Before I was diagnosed as a coeliac I took very little notice of the labelling on foods and meals. If I fancied the item then I bought and ate it. Things are really different now, as I have come to be an inveterate label reader.
Now I can hear you shouting “Just what a shopping bore”, in fact, the reverse is true. Buying food is an experience; my aim is to find brand-new things I can safely eat on a gluten-free diet. It is all a matter of perception.
Some people will look at an old lady and see an old crone, a female with a huge chin and a beaky nose staring at the labels. Others will see an elderly, elegant grandmother taking great interest in the food they eat. For some people, they can only see a single option even if they know there are other possibilities.
Back to the purchasing. If you consider looking at product tags as a real bore, taking an excessive amount of time and is a constraint on your life, that is exactly what it will come to be. On the other hand, you could revel in the exercise as a form of competition to find new items. However, the influence on your temper and frame of mind is likely to be extremely different.
The quality of labelling on foods has actually improved significantly in the last few years, we can now be a lot more aware of exactly what we are putting inside our bodies. I for one am a lot more aware of additives, economical fillers and chemical ingredients. As a result of label reading, I have a much healthier and much more varied diet.
