Food: the fine print of what we eat

The number of people concerned about health and sustainability is growing, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The study found that 65% of households are willing to change their lifestyle to benefit the environment. In fact, today's consumers are demanding more responsible corporations, greater transparency, and food products that respect both their bodies and the planet. In response to this social demand, the industry has reacted quickly, filling shelves with recyclable packaging and products bearing wellness claims. But to what extent are we seeing a genuine shift toward sustainability rather than an extreme case of greenwashing? 

Marion Nestle, professor emerita at New York University, explains that we need to set idealism aside and remember the fundamental nature of large consumer companies in order to understand the current context. "The food industry has one purpose: to sell food and maximize shareholder profits. Corporations will do whatever they can to project a positive image, but if real changes result in lower sales, they won't make them," says the author of the book "Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health." 

Walking through the aisles of any supermarket today means being constantly bombarded by carefully engineered stimuli: colors, fonts, and labels claiming that products are 100% natural, organic, contain 0% added sugar, are suitable for vegans, or are even low in salt. They are marketed as "the healthiest," but "very few" actually live up to their claims. These highly visible labels mean nothing if the fine print on the accompanying label contains a long list of indecipherable additives, refined fats, or sugars disguised behind technical jargon.

In this regard, Nestle has a golden rule for avoiding deception at the supermarket: we should look at product packaging with the same skepticism we apply to a television advertisement. “Think of the package as a billboard designed to sell. To find out the real facts, you need to check the ingredients list, which shows what the product contains in order of weight, with the most predominant ingredient listed first, followed by the others in descending order," she says. According to Nestle, the ultimate trick is to "look for real foods with recognizable names," and she warns that "we shouldn't consume products that contain large amounts of extracted or artificial ingredients."

Supermarket shelves are often filled with products that have been extensively transformed from their original form. This means that a high degree of industrial processing lies behind each of them. Nutrition science increasingly emphasizes that minimal processing is one of the key pillars of longevity and well-being, but finding a "clean" product in the supermarket is not an easy task. 

To avoid getting lost in this maze, Nestle reduces the technical complexity to a very simple and straightforward check: verify the purity of the source. "I always start with the ingredients list. I want to see real foods as the main ingredients," she explains. To illustrate this, she turns to something as common as breakfast: "The cereal I buy has only one ingredient: wheat. That's not ultra-processed." 

The disconnect between what we want to buy and what we actually end up consuming highlights the widespread lack of food literacy. The industry has distanced us so far from raw ingredients that we often delegate our health to nutrition facts tables and percentages that we don't even understand. 

The reality, in the expert's view, is that there's no need to analyze every technical detail. It's better to simplify our approach and focus on the obvious. "Look for the names of foods you recognize," Nestle advises. And she maintains: "The advice to 'eat real food' makes perfect sense."

The transition to a more ethical, sustainable, and processed-food-free shopping basket may clash with our budgets. In fact, there is a widespread perception that eating healthily is an exclusive luxury. From Nestle's perspective, this concern is understandable given the current global economic situation, but there is one fundamental factor that changes the equation: home cooking. "I can't believe how expensive food is these days. However, buying real food is much easier and ends up costing much less if you know how to cook," she acknowledges. 

Despite this practical solution, the nutritionist does not shy away from the complexity of the current situation and acknowledges the immense pressure the average consumer faces at today's supermarket: "If you're trying to eat healthy, you're fighting the entire food system on your own. That's asking too much."  

Despite the sales tactics, the complexity of food labels, and the pressures of a corporate system designed to maximize profits, good health does not have to be an unattainable goal. The path to greater well-being does not require radical overnight changes or extreme restrictions. Rather, it involves making small, realistic decisions every day.

For consumers who want to shift toward a more mindful and transparent approach to food today, Marion Nestle's advice is to avoid magic formulas and rely on common sense: "Change depends on what each person is already doing. But I would say: try to eat more vegetables and try to drink fewer sugary soft drinks."