Striking the Balance in Food Labels

Striking the Balance in Food Labels

After our discussion with Professor Goldstein about food labels, the question occurred to me: how much labeling is too much labeling?

Our class conversation concerned recent food labeling laws surrounding GMOs. While food labeling in the past was generally confined to food safety and nutritional content, consumers today are concerned about more than these two factors. In the age of “voting with your fork,” people are realizing that they can have an impact on the food industry and production processes simply by their food choices.

The ethical implications of modern-day food production has certainly come to the forefront. Consumers are thus responding by attempting to choose foods produced by methods with fewer harmful consequences for animal welfare, labor, and the environment. From Leah’s Eating Animals discussion about farm animal conditions to Professor Goldstein’s environmental concerns from pesticides to climate change to manure pollution, labeling plays an important role of progress in the food industry.

Still, while these new ethical labels serve an important role, increased labeling, whether for nutrition content or procution process, also comes with risks. Too much information in food labels dilutes the messaging and can distract from the some of the more important nutritional content labels. For some consumers, more information can cause them to lose interest in food labels altogether. Concerns already exist that consumers are not paying attention to labels or understanding their content. Increased food labeling plays a role in the scientism of food, complicating food choices even further for already confused consumers. When one of the core messages of our class is to eat simple, wholesome food in its natural form, the obsession with food labels opposes this teaching.  

On the opposite end of the spectrum, increased food labeling can cause people to obsess over food content and encourage orthorexia. f messages about quality or health associated with labels become overemphasized, the high cost of culture can kick in, where people act against their economic best interests to maintain high food standards. Especially when GMO’s have not been proven to have any adverse health effects and ambiguous environmental safety effects, the labeling requirements may not be as helpful as anticipated.

Nevertheless,  food labeling is important for building trust between the consumer and manufacturer.  It adheres to the idea of people’s right to know what they are eating. Certainly there is a reason to add new labels regarding better nutritional and ethical visibility, however it may be important to recognize the downside to labeling as well.