When it’s time to fill the holiday shopping cart, many consumers rely on the marketing of products sold in major retailers. But this appetizing packaging is sometiems somewhat misleading or hides products that are not very healthy.The foodwatch association helps the evening edition to see more clearly.
Tuesday December 9, 2025, the association foodwatch, a consumer advocacy organization that campaigns for healthy eating and more transparent labeling of food products, has released a list of eight “label scams” in the run-up to the end-of-year holidays.
By “label scams”, the association means products whose marketing misleads consumers. “We then observe a real discrepancy between the way these products are promoted and their actual composition,” summarizes Audrey Morice,campaigns manager at foodwatch,for the evening edition.
Read also: the NGO Foodwatch denounces “label scams” concerning several festive products
Look at the price per kilo
According to the association, this discrepancy can be characterized by “so-called “French” with ingredients that come from far away, products that use controversial additives or even palm oil where you least expect it.”
Among the foods cited by foodwatch in its latest campaign are lumpfish roe and lollipops rich in… additives; biscuits with a good taste… of palm oil; Burgundy snails… not French; fish terrines… based on water and emulsifiers and so on. All sold by large groups or distributor brands. And this is not the only type of scam that consumers should be wary of, the association also pinpointing a “large” packet of chocolate, a quarter of which is… empty.
“We have highlighted a lot, during our previous campaigns, products which were sold in small format, in the same aisle as the product it accompanies – lemon juice next to salmon, such as,” quotes Audrey Morice. “It is often much more expensive there than in the classic lemon juice aisle…”
To avoid falling into the trap, she recommends “look at the prices per kilo, the same for special, “family” formats, for Christmas”. The consumer defense organization warns: “The period of holidays is conducive to having fun without being too fussy…” And, adds Audrey Morice, “At Christmas, there are a lot of products on supermarket shelves that you don’t see the rest of the year.”
Party products… too processed
However, these products often have a drawback which the association also campaigns against, all year round. Many of them are ultratransformed, that is to say they are “from heavy industrial processes”
Worth a look