7 on Your Side, Consumer Reports look into hidden message behind food labels

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Shakespeare asked what's in a name, and you should too when it comes to food labels. Food packaging can feature a lot of claims that may make you think the product is good for you, or at least, feel better about buying it.

In a partnership with Consumer Reports, 7 On Your Side's Michael Finney warns just because something sounds healthy, doesn't mean it is.

Take the claim "good source of calcium." According to the Food & Drug Administration, an item must contain at least 10 percent of the recommended daily intake to make the claim. On yogurt, the label would make sense

"But it may not make sense when you see it on a cookie. And when you see it on cookie it doesn't necessarily mean that all of a sudden that cookie is healthier for you," said Trisha Calvo, Consumer Reports Health & Food Editor.

Sometimes, the health message is in the product's name, such as Simply Lay's Sea Salted potato chips. But dig a little deeper. The sodium content is almost identical to that in their Classic chips.

"There's no difference between sea salt and regular salt nutritionally," reveals Calvo. "You're still going to be getting the sodium from it, and it's still a potato chip."

Even if the product does contain real ingredients, the key is how much. Brachs Candy Corn boasts it is "made with real honey."

"But take a look at the ingredients list and you'll see that honey is like the last ingredient on the list which means there's very little of it in the product," said Calvo.

The same goes for packaging that tells you what's not inside. Log Cabin Syrup proclaims "No High Fructose Corn Syrup," but the three main ingredients are still corn syrup, water, and sugar.

Calvo says the only real way to know if a food fits your diet, is to flip the box over to see the content that matters. Calories, fiber, sodium, and with only one additive needed: common sense.

"Nothing is going to make a candy bar healthy. Nothing is going to make a lollipop healthy. That's doesn't mean that you can't eat those foods. But just don't be fooled into thinking that you are doing something good for your body," she said.

Consumer Reports says it's not that the claims on the front of the box aren't true, they just don't always tell the whole story.

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