5 Misleading Food Labels

Americans are more conscious of the foods they're buying, wanting foods that promise health benefits and opting for those labeled fat-free, low-fat, diet, all natural, etc. But are the labels delivering what they promise?

Sometimes a "new and improved" product is only the result of a marginal change in the product itself that's made to sound more healthful by skillful marketing. Check out these top five misleading food labels:

1. “All Natural”

Products labeled all natural must be free of artificial colors and ingredients and must be minimally processed. But since there are no standards to define “minimally processed,” the label doesn't carry a lot of weight. "It turns out that the phrase 'all natural' can mean just about anything; it actually has no nutritional meaning whatsoever, and isn't truly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration," says Mike Rogers of NaturalNews.com.

And the promise of all natural ingredients doesn't necessarily protect you from harm; mercury is natural, but also considered poisonous and you should stay away from certain fish that have high levels — naturally.

2. “Low-carb”

Even if the amount of carbohydrates are low in a product, the front-of-the-package label often doesn't provide information on other less-than-healthy ingredients such as saturated fat. Pork rinds, advertised as "low-carb," are a good example since they contain 10 grams of saturated fat per serving. A recent study by the FDA and Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition found that consumers are less likely to read the label on the back of a package when there's a health claim on the front. Moral: Read nutrition facts panels on the back of food products, and you'll get a much more accurate idea of how nutritional a product is.

3. “Made with …”

This label only means that the ingredient, whole wheat, real fruit juice, etc., is somewhere in the food, but it could be present in small amounts. A product label bragging about containing "real fruit" may contain only small amounts of fruit juice but large amounts of sugar. And a product labeled as made with whole wheat could contain very little whole grain flour and be made mostly with ordinary refined white flour — with dark coloring added to mislead the consumer.

Take a look at the ingredients indicated on the package and see how far down the "real" ingredient falls on the list. Manufacturers aren't required to disclose how much of the product is made with whole grain versus processed. Better still, buy products being declaring they are "100 percent fruit juice" and "100 percent whole grains."

4. “Cage-Free/Free-Range”

A cage-free label doesn't necessarily mean your eggs came from chickens free to enjoy the great outdoors. It may simply mean that it was completely confined in a building rather than in a cage. And a free-range label could mean they were kept inside for most of the time and only had a small yard they could occasionally visit. Look for labels that promise eggs from "grass-fed" chickens.

5. “0g Trans fat

Avoiding trans fat is great for your health, but bold labels advertising a lack of trans fats may be misleading and may sidetrack you from discovering the high amounts of saturated fats in the product. And just because the label says it contains no trans fats, that may not exactly be true. Products can be labeled free of trans fats if they contain less than 0.5 grams per serving.