food labels

Increasing publicity about the ways food is modified, treated and processed has put the food industry on the defensive, but even as public awareness grows, food companies are still trying to keep you in the dark about these three issues.

Galeos Dressing, much hyped as a low-calorie and low-fat dressing promoted by trainer Jillian Michaels and eaten by contestants on the reality show "The Biggest Loser," has failed another set of laboratory tests. The law firm Paris Ackerman & Schmierer, which sued the makers of Galeos after...

Is Ben & Jerry's ice cream health food? Not exactly, though the images of contented cows and bucolic vistas tend to suggest that. In fact, all that goodness is headed for your waistline. Eat just a half cup (a quarter of the pint) of Americone Dream and you're packing away 270 calories, 15...

The marketing term "natural" is often meaningless. Nevertheless, it is the most common green claim used on cosmetics and kids' products, according to a report called The Seven Sins of Greenwashing prepared by the green marketing firm TerraChoice. Even worse, each new year brings a slew of new...

There's a scene from the old John Candy movie Summer Rental in which Candy and his family order a dish called "Sully's Catch of the Day" at a seaside restaurant. The dish is advertised as being freshly caught, lightly breaded and sautéed grouper, but it turns out, it's just frozen fish...

After years of virtual silence about the labeling tricks food companies play on consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration came out with a loud and clear statement that it will start cracking down on misleading, or flat out wrong, labels. FDA officials sent warning letters to 17 food...

The handy little Nutrition Facts label affixed to most packages you'll find in the grocery store was intended to help make it easier to make informed choices about what to eat. That only works if what's on the label is really in the package. About one out of every four labels tested is...