We have seen plenty of clearly -to- us unnecessary warning signs – like “take off the shirt before ironing” or some such language. We roll our eyes and realize that they are there because someone actually did what they say not to do – such ignorance. Now marketers are banking on that ignorance to boost sales of their products.

We are used to seeing “no (whatever)” labeling on food products and they generally serve a good purpose. I am a proponent of reading food labels to determine what foods are healthy. I personally know people who are gluten intolerant and know of the serious consequences, so the “gluten-free” label is very valuable. There are significant amounts of people who have nut, and lactose allergies to warrant labeling to warn and safeguard lives.

But on the other hand, people need to use their minds to avoid being lured into buying things because of bad labeling. I love apples and applesauce, but I know full well that apples have no fat, so “fat-free” applesauce is a ludicrous label. The same is true for a package of vegetables labeled cholesterol-free. Basic nutritional knowledge informs us that only animal products contain cholesterol. Some veggies -like avocados – do have fat, but never cholesterol.

Seems like some producers are trying too hard to sell their products. We would do well to continue to read labels and avoid their erroneous sales pitches. And even more, maybe stay away from the packaged foods and stick to the raw and unprocessed outside areas of the store. For in the package food aisles three ingredients that are plentiful are sugar, fat, and salt – and we would do well to avoid those – labeled or not.