Anyone else see the issue here? Yeah, the front of the wrapper says: “Cholesterol Free” and the back says: “Cholesterol 1mg.” I got this Peanut Bar (whatever that is) out of the vending machine in the Villa last week, and when I discovered the apparent discrepancy between the front and back of the wrapper I immediately thought it was a case of false advertising. And a pretty clever one, too – put the false statement on the front of the wrapper, which is all anyone can see when the product is in the vending machine, and then spring the truth on them after they buy it and are able to see the back.
Well, it turns out I was wrong. I found online that the FDA allows companies to label their products “Cholesterol Free” if they contain less than 2mg of cholesterol per serving and 2mg or less of saturated fat per serving. As an alternative to “Cholesterol Free” companies can also use the phrases: “No Cholesterol,” “Without Cholesterol,” and “Zero Cholesterol,” among others. I find the “Zero Cholesterol” claim especially disturbing. When I see the number (or word) “zero” on the front, I expect a zero to be on the back, too.
I’m pretty sure that technically these packaging claims aren’t lies, because the average consumer knows that packaging claims are regulated by the FDA and has access to the guidelines for those regulations (I found what I was looking for online in about 10 minutes). But talk about deceptive advertising, jeesh. How many people actually know the FDA’s packaging guidelines before they are deceived by some tagline like “Cholesterol Free”? I’m pretty sure that most people would see “Cholesterol Free” and believe that it meant exactly that.
So why would the FDA set guidelines that allow deceptive advertising like this? Could it be that food companies and the FDA are in cahoots? Or could there be some other reason?
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