Food labels we look for and what they actually mean

As you walk through the supermarket, it isn't unusual to select a product up - say a carton of eggs, for instance - to check out that the package is plastered with an abundance of labels bearing various terms and certifications, all calling for your attention: natural! Cage-Free! Non-GMO! All Natural!

Are customers being purposely misled, or are we just uninformed?

But what do these certifications really suggest? Do they make guarantees to your customer or are they just marketing ploys?

this will depend.

There are lots of both independent and government-regulated certification stamps food that is enhancing in our supermarkets. The truth is everyone can set a group up having its very own logo design and gives to put it on meals. Plus some food labeling words that have no meaning that is tangible legal meaning (I'm looking at you, "all-natural").

mcdougal of a present NPR tale stood outside a complete Foods store in Washington D.C. and asked consumers should they'd instead buy a carton of eggs labeled "non-GMO" and another tagged "certified organic." These were torn.

As one customer place it, "They both sound good;" then she made a decision to purchase the item that is non-GMO the certified natural product, entirely since it ended up being cheaper. As it happens, certified organic meals generally speaking are certainly more expensive - but all certified organic meals are, by definition, non-GMO, while non-GMO foods don't need to be organic.

Are customers being purposely misled, then, or are we simply uninformed? The latter is understandable considering the sheer amount of labels out here; click here for help in deciphering a few of the most essential of these.

Compiled by The Daily Food