If it comes in a bag, a box, a bottle, a can or other container, it may have started out as food, but somewhere all along the way it met the manufacturing process.

Some "foods" like glow-in-the-dark candy goo sold to children obviously aren't food and are highly manufactured products, but a great deal of normal-looking packaged food is also highly manufactured.

Manufactured food requires labeling. The items in the produce section of your grocery store don't.

As this video makes clear, when it comes to food labeling, deception is the norm.

A solution

By all means, bring a calculator to the supermarket and run the numbers as described in this video. You'll be in for a lot of surprises. A lot of what appears to be "healthy" by its labeling is, in fact, junk.

So what's a harried consumer to do?

Here's a suggestion: Get familiar with the produce section of your grocery store, one item at a time. Discover the bulk bins at your local health food store. Buy direct from the Ultimate Manufacturer...you know, the guy in the long white robes* who makes the sun shine and the plants grow.

Until the food industry succeeds in lobbying him out of existence, his creations are probably your safest bet.

* Your deity (or dieties) may vary in size, weight, form, sex, attire, location in the cosmos, or other factors. Consult your soul for further directions as needed.