Is Food Packaging Helpful To You?

[NathanMedford]

Hi everyone,

I am at university looking and have been tasked with finding a social issue that design can help. The issue that I have chosen to look at is that I find it quite hard to work out how much insulin I need to do for each item of food I eat (I'm on a predominantly fast acting regime). I want to maybe come up with some packaging that could help us know just how the items will effect our blood sugars.

Do you think this would be a good idea?

Have you yourselves experienced trouble with this issue as well?

Do you think there is enough information about this on the products (GDAs etc.)?

Do you know of anything out there similar to this?

any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Nathan.

 

[novorapidboi26]

The current packaging is sufficient, it gives us the carbohydrate amount, which is what we need to establish our insulin dose..........

Everyone has different insulin/carb ratios at different times of the day, so there isn't a generic effect on blood glucose......

 

[Northerner]

Hi Nathan, welcome to the forum 🙂 Two things that always annoy me since I was diagnosed are 1) the fact they show 'sugars' on the front of packets, not carbs, and 2) the nutritional information is often in such a small font that it is unreadable except with a magnifying glass. Also, it would be nice to see a Glycaemic Load or Glycaemic Index value on the packaging. A lot of companies are currently getting on the 'slow energy release' bandwagon - Weetabix and Belvita spring to mind - but there doesn't appear to be any testing of their claims. Weetabix causes quite a spike for something 'slow-release'! Might have to contact advertising standards - it's only when you can test your blood that you know the truth of such claims! 🙄

 

[NathanMedford]

Thanks for replying.

Northerner: Yeah this is my problem, I obviously know i'm not supposed to have a mars bar (unless I want to thwack a load humalog in me) but things like biscuits, crisps etc. I just end up guessing how much I need and learn through trial and error. I was thinking of maybe mixing carb counting and packaging together?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks for replying.

Northerner: Yeah this is my problem, I obviously know i'm not supposed to have a mars bar (unless I want to thwack a load humalog in me) but things like biscuits, crisps etc. I just end up guessing how much I need and learn through trial and error. I was thinking of maybe mixing carb counting and packaging together?

Actually NM this is EXACTLY the problem. You are likely to have far gentler rise in BGs after eating a Mars bar than after many *healthy* breakfast cereals (Weetabix, Bran Flakes, Corn flakes...). It's not just the ones with added honey and sugar that are the real nasties 😡

I would agree that the I find the traffic light information utterly useless. Carbs per portion/per 100g should be clearly stated. I've never had much success with working out how to keep salt intake down either (as labels only seem to refer to sodium, and only a handful 'equivalent as salt' to help with the 6g guideline).

The traffic light system seems very much a product of the carbs=good, fat=evil mentality, which I'm less than convinced has much bearing on a truly healthy 'everything in moderation' diet.

It would be great if some sort of GI/GL guidance could be given, though I suppose that is far more acutely of interest to us lot with busted pancreases!

 

[Caroline]

Oe of my big bug bears are food marked as low in big bold letters, low what?

Foods marked LIGHT are often reduced fat and increased sugar.

No added sugar confuses many people. It means no extra sugar has been added not that there is no sugar in it.😡

 

[D_G]

It would be helpful if the manufacturers put the weight on the packaging of some foods, for example i find some pre packed sandwiches only have the carbohydrate value per 100g.....but it doesnt tell you how much the sandwich weighs so its just guess work (usualy i go for about 40g carbs a sandwich) but it would be better if they can just put it on there!

I agree with Alan as well about them only stating the sugar in grams on the nutritional info on the front...it would be more beneficial to put the whole carbohydrate value 🙂

 

[Robster65]

Another annoyance is the occasional product that has the nutritional info per 100g but no actual weight marked on the product. Pre-packaged sandwiches, etc are a case in point.

More open and honest information may actually promote healthier foods n general. If people could see clearly how unhealthy certain foods were, they may change their habits slowly. Forcing companies to change recipes.

But it'll never happen because they know how easy it is to sell comfort foods disguised as healthy options. 🙄

Rob

 

[Robster65]

It would be helpful if the manufacturers put the weight on the packaging of some foods, for example i find some pre packed sandwiches only have the carbohydrate value per 100g.....but it doesnt tell you how much the sandwich weighs so its just guess work (usualy i go for about 40g carbs a sandwich) but it would be better if they can just put it on there!

Aaaarrgggghhhhh !! 😱 Same thing as I wrote at the same time

Rob

 

[AlisonM]

I rarely see any packaging with carb ratios stated on it and I reckon that's vital information for anyone who's trying to live a healthy lifestyle, not just for diabetics.

And, is it just me or do they deliberately make the fat/sugar/salt information as confusing as possible?

 

[D_G]

Aaaarrgggghhhhh !! 😱 Same thing as I wrote at the same time

Rob

Haha i just beat you! we must have great minds 🙂

...It does really annoy me though!

 

[FM001]

Packaging is fine and gives all the information I need, just a few producers stupidly put the product info on the inside so you can't see the carb, salt, fat and calorie content🙄

 

[D_G]

Packaging is fine and gives all the information I need, just a few producers stupidly put the product info on the inside so you can't see the carb, salt, fat and calorie content🙄

Oh yea i forgot to mention this....that or they stick the reduced sticker over the nutritional info! lol

 

[Northerner]

Packaging is fine and gives all the information I need, just a few producers stupidly put the product info on the inside so you can't see the carb, salt, fat and calorie content🙄

Yes that is stupid! I had a chicken pasta salad the other day and it wasn't until I opened it that I could see the nutritional values! 🙄

I would say some packaging is fine, certainly not all because there's no real consistency on where they put it and whether it's actually legible without access to electron microscopes. Also, some pachaging I've noticed doesn't have values per 100g, just ingredients listed in declining proportion of content.

We may not actually need much more in the way of info, what is needed is proper legal requirements and standards of how it is presented.

 

[AlisonM]

Legibility is another issue I also have difficulty with sometimes. I'm very short-sighted, aways have been and it's a real pain trying to read this stuff sometimes. I'd opt for fewer fancy pictures and more legible data.

 

[imtrying]

I agree with what most people have written - an aspiration would be so that ALL food sold has nutritional info on it so that we can always work out the carbs and what we should be injecting. And the WEIGHT of it!! what's the point in telling me the carbs per 100g and not telling me what it poxy weighs!!!!!?????

I agree I get annoyed when things are advertised as being healthy, but for us, most of the time they're not!

Like Alan said, you can't add anything more specific to packages as everyone has different ratios and different foods have different affects on people's bg (oh the joys of individualism in diabetics!!)

Good luck with your project!

 

[NathanMedford]

Thanks for all this, seems like a theme is arising regarding making carbohydrate info clearer and making it actually relevant to the products not mythical per 100g

 

[MCH]

Thanks for all this, seems like a theme is arising regarding making carbohydrate info clearer and making it actually relevant to the products not mythical per 100g

I agree about the carbohydrate in eg a sandwich as who can weigh things when out, but when at home, I like to have the value per 100g as well as I can weigh things at home. I also agree that it would be much better in larger print (and that the famous traffic light system is useless.)

 

[Lizzzie]

Hi just another voice adding to the 'but how much is 100g' complaint.

Cakes.... I know they can't always tell us exactly what it weighs and therefore don't have to put it on, but they must have some idea to approximate on. Between this and this? Or the cake wighs 'this' to the nearest 10g, perhaps?

 

[heasandford]

Yes that is stupid! I had a chicken pasta salad the other day and it wasn't until I opened it that I could see the nutritional values! 🙄

I would say some packaging is fine, certainly not all because there's no real consistency on where they put it and whether it's actually legible without access to electron microscopes. Also, some pachaging I've noticed doesn't have values per 100g, just ingredients listed in declining proportion of content.

We may not actually need much more in the way of info, what is needed is proper legal requirements and standards of how it is presented.

There are legal requirements, not all companies stick to them - plus some companies add extra stuff that's not legal! If they choose to display nutritional information, then it must include 'per 100g' - 'As a minimum, labels need to give the amount of energy (expressed in kJ and kcal) protein, ccarbohydrate and fat (all expressed in grams) provided by 100g or 100ml of food.' Our laws are based on EU legislation.