Paranoid Parents are working to promote a Nutritional Seal of Approval to assess the nutritional content of food. Others are trying to establish a similar seal because of the need for a simple seal (not deliberately misleading labels) to tell consumers which food is nutritious and which are not. Healthy food is a parent concern. This is Paranoid Parents criteria work to date:

1. Paranoid Parents will concentrate on

Nutritional content of food using modified European White Paper guidelines

Toys—looking at quantifiable exemplary quality control in production and design

2. Companies wishing to carry the seal on their products should contact email: paranoidparentsguide@hotmail.com

Testing Areas

From my two years of research, I have come up with suggestions to for guidelines.

Fresh Produce (Whole Foods market’s system is more than adequate for fresh produce but neglects the center aisles of processed food.

Product: fresh fruits and vegetables and products, fruit juices, etc

Nutrition (fruit juices are in the controversial category of the European white paper on Nutritional Profiling because of their high sugar content but we want to steer consumers away from high fructose juices with colorings and additives)·

Processed Foods

Products: We will be targeting children’s products in particular.

Criteria: We have selected the European Parliament White Paper on Nutritional Profiling as our standard. (See attached.) Prepared over 10 years, the world’s top doctors and nutritionists, economists and childhood specialists have determined a formula for accessing the nutritional content of food. Basically, the fat, salt and sugar of 100 grams of a product are given a rating and added up, then the protein, fiber, fruit and vegetable content, and natural vitamins (not fortified which do not absorb or act like natural vitamins) are given a numerical rating. The ‘healthy’ number is subtracted from the ‘unhealthy’ content and a number is reached, usually between -4 and 30—although most food should fall between 0-10. Foods under 4 are considered nutritional. Those about 4 are not healthy. In the testing that Paranoid Parents has done of 500+ foods, very few ‘normal’ American common children’s foods had a rating under 10. We therefore proposed to class foods with a 4, not 3, or under, nutritionally acceptable. We would not be able to approve enough foods to make it a significant Seal if we had to approve under 4. For example, we tested 36 brands of ORGANIC macaroni and cheese. Only one came in at a rating of 4. The majority were in the 10-12 range making them totally unacceptable—their fat and salt content were higher than Krafts Macaroni and Cheese. We would still prefer parents by organic to avoid the chemical cocktail of colorings and additives, but even organic can be very bad for children. Surprisingly some common children’s non-organic cereals rated highly in nutritionally terms—pink frosted Shredded Wheat with sparkles rated 3 ½. Appearances can be deceptive. There is an adherent problem, that the formula is based on 100 grams, and that if parents or children believe a product has a nutritional seal, that there may be portion abuse, we still feel that it is better to be eating too much of a nutritional product than an unhealthy one. And with a nutritionally sound product, low in additives, salt and fat, but high in fiber, the child will probably feel full faster and for longer. Additionally, we would like to make the FDA rules that apply to colorings and additives in drug products apply in food products. For example, Blue Dye #1 must carry a warning label in children’s Tylanol, etc—may cause cancer and may cause behavioral disorders in some children.The FDA regulates food differently and Blue Dye #1 can be in children’s food products, as much as 10 or 100 times the amount without carrying a warning label. Blue Dye #1, or Blue E4 in Europe, is actually banned in Europe, Australia and most of the world.

Importance: Most countries will not allow certain types of advertising to children. America has no similar restrictions. The affects of unregulated advertising does most damage in relation to children. Not only are children misled but their parents are as well. A company making a fruit juice can call itself “100% Fruit, 100% Natural” can print that all over the box while the product inside has 0% fruit and be 0% natural. A parent rushing to grab something healthy will grab it because it says 100% Fruit, 100% Natural but that is the name of the company, not the description of the product. We hope this Seal would go a little way in countering the product endorsements by stars and association with TV characters and programs. Parents would be more willing to buy a product with a Seal, so children could be taught to choose those. We are not against junk food. Kids can easily have 300 calories a day in junk. But parents need to know what is junk.
Toys

Many toys are striving to achieve higher standards. They are fun toys but produced to a higher quality, using eco-sustainable methods, consulting educational and development specialists in their design, some using recycled materials. Some are making ‘safer’ products especially in the area of Arts and Crafts, using food quality dyes and ingredients that are truly non-toxic.

We want these better products to stand out on a shelf of inferior products.

Concerned consumers, please email your support. paranoidparentsguide@hotmail.com
Manufacturers interested in carrying the nutrition seal in the future, please email here. paranoidparentsguide@hotmail.com