The World of Labels

All we know the famous brands as DUNKIN’ DONUTS, DANONE, GORTON’S, etc. Almost every day we buy and eat the products of these brands, but have you ever stopped to think if this food is really good for our health and the health of our children? What is exactly behind the labels?

 Let’s see the example of Surimi. Surimi is a paste made from fish, poultry or other meat. The Surimi was invented in 1960 by Nishitani Yÿsuke and it is very used in Japan and China. In Europe such a product is often sold as seafood sticks, crab sticks, fish sticks, etc. The Surimi fish sticks, for example, contain a food coloring Tartrazine (a substance which gives a yellow colour to fish sticks). Tartrazine doesn’t add any flavour to the meal and could produce allergies to some people. It has been proved that people suffering from asthma tend to have sensitivity to Tartrazine and they are recommended to avoid it.

Coming back to the matter of labels, I would like to point out that children only love brands. Before coming to Graz Icooked some homemade doughnuts coated with black chocolate and gave one to my niece. And she said: “The doughnuts that my mummy bays at the supermarket taste much better.” It was then when I realized that children don’t want homemade products, they only love brands.