10 Healthy Eating Slogans - Seeing Through the Hype

Healthy eating has become the ideal standard to meet. Both for you and those that want you to buy their products.

The public wants to eat healthy. Manufacturers are aware of this. So an effective advertising campaign would have their product aligned with healthy eating.

Let's take a look at some of the slogans.

10 Healthy Eating Slogans Deciphered

1. Made with 100% fruit juice

Fruit juice is healthy, so this slogan can be tricky. The statement says 'made with', which basically means it contains 100% fruit juice. This statement is not claiming to be '100 percent fruit juice'. So would 1 tablespoon of fruit juice still make this a truthful statement.

Yes. But, this product would have other ingredients like water and sugar and more accurately would be called a 'drink'.

2. Made without preservatives

I heard this pitch on a Coca Cola commercial. I had to laugh out loud. Surely, we're not to believe soda pop is healthy.

Soft drinks are made with phosphoric acid. This highly acidic base means that preservatives aren't needed.

The acidic base also causes a physiological response. The body will do its best to maintain a pH balance. So the acid must be neutralized.

Just because a product has no preservatives does not warrant a healthy eating 'crown'.

3. No artificial colors or flavors

This is good. Just make sure that this isn't the only good thing you can say about the product.

An example of this would be flour. Here the color is stripped to give the white color. Also lost are nutrients and fiber.

4. No trans fat

At first glance this looks good. But check the label to be sure that hydrogenated oil was not used.

Trans fat is a by product of the hydrogenation process. To remove it does not then make the oil healthy. It is just not quite as harmful.

5. No sugar added

Please, when you see this on a label, look further. Fruit juice can be used to sweeten. But, you don't want artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup.

6. Flavor enhanced

Ok. So what was used to make this happen. MSG is a flavor enhancer that is very common in processed foods and is widely used in restaurants. Just remember that wholesome foods do not need the flavor enhanced.

7. Fortified with...

Many products have been fortified for years. Iodine is added to salt. Vitamins are added to flour and boxed cereals.

Yet, now this practice has spread to be more of an advertising gimmick than healthy eating. You can even get fortified water.

These products don't use natural source vitamins. That would be cost prohibitive. The best way to get your nutrients is through a balanced diet.

8. Enhanced with...

This would be replacing nutrients that had been lost during processing.

Ok, right there is a good sign that you could make the product healthier yourself.

When processing is so heavy so as to loose nutrients, replacing a select few leaves out trace nutrients that were also lost.

9. Made with whole wheat

100% whole wheat is your preferred wheat choice. However, the statement doesn't claim to be 100%. So other ingredients could have been used.

Check the label to be sure no flour or wheat flour is listed. In this case you would be not getting the value of a 100% whole wheat product. Wheat flour is another name for flour and is not whole wheat flour.

10. Kid approved

Great, kids like it. Now, read the label. My kids would have eaten almost anything that was fun and sweet. Do the ingredients pass your scrutiny?

Healthy eating requires a bit of an 'eagle eye'. You verify the marketing claims against what is printed on the label. With a bit of practice, you too, will find slogans that bring a chuckle to your day.