By Judy Davie
**”I try to make sure I buy healthy packaged food but noticed when I read last month’s fridge audit on your site that some of the products that I buy each week were not that healthy. What should I be looking at when I’m shopping for food?”
— Jenny**
It’s quite understandable that you could be fooled by food manufacturers’ marketing spiels; they’re put there to entice you to pick a product up off the shelf. But it’s what it says on the back and sides that should determine whether or not you drop it into your basket.
The best example is the fat-free phenomenon. For years the fat-free message was all any weight conscious person needed to see to make a buying decision, but when the general population’s weight went up it prompted people to question why.
A smart shopper will gather as much information as he/she can before committing to a purchase and the extent of their research is usually determined by the price. A car, computer or any other high price item is usually extensively researched, but individual food items — which cost comparatively very little — are not. However, when you consider the annual cost of grocery items and the value of your own and your family’s health, it’s worth taking the extra measures to turn the pack over and find out everything there is to know before making the investment.
