Mmmm.
You buy a chocolate bar in a package that claims the thing is 25% bigger than its previous
version.
Yum.
Then you pick a shampoo that has "only natural ingredients" on the bottle and costs surprisingly
little.
Ooh!
Now stop.
Do you really get a great bargain or is it just manufacturers fooling you?
Think twice — marketing experts are talented manipulators!
Here’s my checklist to help you make smart buying decisions:
1.
Always pay attention to the weight written on the package.
A bag or a bottle itself may look bigger than others produced by the same brand, but its
weight can be absolutely the same!
2.
Keep in mind that a product's ingredients are always listed in order of their proportion.
The first 2 or 3 things on the list are what you actually eat.
Don't let some fancy-sounding components tempt you into buying the product if they're at
the end of the list.
Their amount is likely to be teeny-tiny.
3.
You grab a carton after seeing big bright letters "100% Juice."
What you fail to notice (or at least, manufacturers hope so) is the fine print.
It usually claims something along the lines of "and other ingredients," meaning that there
might be water, sugar, and additives inside that box.
4.
An effective trick is to make a product attractive on the outside and leave it blank and boring
inside.
Yeah, I'm talking about that cheese bread where the only "cheesy" part is on the top.
5.
Oh, and let's not forget about the packaging!
For example, customers perceive food sold in tall, skinny containers as having fewer
calories than those you buy in wider and lower packages.
Plus, people subconsciously believe that things packed in slim humanoid-shaped containers
are healthier than others.
That's why juices or water sold in bottles with a prominent "waist" are so popular!
6.
Food manufacturers love decorating their packaging with images of green fields, ripe fruit, and
fresh vegetables.
Most people fall for these pretty pictures even though they don't have anything in common
with the real situation.
Like, have you seen the amount of sugar in a snack bar with bright fruit on the package?
7.
Not only the packaging itself but also the material it's made of can be totally misleading.
You've probably seen brown recycled "kraft" paper popular today.
You perceive this material as eco-friendly, and it leads you to believe that the insides
are somehow better too.
This method is so effective that people even consider junk food to be of higher quality
and healthier if it's wrapped in kraft paper.
8.
Some manufacturers aren't strangers to using optical illusions to make customers think
there is more product than in reality.
Empty space inside boxes, inflated plastic bags, labels stuck at the top of glass bottles
so that you don't notice they are half empty...
If you know any other tricks like these, feel free to share them in the comments!
9.
"Fresh" or "farm fresh" labels on products don't have anything to do with how fresh the
food actually is.
For example, if you see "fresh" sign on meat, it only means that it hasn't been frozen.
"Farm fresh," in turn, doesn't tell you anything about the conditions in which animals are
raised or crops and vegetables are grown on that particular farm.
10.
When you buy something that has "100% biodegradable," or "100% compostable," or whatnot written
all over it, you suppose that you get something that won't harm the environment.
Unfortunately, in most cases, this label refers to the content, not to the packaging which
is no way recyclable or compostable.
So, check the fine print, please.
11.
Most producers show the amount of sugar, fat, and calories for very small serving sizes.
Those customers who care about such things see low numbers and eagerly buy the product.
Keep in mind that most of these servings are tiny and have nothing to do with reality.
For example, when we talk about chips, a serving portion can be 15 pieces — now who on Earth
eats chips in such SMALL amounts?
Not me!
12.
You can see a product's packaging claiming that it has "0 trans fat" or "0 saturated
fat" per serving.
Unfortunately, the manufacturer's "0" is quite different from your "0."
In most cases, the food still contains small amounts of harmful substances — per serving!
Due to the unrealistic sizes of these servings, these small amounts add up — and your food
isn't as healthy as you thought before!
13.
Manufacturers often write that their new product is twice as big as the previous "edition,"
but in most cases, it's not true.
All you need to do to figure out this ruse is to compare the two versions.
In most cases, it's a shocking eye-opener.
By the way, if you see a jumbo box of something, be prepared to find a regular bag inside.
14.
To make their products look better than they are, manufacturers often create their own
mix of healthy ingredients and put this blend at the top of the ingredient list.
This way, it becomes one of the main components.
If they didn't do it, something unhealthy, like sugar, would get to the top.
Pay attention to such words as "special blend," "protein mix," and so on.
15.
Food producers can also choose the opposite approach: the splitting!
Let's say, the product has high amounts of sugar in it.
Then the manufacturer can split it into many kinds of sugar.
It will move the whole "sugar collection" to the end of the list, and the product won't
look so unhealthy anymore!
16.
Some stores can go as far as to make their flyers look like parking tickets you just
can't ignore.
Phew, you gave me a fright for a moment!
Some services also mail you ads that look like important documents you're bound to open.
17.
Lots of manufacturers mention vitamins, minerals, and herbs on their products' packaging.
What most customers don't know is that companies need just a tiny amount of the healthy stuff
to mention it on the package.
But when you check the ingredient list, you'll probably find it at the very bottom.
18.
"Lower calories" and "reduced fat" sound tempting!
But these are extremely tricky terms.
They most likely mean that this product's version contains fewer calories than the previous
one.
It's still packed with fats and sugars!
19.
Food manufacturers love playing with terminology.
Let's say, you see "natural" or even "all-natural" on the packaging label.
It seems like a good thing!
The very definition of "natural" implies that the product doesn't contain anything artificial.
But for one thing, you know nothing about the supposedly "natural" ingredients: in what
environment were they grown or produced, by whom, when?
Plus, some manufacturers just ignore the sign they place on the packaging and still add
synthetic stuff inside.
20.
If some substance gets a bad reputation for being unhealthy, manufacturers won't want
it included in their ingredient list.
Do they switch to healthier alternatives?
Not really — in most cases, they just disguise the name!
For example, you've heard that artificial sweeteners aren't good for your health.
You examine the box but find nothing of the kind.
What you might not know is that sucralose on the list of ingredients is a sugar substitute
and artificial sweetener at that.
21.
You might have also seen foods labeled "naturally sweetened" in supermarkets.
This sign immediately makes an impression of a product with better quality.
If you read the ingredient list, though, you'll notice that this "natural sweetness" is achieved
by adding good old white refined sugar.
22.
Kids' food packaging, like cereal boxes, tend to be bright and vivid, and food "for adults"
has more muted colors.
Studies show that customers associate such hues with healthier products while linking
bright colors with more artificial ingredients.
This phenomenon is so powerful that people even perceive a candy bar with a green label
healthier than one with red.
23.
"Made with..."
This sign attracts many customers.
Unfortunately, a product "made with maple syrup" usually doesn't contain much, if any
real thing.
It's just the flavoring, coloring, and whatnot, but not natural syrup.
Go through the ingredient list looking for the product mentioned on the packaging, and
you'll find it at the very bottom (if at all).
Wow.
I think I need to eat an apple right now.
Just one ingredient.
Apple.
Truth in advertising right there.
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