What is harmful should be avoided.

Ultra-processed foods, despite sounding like a superhero name, do not bring any health benefits and quickly become one of the villains of nutrition.

1. Health Label

You know that cereal that is sold as a healthy and energizing option for children and the whole family?

If there were a big label indicating that the box contains an alarming amount of sugar, fat, and sodium, would it still be the choice for breakfast?

2. Is it harmful? It's on the label

Of course, we always seek the best for our little ones, but often, when shopping, it's hard not to get confused with so many options that seem beneficial and have complicated labels. This is such a serious issue that several debates have already been raised about the importance of easily understandable nutritional information for everyone.

In light of this, the Institute of Consumer Protection (Idec) proposed a modification in the labeling of processed foods.

According to the new model, warning labels will be added to processed and ultra-processed foods, such as cookies, instant noodles, and sodas, indicating excessive amounts of sugar, sodium, total and saturated fats, as well as the presence of sweeteners and trans fats in any quantity.

3. Excess is only good when it comes to information

The idea of Idec is to translate the harmful ingredients present in all processed foods, leaving a clear warning about their quantity on the packaging, so that there are no doubts about what we are buying.

Similar measures have already been adopted in some countries. In the United States, for example, it is mandatory to disclose the different types of sugars in products.

According to the institute, this change will help reduce doubts when making healthier choices on the shelves since small letters and complicated names can lead to confusion and unhealthy decisions.

4. Away with misleading advertising

The advertising messages of food products are also targeted by this change. The project establishes that processed and ultra-processed products cannot make any claims regarding health benefits, thus preventing consumers from being misled by communication that does not correspond to reality.

Furthermore, the use of children's characters on packaging will no longer be allowed since it is not right to encourage the consumption of unhealthy foods using children's passion for their heroes, don't you agree?

5. Eating well is your choice

All of this has one single goal: to assist people in making conscious choices based on their own decisions. Of course, a label on a bag of chips will not prevent anyone from buying it, but when problems are presented clearly and prominently, they force us to consider if that is the best alternative and, perhaps, change course towards the produce section?