Nutrition is confusing. It’s a land of pseudoscience, conspiracies, and constantly changing values. I’m a victim to it. So are you. I don’t even really pay attention to news I see about what we should be eating because it dredges up all sorts of contradictory and confusing information in my brain about nutrients and digestion and energy. (I took a nutrition course in college but it was structured in such a way that I didn’t learn a thing: at every lecture, the professor would give two questions and answers for the final exam – the only grade in the class! – giving the incentive to never miss a lecture. As any good 19-year-old would quickly figure out, I banded together with a few other students and we set up an attendance schedule so we, as a unit, never missed a final exam question but, individually, only had to attend every 5th lecture. I got an A on the final exam and don’t remember a single thing from the class.)
An overly confusing nutritional environment means we the consumers will, if presented with too many confusing options, choose the cheapest option or the product with the branding that most appeals to us, depending on how much we can spend. It may sound obvious, but food shopping is not designed to enable us to make good nutritional choices. I simply refuse to spend the time doing quick math in my head of daily nutritional values for everything I might buy.
But recent trips to my local supermarket (Walmart-owned Superama) give a sense that’s changing a bit in Mexico. And for good reason.
Mexico has become one of the most unhealthy countries in the world in the last few decades. Despite being a significantly poorer country than the US (or perhaps because of this), Mexico has nearly reached or surpassed its northern neighbor in overall obesity, childhood obesity, Type-II Diabetes, hypertension and death rates associated with these ailments. This is a very good, recent rundown of the stats if you’d like to know more. But briefly: this is a public health crisis that has barely been addressed.
Many factors contribute to declining health in Mexico, but it’s pretty clear now (highlighted in that same article) that everything begins and ends with corporate power. Corporate power that aggressively resisted nutritional labeling on highly processed foods. Corporate power that prevented regulations on deceptive food advertising. Corporate power that has warped markets so chain grocery stores and restaurants are the only affordable eating options in many places, particularly in cities. (WalMart is, by far, the largest retailer in Mexico and all of Latin America).
Mexico’s most famous public health official, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, who is leading Mexico’s COVID response (to not great results), blamed this atmosphere when responding to a question about obesity and diabetes being the leading co-morbidities for COVID here.
Obesity “is not the fault of individuals, it's the fault of this nutritional environment that has been developed to favor those [junk food] products instead of health,” he said.
A couple months ago, I reported this story for NPR about a new law in Oaxaca (and other states) banning junk food for kids. The law drew lots of strong reactions: impassioned pleas of legislators saying that drastic health consequences call for drastic measures. Pro-business groups warning of impending doom for small businesses. Calls of a tyrannical nanny state. On the other hand, most of the young Mexicans I spoke to – an admittedly limited sample size – had comparatively mild reactions: mostly shrugs and “yeah, we probably should eat less junk food.” But the media frenzy overshadowed a law that just came into place across the country, one that will likely have a much greater impact on diets in Mexico: ominous black labels plastering the front of food packages.
EXCESS CALORIES. EXCESS SUGAR. EXCESS SODIUM. EXCESS TRANS FAT. EXCESS SATURATED FAT.
The legislation is based on a Chilean model that had pretty quick, positive impacts on consumers. Three years after implementation, a study showed half of consumers said the labeling made them look at alternatives and 80% of those said they chose an alternative without the menacing labels. Breakfast cereal purchases dropped by 14%, sugary drinks by 25% and packaged desserts by 17%. The food itself also changed: there was 25% less sugar and up to 10% less sodium in a collection of processed foods studied. (The link above is from Mexican consumer lobbying group Poder del Consumidor but the study was done by the National University of Chile, the University of North Carolina and Chile’s Public Health Institute.)
As I wander the aisles of my supermarket nowadays (I’m trying to make my trips during a pandemic quick and efficient but, god, is there anything more soothing than aimlessly walking up and down every aisle of a calm supermarket?), I see these big black labels everywhere. They are ominous. They are intimidating. They are sometimes confusing, often surprising.
It will be a while before we know what the effect will be here in Mexico but I’ve felt the impacts in my shopping and will now engage in a bit of armchair consumer psychology.
Here’s how I’ve reacted to these labels. I’m curious to see if this plays out to the wider population:
“Health food” is mostly bullshit! There’s a section of my supermarket that lumps together everything with labeling like: “natural”, “organic”, “sugar-free”, “gluten free” and “super food.” What does the word “natural” mean when it’s on a food label? Organic means healthy right? Why is “gluten free” anything considered a health food? If a food is vegan, doesn’t that mean it’s healthy? These new labels are doing wonders at blowing up the specious claims of “health food.”
This isn’t to say that organic cereal is worse for you than Frosted Flakes (Zucaritas en México). Nor is to to say that you shouldn’t choose a vegan alternative if you are vegan and craving bratwurst flavor. Or to say that gluten-free options aren’t valuable for people who need that. But these labels are useful in cutting through packaging that gives the vague impression of health.
See beyond the manipulative color schemes: I know we like to think of ourselves as enlightened beings, but some pretty basic branding completely distorts our reasoning. If the box is brightly colored (Fruity Pebbles, gummy worms) no one is fooling themselves into thinking they’re buying something healthy. But it is gonna be so much fun to eat! You see that box with those nice warm, autumnal colors? Some happy farm animals in a pastoral scene? The green motif? These simple branding strategies always evoke a sense of health, organic farming, natural ingredients. The new black labels blow it all up. Here’s my favorite example:
Oh, Mr. Quaker Oats, that was such an admirable attempt to smuggle sugar and extra calories into your box of SUPER FOODS
I’m still gonna buy this but I probably shouldn’t eat a lot of it: Cheese! My dear, beautiful cheese. I’ve got >5 types of cheese in my fridge and don’t plan to change that. But I can’t fool myself into thinking I’m eating well when I snack on a block of cheese. Will I still buy that Häagen-Dazs? I will, and that black label will stare at me with every bite.
My indulgences are…pretty bad. Lots of products have one or two of these black labels but you know you’re really diving into nutritional hell when you see one hit the trifecta or the quad. My poor, disgusting Oreos!
HOW DO OREOS HAVE SO MUCH SALT??? Will I still eat Oreos? Of course, sometimes. But that super square of black labels will haunt me.
In my early experiences with the new labels, I seem to have an overarching reaction: pausing. The black labels make me hesitate. They make me look at alternatives. I don’t feel like my consumption habits have changed very much and I think I eat pretty healthily anyway, but I like the extra moment of consideration the black labels are forcing on me.
This is a positive sign that Mexican legislators voted in favor of consumers over corporations (Mexico’s Coca-Cola distributor has tried, and so far failed, to overturn the law on legal challenges.) But it is not a complete solution to Mexico’s ongoing health crisis. The labels aren’t (yet) rebuilding a food environment where consumers actually have easy access to a healthy diet. You can’t just rail against the bad, you have to build an alternative. But the black labels feel like a good start.
I’d love to hear what nutritional labeling is like where you are (I’ve found UK food labeling very helpful and easy to understand). Or if you’re in Mexico, what do you make of the new labeling?
I love the new labelling, very off-putting. Peanut butter! Who knew!? I still eat it in ladlefuls thought