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Why aren't Carbs on the front of food packages?

I think that highlighting the sugar content on the front is, in a way, diminishing the importance of carbs. How many newbies come on this forum every day saying that they have cut out sugar so why do they still have high bg/feel like ****? It is carbs that should be highlighted on packaging. Just my tuppence worth.


(I lost my specs on a trip,to Sainsburys on Hogmanay. The staff couldn't have cared less. My son eventually found them under a car. Don't like taking them out shopping now Not the shops fault obviously, but it freaked me out enough that I now leave them at home when shopping)
 
I tend to check everything in packaging online before I do my shopping list - but my husband will only shop online anyway so it isn't too much of an issue - but I do agree that I'd like to (a) see the carbs included with the other basic info, and (b) that they include the info in decent sized print.

When my eyes were very bad (not diabetes related) I had at one point to carry a magnifying glass around in my bag to be able to even read normal sized print.

Robbity

My poor mum had issues reading labels as she was very long sighted which got worse as she got older, and it got to the point where she could no longer read the labels on cans even at arms length - which made her shopping quite an adventure and a bit of a lucky dip!
 
Before I quit eating packaged food, I bought a magnifying glass to read them 'cos the writing can be so tiny. Life is much easier now
 
I don't see the point of serving sizes either, most of the time the serving sizes seem to be for rabbits not humans. Using the 100g amount is a good way of making a comparison between foods but it becomes a pain when you're working out exactly how much for carb counting. My son usually has different food to us and more often than not a ready meal (I know it is not ideal but he is very picky with his means as he is autistic) so we have to work it out for the whole pack. Some companies are beginning to improve in that they will give the amount per pack or half a pack etc rather than per 100g but it is not consistent sadly.

I'm aware that the information is there if you look hard enough and it isn't "rocket science" but wouldn't it be better for everyone if there was consistent and easy to find information? Why are the stats on the front of packs more important than carbs for diabetics? As an increasing condition I would've thought we'd at least be considered.
 
I think most supermarket food has the carb content there somewhere if you look. What annoys me are places that sell take away food and can't tell you what the carb content is!
I bought a pastie from one of these take away pastie shops. They are not something I eat on a regular basis so I asked the shop assistant if she she knew how many carbs they had in them. She smirked at me and made some crass comment about me being worried about my weight!! But no they had no info about carbs at all.
 
Indy51 said:
Before I quit eating packaged food, I bought a magnifying glass to read them 'cos the writing can be so tiny. Life is much easier now
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Great idea, Indy. I will take that on for sure. -
Oh, and by the way, just found that I had a magnifying glass in my compass - will do the trick, thanks Indy.

And Robbity, I am long sighted as well, so I understand your mother's problems.

To "this is too difficult" - I do not find your inputs helpful - sorry about that.

annelise
 
I'm happy with knowing what's in 100g most of the time but......... What really annoys me is when you know **** well that the whole pack does not weigh 100g and cannot find anywhere visible what the pack actually does weigh. I'm not always near a set of scales


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I don't think I have seen that.
 
I use one of those strings that make you look stupid.
 

I've found that too, often items bought from the likes of Lidl or Aldi.
 
this is too difficult said:
Will look out for that. I am retiring soon and planned to use Aldi and Lidl more.
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We shop at both and you can make quite a saving, the fruit and veg is much cheaper than the likes of Asda & Tesco's (although admittedly they have reduced their prices of late), I don't find the meat in Lidl very cheap but in Aldi I do, we still get some shopping in Tesco's as we use our Clubcard and often get money off Coupons through the post
 
I agree with you,more need to be done on the carbs on packaging so people know what they are buying ,there are so many hidden ingredients in foods we buy and are not even on the label,and that to is scary, some times it is better option cooking fresh food from scratch, keep all the artificial and processed things at bay and stick to what is safer to eat,and that is easy said than done for some people,when you cook your own food you know what is going in it plus you can reduce the amounts of salt sugar fat etc or leave out if need be, some ingredients can be tricky to buy if theirs not enough info on the label. maybe it should be mentioned to the food standards agency may be they will listen.
 
Daibell said:
If the NHS has an interest in our health why do so many HCPs still stick to the 'carbs with every meal' mantra which will make most people with diabetes worse. There are many good aspects of the NHS but this is not one of them.
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It is not the NHS staff who are at fault or are trying deliberately to mislead us, but NICE certainly are. Remember that the majority of their doctors have some of their budgets funded by drugs companies.

Last week was National Dietitians Week and as I work at a hospital I stopped at their stall to ask what they thought of all the info and research into reducing carbs, I also asked them what the latest guidelines were for diabetics.

I was told that they have to recommend a low fat, high carb approach with complex carbs at each meal - especially breakfast. She also said that they were not allowed to comment on new research etc until NICE had approved it. I can accept that food labelling is for all and not just those of us with diabetes but they should represent all diet choices; this includes low fat, low carb, high protein etc so in effect the food companies and those that legislate them are restricting some people from making an informed choice (with or without glasses) that will help them. Diets are not a one size fits all and we are all on the same journey we just have different routes. However I know that if I had followed the advice given to me by the first dietician I saw my sugar levels would not be as low as they are.
 
Some supermarket foods have their carb content on the inside of the packaging, under the 'lid'. How are you supposed to read that?!? X
 
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