the REASON they were so popular was because of the taste of the ORIGINAL flavor and now you don't even put them on the shelf?!?!?!

I could read his mind. Just another grouchy old goat that hates change. Well, maybe he got it right but still...............

One more example if I may. All this has been eatin' on me for along time now and I've needed to get it off my chest. Please bear with me I'm almost done.

Stewed tomatoes

I cook with Stewed tomatoes a lot. But now I have to be very careful because of all the different ways they are canned. You have Diced, diced in sauce, petite diced, steamed, no salt added,sun dried, w/onions, w/jalapenos, w/onions and jalapenos. w/basil and garlic, w/jalapenos and cilantro, and so on and so forth. Grrrrrr. Just let me have a doggone can of tomatoes I'll put what I want in them when I use them, for cryin' out loud!!

And I'm not even going to get into Coke and other soft drinks. I expect you all see my point by now.

Anyway thanks for letting me get this out here. I feel all better now.

 

[BobC357]

Most processed foods have had the nutritious part removed already. Look at V8 juice -- there's nothing left -- just the color and the water. Virtually no vitamins, proteins or good stuff. Meats are even worse. Trust me, you don't even want to know what's in a corn dog.

Just because the label says it contains beef, chicken, pork or mystery meat, that label doesn't really tell you what you're eating. It could be the hooves or hide for all you know. There have been many news items for "pink slime" in the news recently. Hot dogs are not what you think they are -- even the good expensive ones.

I want an expiration date I can read. Not white ink on white paper or glass. Put it where it can be read by a normal person. None of those cryptic codes either. I don't want to waste my time trying to decipher letters into months and add 3 years to the canning date and ..... Tell me when it expires -- preferably on the top of the bottle, jar or box.

Low sodium is good and I'm now seeing everything from ketsup to ice cream informing us that it doesn't contain the killer High Fructose Corn Syrup. We don't buy it if that's in it. It is probably the number one cause of diabetes.

Now, if we could just get the FDA to quit listening to Monsanto and start listening to the buying public, we would find out if the contents are Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). Everything from soy to salmon, corn to apples are becoming GMO. You can't buy chocolate in America today that doesn't contain GMO soy. GMO is everywhere. The scary thing is that the companies making it are the ones doing safety testing. If a third party identifies a danger or threat, these Big Ag companies buy the organization and silence the report.

I don't trust anything that comes out of a grocery store today. Nothing! We now grow and can much of what we eat. From wild turkey to beets, we know where our food comes from, what's in it, how it was prepared and when. We buy our own beef on the hoof and just like our game meats, it isn't grain fed -- it is properly aged. Deer, elk, antelope don't eat corn for a week and neither does our beef. All natural grass fed on open range. You have to age it properly but our guests never complain about the quality -- they usually ask where we bought it! So the cellar is full of canned veggies and meats as is the chest freezer which is full to the top and our grocery bill is less than $75 a month for the two of us. We eat well -- almost too good!

I agree with the OP in that we also need good product labeling. While we are buying less and less in stores and growing or raising more of our own, we still need to buy some items.

 

[kozmic]

Aint that the truth! I cut my left foot badly the other day opening a can of soup-lid slipped out of my hand (I was wearing toe-less slippers) and the lid landed edge on--my foot--cutting it badly.

I thought you were going to tell us you were using your feet to open the soup can. I was gonna say "do that man's talents ever end"?