Get Jacked with Basics Part III: Marketing Claims - Jacked Nerds Issue #008

👋 Welcome Back, Jacked Nerds!

+54 new Jacked Nerds joined the squad last week — welcome to the community! We’re levelling up our health stats together 💪✨

Over the past few issues, we’ve been diving deep into the often-overlooked world of nutrition labels and ingredient lists. Many of you messaged to say this series has helped you finally understand what you’re actually eating, which is awesome to hear (yay! 🥳).

But theory only gets us so far. It’s time to take our knowledge from the lab into the field.

🧪 Introducing: Packaged Food Reviews

Browsing the packaged food aisles in grocery stores can feel like scanning a glitched program — sleek designs, flashy buzzwords, and misleading claims all coded to override your common sense.

That’s why I’m launching a new Packaged Food Review segment. Think of it like a detective campaign where I combine my 10+ years of experience from working in the retail and consumer packaged foods industry and my fitness and nutrition knowledge, to decode real products and expose the truths hidden behind flashy labels.

Also, I just really like trying new foods, especially those with protein claims, and this gives me an excuse to do so 😅.

This sub-segment will drop on off-days vs. this regular issue (we’re in experimental mode), and I haven’t landed on a name yet. Got an idea? Hit reply and let me know, best one gets a shoutout in the next issue!

So if all of this sounds interesting to you, let me know below to ensure you are on the list. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ 

🔍 Coming soon in the first issue: My Review on Kellogg’s Eggo Protein Chocolate Chip Brownie Waffles

Alright, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

🎯 Wrapping Up Our Mini-Series: Decoding Food Marketing Claims

This issue wraps our three-part series by tackling the final boss of packaged food confusion: Marketing Claims.

Food marketing claims are powerful tools used by companies to highlight specific attributes of their products. These claims can significantly influence consumer purchasing decisions, but understanding their true meaning requires navigating a complex landscape of regulations, terminology, and marketing psychology.

💡 This is how I think about it:

Understanding these claims is like equipping night vision goggles in a dungeon full of traps. You’ll start to see things other shoppers don’t, and you’ll level up your food awareness massively.

Let’s dive into how brands weaponize language and psychology to influence our choices.

Before we dive in, a quick heads-up: this is a dense topic. I’ll do my best to simplify things and keep it digestible (pun intended), but we’re going to focus on the most common and relevant scenarios — not an exhaustive list of every regulatory nuance.

With that, let’s break down everything you need to know about marketing claims on packaged foods, with a focus on the US and Canada.

In today's issue, you'll find:

• 🧠 Brand Strategy and Consumer Psychology

• 🧪 Two Types of Marketing Claims

• 🛡️ How to Defend Yourself as a Consumer

• 🫵 Your Action Step of the Week

• 🤓 My Favourite Nerdy Thing of the Week

• 🍖 My Meal Prep System

• 📣 Share with a Friend!

• 🎬 Final Thoughts

To understand marketing claims, we first have to understand a bit behind brand strategy and consumer psychology.

🧠 Brand Strategy and Consumer Psychology

Brands strategically choose claims based on several factors that influence consumer perception and purchasing decisions. They can be largely grouped into the following three categories:

🖼️ Framing Dimension

As the name suggests, these are the claims that are strategically framed to influence perception.

Some examples:

🍭 Health Halos: Jedi Mind Tricks

Brands leverage "health halos": when a single health claim causes consumers to perceive the entire product as healthier, often with little evidence to support that perception.

Take a look at Welch’s Fruit Snacks.

On the front of the pack, it reads “Made with real fruit”, and “No artificial flavours or colours.", all claims that make this sound healthy.

But if you look at the ingredients list, the first ingredient is “sugars”, which includes fruit puree, which is just highly processed fruit that eliminates much of what make fruit healthy in the first place - fibre, vitamins, etc.

📈 Consumer Trends

Companies select claims that align with current consumer concerns and trends, such as gluten-free, natural, or organic, regardless of whether these attributes provide significant nutritional benefits for most consumers.

Right now, protein is all the rage — 63% of consumers say they want protein in their snacks.

I mean, we all know where Saxon stands on that topic 🪷.

🧪 Two Types of Marketing Claims

1. Regulated Claims

These are claims that are governed by regulatory bodies in the US (FDA and FTC) and in Canada (Health Canada and CFIA). These claims must meet strict legal, compliance, and health regulations. In many cases, these must be supported by scientific evidence and approved by these agencies.

There are many different categories and sub-categories of claims that are regulated. For the sake of brevity, I’m including three of the most common ones below:

1. Nutrient Content Claims: These claims characterize the level of nutrients in a food product.

   For example:

• Source of (e.g., "source of fibre")

• High/good source (e.g., "high in Vitamin A")

• Very high/excellent source (e.g., "excellent source of calcium")

• Low (e.g., "low in sugars")

• Reduced (e.g., "reduced in sodium")

• Free (e.g., "trans-fat free")

2. Health Claims: Health claims establish a relationship between a food product or ingredient and health outcomes. These are closely regulated.

   A couple of examples:

• “Diets low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure.”

• “Calcium may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.”

3. Structure/Function Claims: These describe how a nutrient/ingredient affects the normal structure or function of the body (e.g., "supports joint health" or "promotes digestion").

   For example: "Calcium supports bone strength". This is a structure/function claim as it talks about how it affects the function of the body, as opposed to "Calcium reduces osteoporosis risk", which is a health claim that talks about a specific disease.

2. Unregulated or Loosely Regulated Claims

These are the wild west of food marketing. These claims aren’t as strictly regulated, or in some cases, have no legal definitions at all.

Similar to regulated claims, there are many types of unregulated or loosely regulated claims. I’ve compiled a list of the most common types below:

1. Implied Health Claims and Soft Claims: These are claims that suggest a health benefit without explicitly stating it, such as graphics (hearts, check marks), slogans ("healthy choice," "good for you," "nutritionist recommended"), or non-specific statements ("supports wellness," "boosts vitality").

2. General Wellness and Lifestyle Claims: Phrases like "clean label," "natural," "pure," "wholesome," or "real ingredients" are popular but often lack standardized regulatory definitions.

3. Method of Production Claims: Claims about how a food was produced, such as "free-range," "grass-fed," "handcrafted," "artisanal," or "non-GMO", are often voluntary and only regulated if they are false, misleading, or if a specific standard (e.g., organic, kosher) is invoked.

4. Testimonials and Endorsements: Statements such as "doctor recommended" or consumer testimonials are loosely regulated, mainly under advertising standards and prohibitions against deception, but not under specific food claim regulations

🛡️ How to Defend Yourself as a Consumer

I try my best to adhere to the below system when I grocery shop to avoid falling into these marketing traps.

1. I start at the back

The most reliable information is found in the nutrition labels and ingredient list, not in front-of-package marketing claims. Food manufacturers can pick and choose which facts to highlight in marketing, but complete nutritional information must be included in these standardized formats.

Check out the previous issues on nutrition labels and ingredient lists to better understand how best to read and decode them.

2. I pay attention to ingredient order

Ingredients are listed in order of quantity - the first ingredient is the most abundant. When claims like "made with real fruit" or "whole grain" appear on the front of the pack, I double-check where these ingredients appear in the list. If they're not among the first few ingredients, their presence may be minimal.

3. I validate health halo claims

As touched on above, a single health claim doesn't make a food healthy overall. When I see a health halo marketing claim, I evaluate the complete nutritional profile rather than focusing on isolated positive attributes highlighted by marketing.

Look for asterisks next to these claims. Kellogg’s Vector Cereal is the perfect example. On the front of the pack, it claims “provides 13g protein”. But if you look closely at the back, the 13g of protein comes with a disclaimer that it’s with 200ml of skim milk! The cereal itself only provides 5.7g of protein per serving.

4. I also consider what’s not being emphasized

Products that emphasize one positive attribute may be distracting from less desirable characteristics. For example, products claiming to be "low-fat" often contain added sugar to maintain taste.

🫵 Your Action Step of the Week

Next time you go grocery shopping, pick one product that screams “healthy” on the front.

Flip it over.

• ✅ Check the nutrition label

• 🔍 Scan the ingredients list

• 🧠 Ask yourself: Does this product live up to the promise?

You’ll be amazed how often the answer is “not really.”

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Welcome to the Matrix. 😎

🤓 My Favourite Nerdy Thing of the Week

This one is very on theme with today’s issue. Matt Rosenman, the creator behind Cheat Day Design, rebranded mayo to make it sound “healthy”. Mayo isn’t necessarily bad for you, but to prove a point here, Matt stacked it with all kinds of marketing claims that have nothing to do with how fundamentally mayo is made.

It highlights many points I touched on in this issue. Take a look.

cheatdaydesign

377K followers

View more on Instagram

🍖 My Meal Prep System

Whether your goal is to lose weight or build muscle, meal prepping is one of the most effective habits you can build to take control of your health, nutrition and time.

I’ve been meal prepping consistently for 10+ years, and I’ve distilled everything I know down to a free meal prep guide. This guide contains 10 sections covering everything you need to know about meal planning and meal prepping, so you too can meal prep like I do.

📣 Share with a Friend!

I hope you’re getting real value from this newsletter!

If you are, it would mean a lot if you shared it with a friend, family member, or anyone you think could benefit from the frameworks and tips I share here.

Thanks so much for being part of this — I appreciate you! 🙏

My mission: 10,000 like-minded legends in the Jacked Nerds crew by end of year.
Help me get there. 💪

🎬 Final Thoughts

This wraps up our three-part mini-series. I truly hope you enjoyed unlocking:

🧠 Ingredient List Literacy
🧪 Nutrition Label Decoding
🎯 Marketing Claim Mastery

The goal of this series isn’t for me to convince you to never buy packaged food again. I eat my fair share of Vector cereal from time to time.

It’s about building food literacy, so you can make smarter, more informed choices and find a better balance that works for you.

So let’s keep it going: stay jacked, stay nerdy, and stay aware.

Catch y’all in the next one! ✌️ 
Dave Chen
(aka your Jacked Nerd guide)