It can be exceedingly difficult to get a straight answer about specific ingredients, and if your company isn’t entirely clear on the relationship between the items listed on its food labels, a redesign might be necessary to correct certain misunderstandings.
The Washington Post recently ran a story on a study that examined the possible toxic effects of sugar as seen in mice. The Post explained that the study’s findings seem to assert that even the recommended dosages of sugar in sodas and other products consumed by humans on a regular basis can be problematic, as mice and humans share similar physiology. Among other alarming results noticed, the female mice doubled their risk of death after exposure to a relatively low amount of sugar.
However, this article was countered by a Letter to the Editor from the President of the Sugar Association, Andrew Briscoe, who argued that the study used the equivalent of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), which differs from what he calls “real sugar.”
“Americans are not eating more sugar; they are eating more HFCS,” Briscoe said. “Consumption of real sugar has decreased by 35 percent in the past 42 years, and more than 90 percent of caloric, sweetened beverages in the United States are sweetened with HFCS, not sugar.”
Regardless of the particular ingredient that causes potential offense, food manufacturers should keep an eye on studies of this nature and endeavor to address concerns that consumers might have by direct acknowledgements on product labels. A color label printer might be a key asset in this effort.
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