New food labeling--do you read labels, is it easy for you?

Hmmm... you know, now that I see it in print, I should be saying that I'm NEITHER near-sighted nor far-sighted, since I need glasses for both.

I'm near sighted and had lasik, which allows me to navigate fairly well without them but my eyes were so bad that that's the best they could do. I'm grateful for the sight I have but now that I need reading glasses it's highly inconvenient to read labels with tiny print! I agree on the prices! They have gone up a lot this year, meat has risen about 5%. Okay, 5¢ on the dollar doesn't sound like a lot but when you're buying $20 worth of meat (just an example, I rarely do that) that's an extra dollar. Think of what a family of 4 would spend! It would be nice if stores could dangle magnifying glasses in every aisle!

It sounds like maybe you should look into Progressive lenses next time you need new glasses. They're a bit more expensive than normal lenses but, when you compare that against two new pairs of glasses, it's pretty much the same and MUCH more convenient. I hated to have to do what you're doing now... take off my far vision glasses to put on my reading glasses so I could see something for a minute, then put my far vision glasses back on. What a pain! When Progressive lenses came out, I was ecstatic! It's like you have perfect vision again... far vision is great, near vision is great and, the best part, everything in-between is great! What I did before that, when I had the two pairs of glasses, was to wear my far vision glasses and have my reading glasses on one of those glasses chains that go around your neck so they'd be nearby whenever I had to temporarily put them on. I switched places with them when I was proofreading since I had to wear my reading glasses most of the time. Progressive lenses put an end to all that nonsense. I doubt the stores would want to put magnifying glasses in every aisle because then we wouldn't buy half of what we do now. I'm sure the manufacturers of those products don't really want us to read most of those labels. You know, I just thought of something. The majority of people these days, at least in this country, is of the "baby boom" era and we're getting up there in age. You'd think the manufacturers would cater to us by enlarging the print, even if only for a few decades, until all us baby boomers have kicked the bucket.

I usually have my sunnies on and forget to take my reading glasses...I keep a spare pair in my handbag for those emergencies.

I think you're right! All those chemicals and stuff are not good for us and I buy fresh stuff instead of canned or frozen whenever possible. It's more work to cook things but I haven't been sick for 20 years so I think it pays off. Another responder suggested keeping reading glasses in the car so I'm going to do that since I always forget to take them with me.

The expiration date is mainly for inventory control. I've eaten canned things 2 years past the date and they've been perfectly fine. While I would not recommend this, I don't think it's usually dangerous to eat canned food past its expiration date.

Well, I just only following what those Bureau controlling and managing products safety and health. They say that those expired in date will not be good to eat...

Hell, they're probably hoping that we can't read it so we'll die sooner. Over 50's are considered non-productive consumers that can't contribute much to the tax revenues. Okay, maybe I'm going overboard on that...I would certainly like a label with font large enough to read and a very clear statement of where the food is from.

Yep it would be nice to be able to read what we are ingesting... I always wear my bifocals so I'm good.. but occasionally I wear my sunglasses and they don't have bifocals I didnt think I would need them! ha!

True, there are lots of mistakes at the register! When I used to work in a grocery they offered a product for free if there is a mistake about it on the receipt but I haven't heard of any other store doing this now and that was years ago. Coca Cola is very uncooperative. I wrote them about the grips on top of their 12-packs being in the middle and how inconvenient that was--my mom loves Coke so that was why I was buying it (all soda is SO bad for you!). They replied that thousands had complained about it but there were no plans to alter it. Wow.

Hey, welcome to myLot! I hope you'll enjoy it here. Make lots of friends, I have many here that I truly like and would love to meet in "real" life. Just be careful not to post referral links. Fine print is awful, especially at my age. Sometimes I can't even read it with reading glasses!

Im always suspicious of the fine print. It seems as if they are hiding something.

Yes, I find that "natural" things are deceptive and that's why I usually avoid them--they cost a lot more, too! I have magnifying glasses but usually forget to bring them to the store. Taking my glasses off, putting the others on and finding a safe place for my regular glasses where they won't be scratched is incredibly inconvenient! And I'm standing in the way of all those other shoppers.

Pet food is particularly disgusting. Have you ever seen the ingredient "animal digest"? That means all parts of an animal whether they are the animals that shelters have euthanized or ones slaughtered for eating. Beaks, claws, pet collars, hair and everything else is ground up and added to food containing "animal digest". I look for that in my dogs' food and won't feed them anything with animal digest in it. Look it up, it'll make you sick!

Yes, other countries do have wonderful products! I read the labels every time because I find that companies are changing their formulas from time to time and especially putting less in the can or box while charging the same price.

You're so right! I've seen items with ingredients like butter or sugar and yet their calories/fat content didn't reflect that. I get my readers from Dollar Tree, too. Thanks for the idea of the sun visor and collar, that will make things more convenient and I don't know why I didn't think of it before!

My Dollar Tree also sells a clip on eyeglass holder. I think they're 2/$1. I keep one clipped on my sun visor & the other clipped on my lamp shade next to the sofa. That has cut down on my loss of glasses & they stay within reach!!!

The origin of foods would be at the top of my list. I was talking with my stepmother yesterday about potatoes. When she was a girl they harvested potatoes and put them in the cellar and they lasted all winter. Now, the potatoes you buy from the store start to go soft in a week! She thinks they've been sitting in warehouses for months and I'm sure she's right. Maybe a harvested date should be in vegetables. But I'll be growing my own potatoes this year! I want to avoid products from China. It's often very difficult to find where a food is actually from. Where it is packed is quite different from where it originated, lots of food is from China but packed in the USA.

I have to get new glasses with built-in readers. That would take care of it for me but still, some of it is so small that I can't even read it with my reading glasses. The prices will only keep rising, though, meat has risen 5% this year and dairy products even more.

That's the problem, any changes mean financial burdens on the food manufacturers and will raise the prices. But the government is apparently bound and determined to "improve" the labeling on food so we might as well see what the people would actually like changed! As long as it's inevitable, it should be what people really need and want. I just with the government would butt out of everything except defense! Sometimes I can slide my glasses down my nose and read the labels but usually the print is too small even for that. I don't mind buying foreign foods but after seeing the pollution in China I don't want food from there--and so much of it is! Take a look at this if you want to see some heart-breaking pollution: http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/ After you look at that, you won't want to buy anything from China!

I too wish the Government would step back on its regulations (in most areas it now regulates); some, of course, are necessary, but I think they need to do some cost/benefit analysis before implementing them. And I agree, if you're going to do it, then make sure we can read the dang labels. Oh, I don't buy products/produce from China. Not only do I think they're not safe, until China/India/et al play by the same rules most of the rest of world plays by (wages, safety, environmental, etc.), I try to not buy anything made in China, let alone their food. Because I live on the border, I end up buying some foods from Mexico...that's what I was referring to when I said I buy foreign produce. In some of our grocery stores, about half of the aisles are foods from Mexico. I guess if half my store customers were from Mexico I'd do the same thing...but I liked it better when most of the aisles were "Made in the USA". I felt safer buying products/produce.

Yes, you can find out a lot and manage your dietary needs better when you read labels. I'm just surprised how many people I see that don't!

It is hard for me sometimes to find out where a food is from. The label will say "packed at Foods, Inc., Walmart, MN" and on another part of the package in very, very tiny print it will finally tell me that the food is made in China.

We have lots of foods here high in sugar but even more are high in salt. I was surprised at how much salt was in the convenience foods I liked, like canned and frozen foods. Now I mostly cook everything from scratch at home.

I saw a show recently that said the expiration date is more for inventory control than food safety. So I went down in the basement and got the beans that expired in 2008 that I couldn't bear to throw away. They were great! Nothing bad happened so I guess the people were right. I pay attention to fiber, too. Most people don't get enough fiber. And I try to avoid anything from China. I don't eat nearly as much seafood as I used to because it's mostly from China.

Ha! Well, sometimes I'll look up something on the internet before I buy it if I see something unfamiliar on sale, it's better than straining to read the label. I agree on country of origin, I put back lots of foods after reading the labels because they are from China. I used to eat a lot of seafood but it seems lately that it's mostly from China so I don't get much anymore. I would like to see the country of origin in very large font on the front of the package or top of the can! Better yet, have a "USA only" section of the store!

I would certainly return it to the store if I got it home and couldn't use it. Sometimes I have to ask for help from fellow shoppers and I'm not a bit shy about it--it's important to know what's in the food I'm eating!

Wow, you have that problem there, too? The U.S. is importing nearly everything these days and it's hard to find anything made here. I prefer food grown here. But the best canned beef I've ever had was from Australia, I hear you have some awesome cattle there. My grandparents were cattlemen and next to that beef, Australia's is the best! I'll buy things from Australia and nearly every other country but I avoid things from China.