Read product labels to stay healthy

June 9, 11:51 AMSF Health ExaminerSuzanne Olson

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Read labels before you buy.

To stay healthy these days, you need to read the label on every product you purchase.

Although we’d like to think that companies hire a team of scientists and medical professionals to insure products are good for our health and well being, this is rarely the case.  A company is more apt to hire a team of attorneys to protect them from lawsuits. Companies are not in the health business. They are in the business of making money.

Attorneys know that so many products contain toxic ingredients, it’s hard to make a case that any single product caused your cancer, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.

Also, there is often a time gap between toxic exposure and illness. This time gap can foil any claim you make against a company. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff to prove the connection between the product and disease.

Besides, medical testing and training is inadequate for the toxic exposures of modern life. If you go to your doctor for cancer treatment, it is unlikely that he will even question you about possible toxic exposures. 

So, if that perfume, detergent, hairspray or fabric softener is causing health problems for you, you probably won’t know it.  If you do suspect a particular product, you generally have no legal recourse against the manufacturer. The most you can do is to stop using the product.

So, take the time and read labels. If there’s no labeling, like in the case of perfume and artificial fragrance, don’t buy it.  If the label contains a long list of chemicals you don’t recognize, leave it on the shelf.

Read the labels on the products you already have and use. Check out the ingredients on the Internet.

Some organizations can help you make good choices.  One of these, the Environmental Working Group, has a product database.  If you go to cosmeticsdatabase.com you can type in a product name and get a rating.

Health food stores are still your best resource for safer shampoos, deodorants, soaps, detergents, and cleaners.   Customers read labels, so health food stores choose their products carefully.  Also, many in the health food business take seriously their role in the health of their customers.  They fully understand the need for safe products.

So shop smartly and safely.   Before you buy, read the label.

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To read more:

Medical group warns against toxic products.