A food claim is a description that attempts to establish a connection between food substances and a lower risk of developing a health condition or disease (Buttriss, 2015). It's worth noting that any statement mentioning one of these elements does not necessarily imply a health argument. There are a few phrases, in particular, that may be part of a dietary recommendation if they are valid. On the other hand, functional arguments are statements that detail a substance's specific role in preserving normal health. As a result, people need to understand that food labeling with health claims implies a connection between a food component or ingredient and the risk of developing health problems.
“Healthy” from a Nutrition Perspective
Food labels list different types of nutrition and health claims which include a simple listing of nutrients within a food product. The nutrient content claims give the levels of nutrients such as "sugar-free," "low in fat," "reduced salt," and "high fiber" which link the food type to a given state of health (Buttriss, 2015). There are nutrient function claims which provide a description of the role a particular nutrient plays in the functions of the body, physiological growth, and development among other issues. A good example is the presence of folate in a food substance assists in red cell formation. Moreover, there are other function claims which modify the routine functioning of the body like calcium improves bone density. Thus, we can say that a particular food type is healthy given the nutrient content. Lastly, reduction of disease claims where vegetables lower the chances of developing cancers is another way of viewing “healthy” from a nutrient perspective.
Food Claims on Foods Packaging
There has been a debate for a long time on whether to allow or disallow food claims on food packaging. One of the reasons proposed for allowing food claims were labelling on packages is because they will assist consumers to make informed and rational food choices. Moreover, permitting the labelling of truthful dietary disease claims by producers of food substances will generate benefits to consumers as it will foster competition on companies to supply standard nutritional features of foods (Cooper & Kuszczak, 2014). On the other hand, regulatory bodies should disallow food claims on food packages as this will result in highly processed foods with misleading information. Subsequently, there will be a distortion in the dietary habits. Regardless, the benefits outweigh the negative impacts and, therefore we should allow food claims on food packages.
Evaluation of Foods and their Health Needs
One of the ways through which individuals can effectively evaluate foods and whether they meet their health needs is through adopting flexibility in the working of food packaging labels. In particular, there should be the use of split claims that make it easier for the common man to understand quickly. Additionally, the government should provide more resources to aid consumers in using, understanding, and trust the recommended regulated information which includes not only their health but also the nutrient content (Cooper & Kuszczak, 2014). Therefore, more emphasis by the regulatory bodies should be in the expansion of product categories, nutrient types, the different health messaging claims among other issues in a bid to introduce a new perspective towards food claims. Hence, this will bring out the negative and positive attributes of foods enabling consumers to evaluate them given their health needs effectively.
References
Buttriss, J. (2015). Nutrition and health claims in practice. Nutrition Bulletin, 40(3), 211-222. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nbu.12155
Cooper, M., & Kuszczak, I. (2014). Health, Nutrition and Food-Related Claims in Magazine Advertisements. Journal Of The Academy Of Nutrition And Dietetics, 114(9), A20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.06.053
