It Pays To Check The Label

Nestle Philippines is obsessed with a line right now: "Make it a habit, it pays to check the label!" They have it on most of their commercials and keep on repeating it at the end of each. And boy, is it rubbing off on me! (See plurk, haha.) But you know what, they are absolutely right.

Very few Filipinos check labels. (And by labels here we--Nestle and I--mean the nutritional information on the package of different types of food and drinks.) I can see that every time I go grocery shopping. Heck, I'm the only person I know who takes too long staring at the back of cans, bottles, and boxes, sometimes even comparing various products side by side. Most people here only look at the front, and that can be very misleading!

I have not been looking at labels for a long time. I only started doing that at the beginning of this year, after I signed up on SparkPeople.com and got encouraged to start living a healthy lifestyle. And does it help! After reading labels, I don't get inclined to buy cookies and junk food anymore. Reading also helps you make the right choices between brands. I once found this enriched cereal that met daily requirements by 100% for different types of vitamins and minerals. Had I not read the label, I would have bought a product of lesser quality!

I'm happy that Nestle is taking the responsibility to nudge Filipinos in the right direction. We do need to be more aware of what we eat. We are a nation with one of the unhealthiest cuisines in the world! Just think--lechon, humba, dinuguan, chorizo, sisig, isaw, et cetera, et cetera! Isn't that scary? Yummy, I know, but way scary!