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There are plenty of words that mean nothing on food packages: new and improved, better flavor, artisan. But just like clothes and music, food packaging has fads. Putting astronaut or space on a package was a hot ticket in 1962, but would be a dud today. Here's a little tour through the biggest-hit packaging buzzwords from the past five decades, found on foods that gained in popularity during these eras.
1960s - EASY
Popular easy foods: Nestle's Quik, Shake 'n Bake, Cool Whip, Tang, SpaghettiOs
What it supposedly meant: Created by benevolent and dependable scientists in clean, white lab coats, easy foods were emptied from cans, bottles, and packages so that busy, busy people (including all those new working mothers) didn't have to take time to really cook.
What it really meant: This thing has enough additives to spontaneously combust.
Package design: Easy foods were brightly colored—red, orange, yellow—with "modern" unfussy fonts and graphics and nontraditionally spelled, gimmicky names.
1970s - NATURAL
Popular natural foods: Granolas like Quaker 100 Percent Natural Cereal and General Mills' Nature Valley granola bars, Mazola corn oil, Life cereal
What it supposedly meant: Made by hippies/indigenous people/corporations that really care.
What it really meant: Don't expect what's inside this package to taste good.
Package design: Natural foods were usually in brown, orange, and yellow packaging, often with wonky-looking images that appeared hand-drawn, and often with visual representations of the ingredients inside, e.g., pots of honey, oats, and brown sugar on the front of granola packages.
1980s - GOURMET
Popular gourmet foods: High-end ice cream such as Frusen Glädjé and Häagen-Dazs, Smartfood Popcorn, Clearly Canadian drinks
What it supposedly meant: The food inside this package is made with better-than-average ingredients.
What it really meant: Buy this and you're better than those losers you went to high school with.
Package design: Gourmet foods were given polished packaging with unusual and unfussy colors like black, gray, and white. Packages had a lot of uncluttered "white space" and often did not picture the product inside.
1990s - LOW-FAT
Popular low-fat foods: SnackWell's cookies, McDonald's McLean Deluxe burger, Lay's Baked Potato Crisps and Wow! potato chips with olestra, Healthy Choice brand foods
What it supposedly meant: The food inside this package is good for you, no matter how much sugar or how many calories it contains.
What it really meant: Only desperate people are self-hating enough to eat this swill.
Package design: Low-fat foods often looked much like their junk-food counterparts, packaged with zippy graphics and in bright shades of red, yellow, and orange, usually brandishing large "low fat" banners. Certain brands, such as SnackWell's and Healthy Choice, chose distinctive green packaging.
Early 2000s - SUPERFOOD
Popular superfood foods: Odwalla Superfood smoothie, POM Wonderful, SoBe drinks, Sambazon Açaí
What it supposedly meant: You can cheat death! Or at least look 25 forever.
What it really meant: People in midlife crisis are easily fooled.
Package design: Odwalla maintained its hippie-ish graphics even after being acquired by Coke, in contrast to most superfoody products, which tended to have pricey, hefty packaging—glass bottles for beverages, heavy premium cardboard for teas and boxed products. And lots of jewel tones to go with the jewel-toned elixirs of "youth."
Mid-2000s - ORGANIC
Popular organic foods: Annie's Homegrown brand foods and organic lines of everything from Smucker's jam to blue-box Kraft mac 'n' cheese
What it supposedly meant: Sometimes, it meant the products inside were grown in a pesticide-free environment.
What it really meant: We can charge more just by including a new word on the label!
Package design: Organic foods tended to look more "plain brown wrapper" than their nonorganic counterparts—browns and subdued yellows were popular, as were logos that looked handwritten.
NOW - SIMPLE
Popular simple foods: Simply Asia packaged sauces, meal kits, and noodles; Simply Orange Juice; Freschetta's Simply...Inspired pizzas; Simply Fruit Roll-Ups
What it supposedly means: Everything in this package is just like what Mama made.
What it really means: Look at the label. Things aren't really that simple.
Package design: "Simple" foods are packaged in boxes and jars with uncluttered design and, often, cursive logos and a lot of green.
You forgot about the "generic food" fad of the early 80's. Those white packages and cans with the labels that looked like they were stenciled on that just said, "tuna" or "macaroni and cheese" or "coffee." IIRC, there was also "beer" and "cigarettes." These were supposed to save you money over the Evil Brand Names.
While many people are not gluten-intolerant (don't have celiac disease), as we age some of us also become gluten or perhaps grain sensitive. I no longer eat much bread because I get the hiccups every time I do, and after a few days eating sandwiches for lunch or having bread with dinner, I start getting stomach pains and a lot of acid. Doesn't matter if it's homemade or from one of our wonderful...+READ
While many people are not gluten-intolerant (don't have celiac disease), as we age some of us also become gluten or perhaps grain sensitive. I no longer eat much bread because I get the hiccups every time I do, and after a few days eating sandwiches for lunch or having bread with dinner, I start getting stomach pains and a lot of acid. Doesn't matter if it's homemade or from one of our wonderful local organic/artisanal bakeries. It doesn't agree with me. I tried eliminating bread, cereal and pasta and behold -- the discomfort vanished. Added them back into my diet -- back they came. I don't say I'm gluten intolerant because I don't know what part of grains I don't digest well. So I don't eat gluten free either. It's expensive and often has a lot of sugar and salt added to give it texture and taste. No thanks.-COLLAPSE
Gingershelley,exactly where did you get your statistics on the percentage of the population affected by gluten. How could there possibly be an accurate count? No one asked me about my son (or myself). Many doctors refuse celiac tests as they tell patients that if they feel better without wheat or gluten, then don't eat it. That could surely mess up some statistics! Do the real research before...+READ
Gingershelley,exactly where did you get your statistics on the percentage of the population affected by gluten. How could there possibly be an accurate count? No one asked me about my son (or myself). Many doctors refuse celiac tests as they tell patients that if they feel better without wheat or gluten, then don't eat it. That could surely mess up some statistics! Do the real research before stating is as fact. Gluten-free is not a health fad. Do you know what gluten is? It is not a health additive and people don't "need" it for their diets and it doesn't make them healthier! They have to avoid it!
Thank goodness it was found out my son could not have gluten and was allergic to wheat (yes, truly allergic). The severe migraine headaches and sinus infections finally stopped.
Many foods are naturally gluten-free and companies have jumped on the bandwagon and labelled their products as such. I love it as I don't have to read the ingredients on every package I pick up. So many unnecessary ingredients are put into foods today, it is great to know immediately what packages I can and cannot pick up.
It is a shame that people put down what they don't know about or don't understand. Please, folks, do the research before commenting! My child's life could depend on it if they ever happen to be with you!-COLLAPSE
one point of contention, snackwells creme sandwiches are awesome.
This is how you really know how much trans fat is in your food.
Total fat minus saturated fat minus polyunsaturated fat minus monounsaturated fat = trans fat?
Example: Pringles Cheddar Cheese Chips
Total Fat: 9g
Saturated Fat: 3g
9g-3g = 6g (trans fat)
Example: Smart Balance Butter
Total Fat: 9g
Sat Fat: 2.5
Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.5
Monounsaturated Fat: 3g
9g - 2.5g -...+READ
This is how you really know how much trans fat is in your food.
Total fat minus saturated fat minus polyunsaturated fat minus monounsaturated fat = trans fat?
Example: Pringles Cheddar Cheese Chips
Total Fat: 9g
Saturated Fat: 3g
9g-3g = 6g (trans fat)
Example: Smart Balance Butter
Total Fat: 9g
Sat Fat: 2.5
Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.5
Monounsaturated Fat: 3g
9g - 2.5g - 3.5g - 3g = 0g (trans fat)
Under FDA guidelines, foods labeled "zero trans fat" can still have up to 0.49 g trans fat per serving-COLLAPSE
How about "Zero Trans Fats" which seems to be on packages of everything these days. Never mind that it's loaded with salt and saturated fats, as long as it has no trans fats it's good for you, right?
Your next category ought to be "Gluten-free"! Everyone seems to be advertising and carrying new products that are gluten-free, though very few people (by percentage, nationally I mean) are technically needing this for their diets. I think many people just think 'healthier', and are willing to pay the price.
Remember that just a few short decades ago, there were no chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and we weren't feeding animals stuff they would never come across naturally, for example, bits of other animals. IT WAS ALL ORGANIC! The products that should have "special" labels are the so called "conventional" products, in my view. Maybe something like WARNING: this product may contain carcinogens,...+READ
Remember that just a few short decades ago, there were no chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and we weren't feeding animals stuff they would never come across naturally, for example, bits of other animals. IT WAS ALL ORGANIC! The products that should have "special" labels are the so called "conventional" products, in my view. Maybe something like WARNING: this product may contain carcinogens, neurotoxins, synthetic hormones, and other ingredients that are clinically proven to be harmful to human health. BTW, you will never know if you're eating genetically modified food in this country, because there's no regulation to put this information on the package. (Unless you choose 100% organic, as the organic standard does not allow for GMO.) And you won't know if it's packaged in a container that exposes the food to BPA, unless the manufacturer chooses to disclose that info. So read the label, and also figure out what they're not telling you on the label. Or maybe just don't buy anything that comes premade in a box. After all, we know how to cook, right?-COLLAPSE
ChiliDude: you're wrong. Something that is certified organic actually means something. http://www.ota.com/organic/faq.html
This story is a great wake up call for people. Read the INGREDIENTS label, not the marketing garbage. (and this comes from a gal whose business is marketing garbage.)
==
Http://www.thewellnessbitch.com
Tell my wife about organic. She willingly pays more for produce if it says organic. I say that if something contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in its chemical composition that it is ORGANIC.
More people have died from Organic bean sprouts than have ever been killed by nuclear power plant accidents. In the last 30 years Chernobyl and Fukushima combined killed several dozen, but organic foods have killed dozens in Europe THIS YEAR!
SARC/?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_due_to_the_Chernobyl_disaster
It's all about advertising and marketing. And stupidity. And, probably, lobbying. Just like pretty much everything, these days.
And I don't trust a government that subsidizes Big Agra, production of genetically modified foods, and refuses to allow labelling of foods as such.
The FDA is a joke. Don't trust them either (yes, I know they are part of the government).
It would be interesting to see...+READ
It's all about advertising and marketing. And stupidity. And, probably, lobbying. Just like pretty much everything, these days.
And I don't trust a government that subsidizes Big Agra, production of genetically modified foods, and refuses to allow labelling of foods as such.
The FDA is a joke. Don't trust them either (yes, I know they are part of the government).
It would be interesting to see how much of a food item's purchase price actually goes toward package design, marketing and advertising....
I generally expect more when I follow a link from Chowhound. Although basically true, this article *was* kinda lame, and utterly simplistic - never mind "the mid-2000s"!-COLLAPSE
Why is OUR government allows all this "FALSE" TWISTED advertisements?
and why are PARENTS not smart enough to say NO to their kids when it comes to CHOICES?
hard questions might not get answers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the taipan
Ah, but you forgot my favorite - Space Food Sticks! They looked like processed turds (I won't comment on the taste), but they went to the moon!
This is pretty lame, sorry.
Itsering is right; foods labeled Organic are held to very strict guidelines.
I think you missed a category...foreign. In the mid-nineties all of a sudden, anything offshore was, well, de rigeur. Those horrible Swedish crackers that tasted like dog biscuits (yea, I was in a fraternity), any German cheese that smelled like grandpa's socks, marmite (really swell on Swedish crackers), Wasabi peas (where's my pea-shooter), rice cakes...or you can just eat your mattress...,...+READ
I think you missed a category...foreign. In the mid-nineties all of a sudden, anything offshore was, well, de rigeur. Those horrible Swedish crackers that tasted like dog biscuits (yea, I was in a fraternity), any German cheese that smelled like grandpa's socks, marmite (really swell on Swedish crackers), Wasabi peas (where's my pea-shooter), rice cakes...or you can just eat your mattress..., Salmiaakki, a Finnish licorice so salty it could replace road salt and good old Cygnar...Italian artichoke bitters. On ice. These foodstuffs were usually found in the condos of graduate students, padding around in their Birkenstocks, mumbling a rare Norwegian dialect and pretending to be comfortable in their I.K.E.A. iron maiden 'furniture'.-COLLAPSE
How did we get to the mid 2000s already?
I hadn't realized Carnation Breakfast Bars were supposed to be "natural"...but they sure were delicious! In fact, all the food products pictured here are pretty tasty on some level or another.
Actually "organic" labeling is regulated. Do your homework.
Re: "suggesting that people who act on such messages are intellectually inferior is just rude."
But true nonetheless.
Another popular buzzword nowadays is multigrain. IMO companies are trying to fool people into thinking that multigrain and whole grain are similar in terms of health benefits.
But I LIKE Nestle's Quick. Couldn't you have found a better example of something terrible to start with. In fact a lot of these foods that were so gimmicky according to you are still around in one form or another.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's popular, but when you throw the amount of money at these things that the food companies do, you are likely to have a successful...+READ
But I LIKE Nestle's Quick. Couldn't you have found a better example of something terrible to start with. In fact a lot of these foods that were so gimmicky according to you are still around in one form or another.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's popular, but when you throw the amount of money at these things that the food companies do, you are likely to have a successful marketing campaing... "new coke" not withstanding. That was '85, so i guess it kinda fits the gourmet image... fresh new taste for an old favorite. You can fool some of the people....-COLLAPSE
@layla13, i have no idea where you got the idea that Snackwell's cookies can help lower cholesterol. that's completely untrue, and in fact, eating them could very well have the opposite effect since they're sweetened with fructose...which has been shown to *increase* cholesterol.
MID 2000's Wouldn't that be around the year 2500? so this is a prediction then?
FYI
THe current buzzword is Organic. By definition 'organic' means that it contains carbon. Organic Chemistry is the the study of Carbon containibg molecules. Therefor Oil , Ashfalt, gasoline are all ORGANIC. Do you want to eat/drink them?
layla13 - We have 3 boxes of Snackwells vanilla cookies in the pantry right now. No, they are not as good as homemade. But they are just as good as the average store-bought cookie, w/ a bit fewer calories and fat grams.
Whenever I hear a nasty comment about low fat things, I tend to suspect the person making the comment is fat. There...I said it... the "f word".
I used to eat the "breakfast of champions" but still couldn't win at chess.
i still eat nature valley granola bars......
My main memory of "superfoods" like the Odwella drinks is that they would sometimes ferment, and you'd be faced with this scary, bulging package that might burst open if you breathed on it wrong.
when i was little i never ate breakfast the only thing i would have was carnation instant breakfast vanilla flavor. and i turned out pretty healthy so.. to each their own. some ppl dont know how to eat. lol
snackwells are good cookies and although they have sugar theyre good for ppl trying to lower colesterol so i dont agree on review. and sobe drinkare awesome and fruity who cares if they have sugar.
To me it looks like each trend begat the next trend. All of the additives in the "Easy" foods of the '60s led to "Natural" in the '70s. The crappy flavor of "Natural" led to overindulging with "Gourmet" in the '80s and after we all became fat from that, "Low-Fat" took over. When no one lost any weight (even after eating 2 boxes of "Low-Fat" food in one sitting), "Superfoods" came to the rescue....+READ
To me it looks like each trend begat the next trend. All of the additives in the "Easy" foods of the '60s led to "Natural" in the '70s. The crappy flavor of "Natural" led to overindulging with "Gourmet" in the '80s and after we all became fat from that, "Low-Fat" took over. When no one lost any weight (even after eating 2 boxes of "Low-Fat" food in one sitting), "Superfoods" came to the rescue. "Organic" might just a money grab and then we end up where we began with "Simple" wich seems like an updated version of "Easy".-COLLAPSE
The next trend will be Raw. Raw is food that has not been heated above 115 degrees F and you can cook raw using a dehydrator.
Jacyntha Crawley
www.internationalrawfoodrestaurant.net
It's all marketing, tell Americans they need something and they'll buy it. I read the other day that those stupid little bottles of 5 hour energy are making $1 million+ in sales a day. Nation of sheep, baaa baaa baaa!
Really now, I love a good look at marketing magic as much as anyone, but when we describe labels as being meant for "stupid people" then we're just being foolish. Looking at messages and how they're communicated is great, but really, suggesting that people who act on such messages are intellectually inferior is just rude. For shame.
Well, I remember the first time I ate Smartfood. I didn't like popcorn, and really didn't like popcorn. But a friend brought some to work and offered me a taste, and I ate the whole damn giant bag! I had to go out and buy her a second bag. Wow, it was amazing, and I still have the same response. It's Smartfood magic. I even tried to buy stock in the company but it was privately held, and now, of...+READ
Well, I remember the first time I ate Smartfood. I didn't like popcorn, and really didn't like popcorn. But a friend brought some to work and offered me a taste, and I ate the whole damn giant bag! I had to go out and buy her a second bag. Wow, it was amazing, and I still have the same response. It's Smartfood magic. I even tried to buy stock in the company but it was privately held, and now, of course, it's owned by Frito-Lay. Missed my chance to get rich. What's the next best thing?-COLLAPSE
Man, that Carnation Breakfast Bar brings back memories for me, too . . . although the inside tasted vaguely like a vitamin pill, they were oddly addictive.
Nothing like home made food. Passed the test of time. After all is said and done decades later, all came back to home made food, as you cannot afford to waste a penney and you cannot afford to gain a pound. Yey!
This is a great artical and I would love to see more.
I am a sales rep by trade and I am always fascinated by the phycology used to market products. These are some great examples and it would be great if you would continue with how packaging buzzwords were also used in the 50's and 60's like the cereal buzzwords that started out as positives and as culture changed those same positive words...+READ
This is a great artical and I would love to see more.
I am a sales rep by trade and I am always fascinated by the phycology used to market products. These are some great examples and it would be great if you would continue with how packaging buzzwords were also used in the 50's and 60's like the cereal buzzwords that started out as positives and as culture changed those same positive words became taboo such as how Sugar Crisp evolved into Golden Crisp omitting the word sugar all together. I am old enough to remember the tv ad's for this product telling us sugar was a great energy source and would help you make it through the day with ease making you more alert and able to learn more because of it!. by the time I was a teen you would have thought Sugar was radio active and was the worst thing you could possibly give to your kid! Great artical please write more about this subject.
Al
Sacramento Calif.-COLLAPSE
TWO WORDS. SO...WHAT?
YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS DO A LOT OF GOOD WORK, THIS PIECE NOT INCLUDED. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A DECENT LITTLE ARTICLE, BUT LIKE WAAAAAAAAY TO MANY ARTICLES ABOUT FOOD THESE DAYS, THE 'AUTHOR' SPENDS TOO MUCH TIME TRYING FRUITLESSLY TO BE AMUSINGLY INSULTING, AND TOO LITTLE TIME EXPOSING HOW THE MARKETING WAS FALSE.
I really want one of those Carnation Breakfast Bars now. I'd totally forgotten about those things, so synthetically tasty!
Thanks for this great perspective on how we can be manipulated by clever marketing, especially when it comes to our food. It would be great if we could trust what we read on a package, but as you've pointed out, that would be foolish!
Elizabeth Yarnell
EffortlessEating.com
Simply Fruit Roll-Ups are fairly awesome...and only 99c at an outlet near me....and only 1 point on Weight Watchers. It's cheap, it's tasty, it's waistline-friendly, it's made with actual fruit and no HFCS. If that's stupid, call me stupid.
I keep looking for un-natural chicken and inorganic tomatoes. Haven't seen them yet - maybe that will be next years's trend.....
I don't see that any of these perversions of language has diminished in popularity to a noticeable degree. What it comes down to- from industry to government to church- is "Give us your money and we'll take care of you".
Suddenly I have a craving for Shake 'n Bake Chicken with a glass of Tang.