We, the poor consumer

I was in the shower the other day (actually I am in the shower at some point most days really) and I was washing my hair and having mild ADHD I always need something to read (you should see the pile of books next to the toilet: Cosmo, delicious. [which is kinda gross if you think about it], The Australian Constitution, How to save the world for 10 bucks - just to name a few) or at least have my mind pondering something. So I was reading  my conditioner bottle and it said something along the lines of 130% increase in softness and then I noticed that there was a little asterisk next to it. So I looked to find the disclaimer: Compared to non-conditioning shampoo... WTF???

Ok, so conditioner makes your hair more soft than a substance that is not only not a conditioner but a non-conditioning substance on any level. So it is like saying that this conditioner will make your hair softer than washing petrol through your hair. Now, that's not really that surprising, is it? And the funny thing was that this conditioner only claimed to have a 130% improvement... So it actaully isn't even that much better than using a product that isn't even designed for the purpose of conditioning...

I am glad that we, the consumer, are not suckers for these big FMCG companies... jeeesh!

I was eating two-minute noodles yesterday and there was this huge 97% fat free star popping out at me - which I must admit was part of the reason I ate them because everyone knows these types of noodles are like solidified deepfryers, so I felt excited about the apparent lack of fat. But as I looked closer I saw an... ASTERISK... so I found the disclaimer which said that the noodles are 97% fat free in a 400 g serve. But the noodles only weigh 82g... so how does this make sense... well, if you include the 2 billion cups of water and divide the total weight by the fat in the noodles then you discover that the meal is 97% fat free. Is that smart or are we really dumb and guliable? By increasing the overall weight the % fat decreases but this doesn't change the fact that 40% of the noodles are still lard and saturated lard at that... I may be using a little hyperbole to demonstrate the point...a little. And then the packaging goes on to say that Maggi noodles are the healthy noodle choice... my arse!

Just like McDonald's beef is 100% beef... It is if you patent a company called '100% beef'...

I think there may be a place in society for whole foods...real honest natural food... just maybe... oh, and non-conditioning conditioner that is better than using plant fertilizer in your hair... a thought for the poor consumer please...

j