๐ท๏ธ While food labeling generates much debate, to a large extent in conjunction with the debate on food categories (NOVA, Chilean front label, nutrient content approaches...), one may wonder whether labels are read and whether they are informative, especially amongst younger populations.
A recent study by researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston brings us much hope: albeit its limitations, all the more for the teenage age group at high risk for poor food choices:"๐ฟ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ฎ, ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ช๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ฃ๐๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ก ๐ช๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐ก๐๐จ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ก ๐ช๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ก ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ก ๐ช๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ช๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐ฅ".
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โโWhile making us optimistic, clearly more effort is required, both in terms of ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ (and improvement of labels themselves), and also ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
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No doubt areas where the GoCoCo App ๐ฑ can help jump through the hoops:
- encompassing both a holistic & reductionist rating system
- simple on-the-spot scanning system that will rate the product for you, so you don't need to spend 10 minutes trying to figure out what the label means (and what food claims are relevant)
- providing alternative options for poorly rated products, so you can quickly swap if relevant
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Let's help our teenagers (and adults !) choose wisely ๐
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๐ Access the full article ย here.
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๐ฌ Feel free to comment, agree, disagree, provide further details on these topics here.
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