Why don’t Americans give a f*** about what they eat?
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Anonymous
It’s ONE example! We could make it easier on the consumer by instituting a simple stoplight label on the front of packaging: green for anytime foods, yellow for things with more added sugar, fat and salt, red for things that should be eaten sparingly. Then people wouldn’t have to invest time in reading the fine print. But manufacturers have fought that for decades. |
Anonymous
| I had been putting oat milk in my coffee and just found out that it is more like pitting sugary pancake syrup in my coffee. I have a PhD and I can't figure out what to eat! At least I can afford a nutritionist. Why is it so complicated? |
Anonymous
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They absolutely do! My FIL has Philly Cheesesteak, The Garlic Knot, some BBQ place, and a fancy bakery on a weekly rotation. He will only eat restaurant food and be pissed if he can't get the food on a day he wants it. He has a dessert every single day, and not any of that less sugar that Europeans like, proper full of sugar American treats like brownies. (This is actually a rant he goes on. When he goes on cruises they have European-type desserts which he finds lacking in properly loaded sugar taste.)
He is approaching 80, and he told us he will never be bedridden or infirm, he will go the way he wants to. Nope, he'll not have a stroke and veg out and make us miserable, his arteries are perfect. No, he never checked them and he takes cholesterol meds but his arteries are fine, thank you very much. Actually, joking aside, he is overweight in his belly, but he still works and walks at his work a ton, so his arteries might be perfectly fine in fact. |
Anonymous
Are you a lobbyist for Nestle or something? Why are you so resistant to the idea of correctly labeling trash masquerading as food? |
Anonymous
Putting stoplight labels on food is not feasible. Different people have different nutritional needs. Kids vs adults, diabetic vs non-diabetic, allergies, metabolic disorders, athletes vs sedentary, etc. That’s why the current nutrition info is ideal. It tells you grams of fiber, protein, carbs, added sugars, ingredients, GF?, whatever you want to know. Individuals can choose what is appropriate for themselves. The government or food corps don’t know and should not label a food good or bad because it’s different for different people. Example. A lot of of people avoid carbs. I train for marathons and in the days leading up to a race, I look for high carb foods. On a regular week, I’ll look for high protein. I avoid fake foods and preservatives as much as possible always. Sometimes I need low fiber, refined carbs for instant energy, sometimes not. Some days I’ll crave salt and eat a bag of potato chips and I don’t consider it a “bad” food. Some days I crave a big hamburger and fries—my body tells me this is “good”. I have family members with celiac—what works for me, might not work for them. |
Anonymous
You are putting all Americans in the same bag just because you are in a hotel and go to a few restaurants? Why the heck are you being so vulgar using the f word? Other posters would say you are low class. Enjoy the sausage and the strange tasting bacon, dear. They match your “low class”. |
Anonymous
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Chile put black box warning labels on junk food. Parents stopped buying it as much. Their sky high obesity rates are falling.
In America, the only solution we offer to societal problems is personal responsibility. That’s the way our capitalist overlords like it. It’s no wonder our levels of anxiety and depression are sky high. This forum is next level though….with all the trolls specifically here to add to parents (let’s be real though mostly moms) shame and sense of failure. But we’re not failures. We’re trying to stay afloat. |
Anonymous
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https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/08/12/486898630/chile-battles-obesity-with-stop-signs-on-packaged-foods
Here’s an article about the Chile thing. This isn’t a uniquely American problem. Almost 70% of Chileans are overweight or obese. |
Anonymous
My DD is lactose intolerant so she started drinking Almond Milk. I searched for the purist almond milk I could find, that only had Almonds and Water, and could only find 1 brand (I think it may have salt or 1 other ingredient). The solution? Make my own. It's quite simple, tastes better and I can make it in smaller batches. You can do the same for Oat Milk. |
Anonymous
Yes more labor! Just work harder! That’s a winning solution for all! |
Anonymous
Actually it isn’t. Most oat mills they don’t “add” in additional sugar- look at the ingredients. But how they have to squeeze and process the oats, the natural sugars in the oats separate in the “milking” process so when everything is put together for the final product it has to be labeled as “added” sugar. Though it really isn’t. It is from carbohydrates that were already present in the oats pre-milking. The kind you make it home will have the same amount of sugar. |
Anonymous
Raise your own cows, become a butcher, grow almond trees in town… Those are the magic solutions 
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Anonymous
The UK seems to find it feasible: https://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/helpingyoueatwell/324-labels.html?start=3#:~:text=Using%20the%20government%20scheme%2C%20a,calories%20and%20kilojoules)%20it%20provides. I'd also add that they do a MUCH better job on allergen labeling for restaurant menus. |
Anonymous
Well, it isn’t like people are hand washing clothes, dishes, ironing, cleaning their own houses or even physically driving themselves to grocery stores and doing their own shopping. So sure, squeeze some almonds. Let’s not pretend we are all “so busy” |
Anonymous
| I hand wash my dishes, clean my own house and do my own shopping. So do most Americans. |