Take your time to read the labels
Do you think is a waste of your time spending it going through a boring list, in always smaller characters, of names you don’t recognize, and… What’s the point of it, anyway?
Well, think that again. The label is there to protect your best interest, and the manufacturing companies have the duty to comply to transparency requirements, informing you of:
What – what is inside the products you are buying, alas ingredients, listed in descending order.
Where – where the product has been prepared and/or packed.
Weight – the amount of product you are buying.
By whom – the name of the company that produces it.
Till when – the shelf life of the product, shown by best before or use by date.
Buying something without reading the label, is like not going to vote when you can: you are giving away your freedom to choose, delegating it to someone else. Not very wise, is it?
5 Reasons why reading labels is smart
Considering the great number of packed products that we buy on a daily basis, wether it is food or a shaving cream, it’s important to know what’s inside what you buy, so keep reading to understand the 5 reasons why reading labels is your next smart choice!
Important thing first: it saves you money
- It saves you money and enables you to spend wisely. Reading and understanding a product label makes you aware of exactly what you spend your money on. For instance when you choose between two different brands, reading the label can make all the difference! Buying the cheaper option is not always the best money saving option: behind the price gap there might be a substantial difference in percentage of ingredients, even within the same recipe/composition. Let’s take a juice as an example: if the cheaper has 30% of fruit and the rest is water and sugar, and the pricier has 100% fruit juice, then the price gap is consistent with the value of the product. Furthermore you might surprise yourself discovering how often the cheaper product ends up to be a genuine offer of an unknown brand, whilst the pricier is the average offer from a very well-known brand. Do you want to end up paying for their marketing efforts, rather than for quality? I didn’t think so. Instead you might want to support businesses that commit to what is valuable to you, and use wisely your consumer superpower.
- It’s safer! If they are using any allergen (in products like food, drink, tablets) they must specify it on the label. For anyone who has an allergy or intolerance is definitely a must, and who hasn’t, is wise to know if there are allergens that can potentially cause problems (Unfortunately allergies and intolerance can appear over time). If you want to take good care of your well-being you want to read your labels!
- It helps you keep your weight under control. Firstly, the list states the ingredients in order of quantity: the first product is the main component, and so on in always decreasing percentage. You’ll be surprised of how many foods have sugar as main component! Secondly, the smaller the list, the healthier the product. You can understand at a glance if you are buying heavily processed food that will only add calories without any nutrition, instead of something simpler and healthier that is likely to keep you full for long!
- It helps you keeping better care of your health. Understanding your reaction to what you put in/ on to your body it’s precious information that no one but you can gather about yourself. Then there might be interactions within different products you are using that you don’t want to oversee, and basically it gives you back control on what you actually “can” control about your health and well-being!
- Is really empowering! It gives you the freedom to make an informed decision whenever you buy any product that, going in or onto your body, will inevitably affect it.
Are you convinced by the benefits of label reading? Or maybe you just reinforced your conviction? Let me know your thoughts in the comment, and… Enjoy your labels!