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After deciding to cut any foods with corn syrup from my diet, I've noticed many products print their ingredients with low-contrast colors, such as white text on light-colored backgrounds.
My awareness of web accessibility requirements further brings the problem to my attention and I suspect that companies are deliberately masking their ingredients to prevent buyers from avoiding high-sugar products.
The simple solution is to list ingredients using black text.
Arizona Tea may not encourage their customers to read the ingredients, but they sure as hell ensure scanners can read the bar code.
Today, I noticed Arizona Tea Fruit Snacks, below.
Reading the ingredients online, I see:
PEAR JUICE FROM FRUIT JUICE CONCENTRATE, GLUCOSE SYRUP, SUGAR, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH (CORN), GELATIN, DEXTROSE; CITRIC ACID, GREEN TEA EXTRACT; NATURAL FLAVOR, FRUIT & VEGETABLE JUICE FOR COLOR (ELDERBERRY, GRAPE, SPIRULINA, TURMERIC); COLOR (PAPRIKA OLEORESIN); CARNAUBA WAX.
With turmeric, spirulina, and the anti-oxidants from the green tea extract, I'd better double up on my Arizona Fruit Snacks to prevent cancer.
The product description refers to the snack as "guilt-free" on the basis of being fat and gluten-free - a similar argument listed on candy packaging such as candy corn and gummy worms (which I love):
"From your favorite beverage to your next healthier snack time staple. AriZona Green Tea Fruit Snacks gives you 100% real fruit and only 100 calories per serving in the perfect little package. Enjoy Original, Apple, Mandarin and Plum Blueberry in this bite-size, fat free, gluten free, preservative free and 100% guilt free treat!"
Online reference suggests glucose syrup and corn syrup have equally adverse health effects.
I'll likely add additional example photos to this entry.
