How food companies trick you into believing products are ‘homemade’

For many food companies, it's now considered a necessary part of a steady financial growth strategy to make their products appear "homemade" even when they are not.

A recent Associated Press article highlights how companies are canning cookie-cutter shapes and boring colours that represent a factory conveyor belt look. The emphasis now is on "natural" and "fresh," --and if that means products don't look perfect, with ruffled edges devoid of clean lines, then so be it.

Domino's purposely aims to have the edges of their rectangular pizza crust look rustic and imperfect. McDonald's now favours loosely-shaped eggs over of the perfect disc eggs that used to accompany the Egg McMuffin. And Kraft Foods try to make their sliced turkey look less oval and manufactured by making the edges rough.

“Food manufacturers are adapting by the way they mould the product or the end colour or texture they want the product to be,” Michael Cohen, a professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business, tells the Associated Press.

Also see: Processed foods you should ditch right now

The problem is that consumers become confused, equating these homemade-looking products with ones that are actually more nutritious.

“Companies can’t change the fact that they’re making processed products so they have to use these other tricks to pretend,” explains Michele Simon, a public health lawyer and author of Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back.

While some companies modify their products by removing preservatives and food colouring, others rely heavily on changing the look of their product to merely create the impression they are natural and homemade.

The packaged food industry in North America grew 14 per cent to $392.5 billion over the past five years, according to market researcher Euromonitor International. Meanwhile, the fast-food industry rose 13 per cent to $225.6 billion.

Also see: Most misleading health food claims

And if you are wondering about what exact preservatives and additives are common in processed foods, we compiled a list and got an expert to comment on whether they are as bad as they sound.

The additives included are bacteriophages, castoreum, gelatin, ammonium, sulfate, cellulose l-cysteine, titanium dioxide. Read the full story here.

What are your thoughts on food companies pretending their products are homemade rather than simply eliminating some of the additives and preservatives? Is it a necessary part of their marketing strategy? Sound off in the comments.