‘Health’ food tricks exposed

''Food manufacturers continue to push the boundaries.'' Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin

Washing down your fat-free marshmallows with flavoured water low in sugar, might not be the healthy choice you think it is.

Consumer NZ has announced the 2017 Bad Taste Food Awards which it says show how food companies are tricking consumers into thinking they are making a healthy choice.

Two of this year’s winners (or losers), Oki-doki Marshy-mallows and Betta Mallow Bakes, both label their marshmallows as ‘‘fat-free’’. However Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin said this branding was a ‘‘move straight from the food marketer’s handbook of dodgy tactics’’.

‘‘Nobody would expect there to be fat in any marshmallows, but both products are made up of more than 50 per cent sugar,’’ Chetwin said. ‘‘You can’t make claims you don’t have a product in your food if your competitors don’t have it either.’’

Many of the products nominated for this year’s awards were full of sugar, yet carried claims designed to make them appeal to health-conscious consumers, such as ‘‘no artificial sweeteners’’, ‘‘natural’’ or ‘‘fat-free’’.

‘‘The Pump range of flavoured waters boast they’re low in sugar but each bottle contains more than four teaspoons of sugar,’’ Chetwin said.

‘‘But it’s not just sugar that’s the issue. Food marketers have a variety of tricks up their sleeves to make us think their products are better choices. Our aim is to highlight these claims.’’

Neil Waka of Coca-cola NZ, which produces the Pump range, said: ‘‘We adhere to the guidelines set by the Food Safety Standards under the FSANZ that says a product can be called low in sugar if the beverage contains less than 2.5g of sugar per 100ml. Our Pump Flavoured Water contains 2.2g of sugar per 100ml, well in accordance with the guidelines.

‘‘We are constantly working to redevelop our recipes to better suit consumer tastes, diets and lifestyles and we will be launching a new flavour very soon that has 20 per cent less sugar than the current Pump Flavoured Water range.’’

Anchor Protein+ dairy products claim their higher levels of protein give ‘‘Kiwis the strength to tackle whatever life throws their way’’. But Chetwin said the truth was most of us are consuming more than enough protein.

Mindy Wigzell, a senior nutritionist at Anchor, said research had shown benefits to spreading protein intake throughout the day, including helping our muscles to use the protein more efficiently.

‘‘The Anchor Protein+ range provides convenient choices for New Zealanders to spread their protein consumption. While it’s true the majority of New Zealanders meet the minimum requirement for protein intake, it’s on the low side of the range for optimal health and most of it is consumed at the main meal in the evening.’’

Some manufacturers of gourmet salts advertise their product to contain iron, calcium or magnesium, but these minerals are only present in very small trace amounts.

The label on the bottle of Lipton’s Peach Flavour Ice Tea states: ‘‘No preservatives, no artificial colours, no artificial sweeteners’’, but it contains more than six teaspoons of sugar in each 500ml serve.

Sanitarium’s Up&go breakfast drinks claim to offer ‘‘slow release energy’’ and ‘‘10 essential vitamins and minerals’’, however if you drank an entire 500ml bottle you would have consumed between 9 and 10 teaspoons of sugar.

Sanitarium nutritionist Stephanie Polson said it was important for consumers to consider what was right for them.

‘‘People have different nutritional needs depending on their activity level, pre and postexercise timing, gender or age which is why Up&go has high protein. Consumers told us they wanted a lower sugar option but still loved regular Up&go, and Reduced Sugar Up&go was created to answer that demand.’’

Consumer NZ also uncovered some food companies aren’t concerned with making products healthier. Following a 2012 investigation Pams Toasted Muesli and Countdown’s Toasted Muesli have increased sugar content in their muesli products, up by 44 and 20 per cent respectively.

Foodstuffs spokeswoman Antoinette Laird said it acknowledged the percentage of sugars in Pams Toasted Muesli increased from 10.5g to 15.2g per average serving due mainly to a rejigging of the dried fruit content. At the time the product was reformulated the dietary fibre increased by 52 per cent per average serving.

‘‘Pams Toasted Muesli is currently going through the reformulation process. Once complete, the new packaging will include the Health Star Rating which is the Government’s system that helps consumers understand the nutritional content of the products they purchase.’’

Spokesman for Countdown James Walker said its muesli had two sources of sugars, the honey toasted oats and also sugars from the range of dried fruits used.

‘‘There is no added sugar in this product,’’ he said. ‘‘This muesli is part of this reformulation programme, and will be looked at shortly.’’

Some snack options which might be considered healthy with ‘‘no artificial colours or flavours’’ contain high levels of sugar, such as Nice & Natural Fruit Snacks and Mother Earth Vege Fruit sticks.

‘‘Laws are designed to prevent companies misleading consumers about the goods they sell, and food manufacturers continue to push the boundaries,’’ said Chetwin.

‘‘It highlights the need for consumers to read the small print and test these claims, but we think it should be really clear to consumers read through the hype, by showing the number of teaspoons of sugar in each product for example.’’