Nutrition: The Consumer And The Supermarket (1976)

[Music] during the making of This film we talked to many people to get their views about different aspects of nutrition and the supermarket to begin with we asked people why supermarkets have become so important in our way of life and in my opinion I would think that for the vast majority of of all shoppers of all people really that what they really want uh is a convenience shopping by convenience shopping I would mean a convenient store to shop in but also products inside the store to make it more convenient for them it makes the job a lot easier to to to live to rather than uh go back to the good old days when we made all our own bread now it's nicer to go out and get a good quality quick processed food that uh takes care of those needs convenience yes but several people also told us they had reservations about the supermarket you I think it's good for you just because it's in the supermarket do you many products you buy in the market are detrimental to your health they're not really nutritious in nature and um all the time the public is just uh ignorant to what's what they're eating and what's involved so they buy whatever the little shelves I think that you have to uh more or less think about what you're buying and uh if you have some knowledge of your nutrition you can find very good products in the average Supermarket however there are of course many products that I wouldn't use because I don't feel they're healthy but I think there are many and I've been feeding my family and do all of my market Marketing in a supermarket the object of shopping in a supermarket should be to get the nutrients we need proteins for growth and repair of the body carbohydrates for energy fats for insulation and energy and vitamins and minerals for normal growth and proper functioning of the body but there are so many thousands of products in the supermarket that selecting foods for the nutrients they give is difficult without some knowledge of which products to choose and which to eliminate for basic nutrition it helps to think of the four main food groups the meat group [Music] this group provides proteins fats Vitamin B and iron substitutes for meat are dried beans and peas and nuts the milk group milk and dairy products provide protein essential fats vitamins a b and d and minerals such as [Music] calcium the cereal and bread group in in which grains such as corn rice and wheat are used to make breads cereals noodles crackers and cookies rice dishes and even popcorn this group provides carbohydrates Vitamin B and iron the vegetable and fruit group provides vitamins and minerals carbohydrates and roughage for proper digestion although there are only these four basic food groups there are over 7,000 products on the supermarket shelves which one should we buy where do they all come from let's take as an example one relatively common food the ordinary potato from this one product come many other products on the supermarket shelves there are instant mashed potatoes and AR Gren potatoes french fried potatoes and on and on and on these potato products are a good example of the way food manufacturers take Basic Foods and process and package them many different ways this processing and packaging often decreases the nutrients of the basic food while multiplying the price potato chips can cost 10 times as much as raw potatoes and provide far less nutrients a aside from the fact that Basic Foods are processed and packaged so many different ways another reason there are over 7,000 different products in the supermarket is because so many of them are nonf food items and all of these products are there for one reason to get you to buy [Music] them to shop wisely for nutrients we also have to be aware of the techniques that are used to influence our purchases one of these is advertising I'd say the ones that advertise the most are the ones that have the least food value for the individual well I mean what sort of information do they give you what what's that one uh lip smacking whip cracking Patty whacking good I what lies lies lies on the label label label [Applause] just you know it's just the ad it's not so much the jingle it's just the whole ad it's just stuck into my mind yeah I am very much against this I I think whatever is advertised is only a benefit to to sell us but not to buy us store design is also a technique used to influence buying it has been claimed that the music and the Maze of Isles in the supermarket help hypnotize the customers lull us into a mood that encourages impulse buying these impulse purchases are stimulated by product spotters that draw attention to certain products and buy displays at the ends of the aisles where products are placed for maximum visibility and not as many customers mistakenly feel because they're on special sale eye Lev displays also attract our attention shelf placement of the products is carefully researched and competition is Keen for the best locations the way products are displayed in the produce department is an example of the way the stor is laid out the staple items the ones purchased most often are widely separated so you have to pass by many other things to get to the few you need [Music] [Music] a package's main purpose is to protect what's inside it also has to be convenient and easy for store employees to price and stock on the shelves but packaging is also a technique used to influence buying I think the package is the salesman of the product I believe all packaging has a sales value today obviously that's the whole point of detracting people's attention a package has to catch your eye mouthwatering pictures of the products inside often do the job along with bright colors and happy faces and bold [Music] designs many products make nutrition information a part of the package appeal realizing that more and more people want to know what is in the product and how it was prepared [Music] out of a certain percentage if they they can package a a product uh they've accomplished their goal at least to get you to try it several people we talked to commented about the confusion brought on by what is printed on the packages uh anyway you never see packages that are labeled small these days you see them they they say medium large extra- large colossal but when you get medium it's tiny minute large is very small and then extra large or colossal can often be average something like that but you just don't see uh anything sort of labeled what it is everything is just notched up to be bigger and bigger and bigger unless they are capable of uh uh studying the package and uh comparing the contents they really get ripped off fractional weights and different units of measure make it difficult to to compare the value of one product with [Music] another but whatever the size read the ingredients and the nutrition information on the package and use it I think that when people go to supermarkets they buy brand names and don't even check the labels at all for nutrients and carbohydrates and whatnot I don't think the average person knows what it means when they read a package and see it has so many units of Vitamin B or so many units of Rial flaven or whatever it is they don't know whether that whether they need that many units or whether it meets their daily requirements or whether it's more or what or what the particular vitamin does for them labeling packaging store design advertising all combined to make shopping in the supermarket confusing but there are ways to help you get maximum nutritional value for your food dollar here are some tips most important thing for me is to take a shopping list with me because I don't want to buy things on impulse that I don't need I do use open code dating I think it's very important because it helps me to uh determine whether a product is fresh or not I find that unit pricing helps me whenever I have a problem with odd package sizing or or weights I find that unit pricing helps take a lot of the confusion out of it well I think you should buy me meat according to the amount of lean meat in the cut not just how much it costs per pound your higher grades of meat they cost more and they contain a lot more fat well chicken and turkey are usually Bargains compared to other meats I feel processed Meats like sandwich meats hot dogs are expensive sources of protein and well some scientists feel that they contain preservatives that are harmful bacon is mostly uh fat and I think you'll find that it's a pretty expensive source of proteins well frozen dinners cost more uh to purchase than the same meal cooked at home and they don't provide as much nutrients for convenience it's going to cost you more money I buy bread more by weight and food value and instead of the size of the loaf because most bread or some is just puffed up with air well hot breakfast cereals are cheaper if you don't by the instant or quick times I find that breakfast cereals are often an expensive source of of nutrients and those pre-sweetened cereals or or the ones vitamin enrich they they charge you quite a premium for the added sugar or vitamins I I would choose a non-sweetened whole grain cereal I find that um they provide better nutrition for my money I think you should have avoid buying breakfast cereals in individual serving packages uh because the added cost of individual packaging makes them poor nutrition bargain well non-fat milk and lowfat milk are less expensive than whole milk and of course contain less fats and are better for you margin has less saturated fat than butter it's also cheaper I've been saying to buy in buying cheeses buy it in blocks or wedges not individually wrapped you're going to get more for your money you're going to be ahead of the game MoneyWise I always buy vegetables and fruits if I can in the form that'll give the most servings for the money when you buy fresh fruits and they're in season they're usually a much better buy than canned or frozen I find that snack foods are very they Supply a lot of calories but they're very poor source of any nutrients um snack fruits are just a very poor nutritional buy I find well I think to get the best nutritional values uh that uh we should all get back to basics things like uh whole grains legumes a Le meat and poultry fruit and vegetables of course lowfat dairy products and nuts are good [Music] to sum it all up whenever we go shopping for food the main thing to remember is that we're shopping for nutrients if we keep this in mind then we can take advantage of the convenience of the supermarket without being confused by the thousands of items available there when we understand both the market and our nutrition Nal needs then we can choose the foods that give the best nutritional value for our food dollar [Music]