Admirers of Guiding Stars say the ratings illustrate how nutrition claims on packages can mislead consumers even if they are technically true.
There's an easy solution to this: outlaw all company-written health claims on packaging and in ads.
Neilsen's global retail analysis shows increased sales for brands with sustainability claims on packaging or active marketing of CSR efforts.
Jennifer L. Harris, a psychologist who studies food marketing at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale, said the agreement highlighted the need to tighten requirements so that all health-related claims on packaging are based on scientific evidence, which is not the case now.
Manufacturers may make "structure-function claims" on packaging, provided claims do not reference a specific disease or condition, and provided their claims are qualified with the disclaimer, "This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
And over the last year, yogurts with a "natural" claim on the package label grew more than 10percentt, selling more than $266 million, according to Nielsen.
Hundreds of products already claim on their packaging that they do not contain genetically modified ingredients, but with little consistency in the labeling and little assurance that the products have actually been tested.
"We've probably eliminated almost 25 products that were horrible," said James R. Brodrick, manager of the Solid State Lighting Program of the Energy Department. "We test LED bulbs today that claim on the package that they're equivalent to 40 watts, but are really like 20-watt bulbs".
For starters, many, many sunscreens do not provide the UVA protection that they claim on their packaging.
The only sample that was gluten free in both lots that were tested actually had a wheat-free claim on the package and represents a pure oat product.
