We go grocery shopping almost every day, but how many of us read the packaging of the products we buy? The weights of the products we put in our baskets may be incorrect, and their best-before dates may have passed. Moreover, many foods sold openly and without control may not contain the ingredients claimed to be in them. This is why reading product labels is extremely important. So what do the labels actually mean? What should we pay attention to when shopping? We spoke to Food Engineer Ebru Akdağ.
Although awareness about the contents of ready-made foods has been increasing in recent years, it is still not at the desired level. While there are conscious consumers who want to know what their food contains and eat healthily and balancedly, there are also many who buy food without looking at its contents.
Health claims on the front of food packaging also encourage us to purchase that product. However, some health claims used on certain products can be misleading. So, does a product’s claim of being “natural, sugar-free, light” guarantee that it is healthy?
This is where the habit of reading food labels comes into play. The only way to understand whether the health claims highlighted on the product packaging are true is to read the information label on the back.
So how can we, as consumers, consume food consciously? How should we read product labels? Are product packaging misleading us? What are our rights as consumers? We spoke to Food Engineer Ebru Akdağ.
1) What does it mean when products labelled as strawberry or hazelnut contain almost negligible amounts of these ingredients?
Akdağ began by stating that when such labelling is done in accordance with legal regulations, there is no question of consumer deception. Akdağ gave the following example, saying that in some cases, the aroma of concentrated food can be much more dominant:
“For example, strawberry powder is obtained by drying strawberries. The drying process removes excess water, resulting in a more concentrated strawberry flavour in a smaller volume. Thus, using small amounts is sufficient for the product to have the desired characteristics. Like most fruits, strawberries contain around 90 per cent water. Strawberry purée, on the other hand, contains approximately 15 per cent water. Therefore, 1 kilogram of strawberry purée is obtained from roughly 6 kilograms of strawberries.”
On the other hand, Akdağ stated that if a product is not manufactured in accordance with legal regulations, it constitutes fraud and should be penalised. He explained how the legal regulation works according to the Turkish Food Codex Consumer Information and Labelling Regulation:
2) Does a product’s claim to be “natural”, “sugar-free” or “light” guarantee that it is healthy?
‘A food cannot be classified as healthy or unhealthy on its own. What makes food healthy or unhealthy is how it affects the consumer’s body, the amount consumed, and its reliability,’ said Akdağ, noting that the “natural is healthy” approach is often a flawed conclusion that we fall into without realising.
Akdağ stated that the fact that many people have lost their lives due to consuming mushrooms found in nature is one of the simplest examples of this, and that foods such as fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs, which can be prepared for consumption in the form in which they are taken from nature, are classified as natural.
Similarly, emphasising that a product being “light” does not mean it is very low in calories and can be consumed without limit, Akdağ said, ’It may contain fewer calories than similar products, but this does not mean it is very low in calories.”
Akdağ reiterated that the issue ultimately comes down to food literacy, because all reliable foods produced and labelled according to regulations have nutritional value tables and allergen warnings, and reading these is our duty as consumers.
3) Is it legal and correct to use ingredients in products in very low quantities as flavour enhancers?
Akdağ stated that the limits of flavourings and which flavourings can be added to which products are regulated by legal rules, and that producers are obliged to comply with these minimum and maximum limits. He added that these are based on the relevant regulations in the EU, and that any practice not permitted in the EU is also not permitted in our country.
‘Sometimes these limits can be very low, actually shaped by consumer preference and taste balance. For example, if you increase the amount of flavouring you put in a product too much, sensory characteristics may emerge that consumers will not want and that will not be accepted by the product.’
With the law published in November 2020, penalties for counterfeiting or adulterating food or feed and for actions harmful to human health have been significantly increased. The purpose of increasing penalties is to deter such actions and protect human health.
FOOD ADDITIVES EXISTED THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO
There are also additives used in products. These substances are listed as codes in the ‘Ingredients’ section of the packaging. Could you briefly explain these substances, known as E numbers?
“The definition of food additives in the Turkish Food Codex is ‘substances that may or may not have nutritional value, are not consumed as food on their own, are not used as a characteristic component of food, and are added to food during production, processing, preparation, packaging, transport or storage for technological purposes, resulting in their own or their by-products, directly or indirectly become a component of that food’,” said Akdağ, adding that food additives are used to protect our food from microbes and oxidation that affect human health, and to preserve and enhance the nutritional value and sensory properties (taste, smell, colour, texture) of our food.
Akdağ emphasised that although the use of food additives is perceived as having entered our lives with modernisation and industrialisation, its history actually dates back thousands of years, noting that records show the Egyptians used colourings and aromas, and the Romans used chemicals such as potassium nitrate and spices as preservatives.
Today, food additives that have undergone years of extensive scientific research and have been approved by international authorities are the most strictly regulated chemicals in terms of protecting human health. There is no need to be afraid of chemicals because everything in nature is made up of chemicals.
Akdağ stated that for the additive being examined, the level at which no adverse effects were observed when consumed throughout the lifespan of the most sensitive test animal was determined, and then a safety factor was added to establish the acceptable daily intake level. stated that all these studies were evaluated by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), and that E numbers are food additives whose use has been successfully approved through all these processes.
Akdağ stated that the practice in our country is fully compliant with international standards and that E codes are classified according to their usage characteristics. He explained which E codes fall into which functional classes in the table below.
IF WE REMOVE FOOD ADDITIVES FROM OUR LIVES, WE WILL EXPERIENCE AN INCREASE IN CHRONIC DISEASES AND EPIDEMICS, AS WELL AS FAMINE
5) How and in what quantities should these substances be used? Are they harmful to human health?
Ebru Akdağ described the process of adding additives to food as follows:
“For an additive, the value at which it will not affect any organ or physiological system when consumed daily throughout the lifespan of the most sensitive test animal is determined. This value is divided by a safety factor to determine the permissible level for use as a food additive. The safety factor is applied at a minimum of 100, and if there is uncertainty, it is increased further. Therefore, the permitted level of use for a food additive that meets all safety conditions is 1/100th of the dose at which no adverse effects are observed, even in the most sensitive cases. Furthermore, regardless of the dose, no food additive that is carcinogenic and/or genotoxic (damaging to genes) is approved for use.”
Akdağ emphasised that if we were to remove food additives from our lives today, we would face an increase in chronic diseases, epidemics, famine and malnutrition. He stressed that when food additives are consumed in accordance with regulations and at the recommended dosage, they are safe for a healthy individual, but stressed the importance of maintaining diversity in the diet to avoid constant exposure to the same food additive.
Are food packaging labels deceiving us? What do the labels mean? Here are the warnings of a food engineer and the products he advises against buying.
5) How should we read product labels when buying packaged products?
‘First and foremost, you must check the nutritional values, best before date, and allergen information,’ said Akdağ, reminding us not to forget the difference between the best before date and the use-by date.
Akdağ said, ‘Nutritional values should be checked, the ingredients section should be reviewed, and statements informing consumers about the product should also be examined. For example, the “No trans fats” logo indicates that the product contains less than 1% trans fats.’
DO NOT BUY THESE
5) Is there any ingredient or component in the product that should never be present, that you would say, “If this is present, do not buy it”?
Akdağ stated that if all the ingredients in the product are produced in accordance with the law, they are safe as long as they are not consumed in excess, and therefore there is no ingredient that should be labelled as ‘do not buy if this is present.’ However, he warned that if you have a food allergy or food intolerance, you should definitely check these ingredients.
Akdağ listed the products he would say ‘do not buy’ as follows:
‘Products sold openly, away from supervision, where it is unknown how they are produced and under what conditions they are stored. These include raw milk, sauces sold openly, herbal mixtures, and nuts. However, this warning applies to any product sold openly and uncontrolled without Ministry approval and supervision.’
6) Using plant-based materials instead of meat in sausage production is a deception that can only be detected through laboratory analysis. So, what should consumers look out for when buying sausages? Is it possible to determine whether the sausage purchased is healthy?
According to the Turkish Food Codex, adding vegetable protein to sujuk is prohibited. It is impossible to visually determine whether the sujuk purchased poses any food safety risks (except in cases such as mouldiness),” said Akdağ, adding that, as with many foods, the only way to detect fraud in sujuk is through laboratory analysis, and that it is often impossible for us as consumers to distinguish this. Therefore, to minimise the risk, we should be wary of products sold openly or at prices significantly below market value, and we should choose sausages from well-known brands sold at reputable outlets.
Inspections carried out by the authorities in recent months revealed that some supermarkets were selling sausages made from herbs instead of meat. When samples were collected and examined in a laboratory environment, fraudulent sausages produced using only grass without animal cells were detected. Also in recent months, the ‘Regulation Amending the Turkish Food Codex Regulation’ prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force. Accordingly, it was decided that ‘no other food ingredient may be added to pomegranate molasses other than pomegranate, pomegranate juice, pomegranate juice concentrate and water.’
OTHER CONFUSING NAMES ARE BEING USED
7) There are products sold under names such as pomegranate-flavoured sauce, pomegranate sauce, pomegranate-flavoured syrup, and pomegranate syrup that give the impression of pomegranate molasses. Within this scope, products not permitted for sale in the domestic market will not be allowed to remain on the market after 30 June 2024. What would you like to say about this?
“Pomegranate molasses is a product obtained by caramelising the sugar in pomegranate juice and evaporating the water. Pomegranate syrup is obtained by squeezing pomegranate juice. This syrup is thickened with heat to obtain pomegranate molasses. It is a type of sauce obtained by cleaning and pressing pomegranates, filtering the juice, evaporating the water in a vacuum boiler at a certain temperature to obtain the concentrate, then diluting it with purified water and adding glucose syrup, acidity regulators, colouring agents and preservatives. In fact, the product is labelled as pomegranate sauce, but most consumers do not pay much attention to the product name and mistake it for pomegranate juice, which is why such a legal regulation was introduced. Akdağ stated that removing pomegranate sauces from the market will resolve this confusion, emphasising that the important issue here is to increase consumers’ food literacy.
Akdağ stated that other names could also cause confusion among consumers, adding that according to a study, approximately 80 per cent of consumers in our country do not know the difference between the most basic information, namely the ‘use-by date’ and the ‘best before date’. He added:
‘Food literacy and proper nutrition principles should be included in schools, starting with the primary school curriculum, so that consumers can make informed choices when they reach the age to make their own food choices.’
