5 food marketing traps to sidestep

Food marketers are competing hard to get you to buy their products. Look out for these five food marketing ploys designed to lead you astray.

1. Green packaging

A US study compared people’s responses to chocolate bars with green, white or red labels, and concluded that green labels increase perceived healthfulness. Green is often used in food packaging to convey a healthier choice.

2. Sale traps

Discounted products, two-for-one deals and brightly coloured packaging that entice children can all encourage you to make less healthy choices in store. Ask yourself if you would buy those chips or biscuits if they weren’t discounted. If the answer is no, move on.

3. Ticks and endorsements

Logos and stamps are positive certifications, but they’re not always a reliable guide. Beware of ticks that are self-awarded by a company’s marketing team.

4. Irrelevant claims 

If you see a packet of sweets that claims to be fat free, you might think it is a strange boast. After all, when did sugar, water and food colouring even remotely contain fat? And yet, that’s how illogical some health claims have become.

5. Misleading messages 

Any food can claim to be natural, healthy or light, because there is no law limiting the use of these terms. We’re more likely to think a food is healthy if we’re in a supposedly healthy environment, like a supermarket’s health food aisle. Some foods found there are formulated for people with dietary needs, but that doesn’t mean they’re more nutritious than regular brands.