HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Mislabeling of products at the grocery store happens from time to time. Sometimes these errors lead to serious recalls, and other times they become fodder for internet memes and a good laugh.
An image that’s been circulating on various Internet forums and on social media since at least 2017 depicts a bag of Publix store brand granulated sugar in its easily-recognizable blue and white label - but with a curious addition. In the front label’s lower-left corner is a badge that reads “Sugar Free.”
Was it an error in printing or something created after the fact to get your attention?
THE QUESTION
Is an image of Publix “Sugar Free” sugar real?
OUR SOURCES
Publix news archives
Shutterstock
U.S. Department of Agriculture
THE ANSWER
No, this image was digitally created.
WHAT WE FOUND
This one’s actually pretty easy to debunk with a closer look at the image, which is comprised of four increasingly close images of the “Sugar Free” badge. On the fourth panel you can make out a watermark. We double-checked with stock image supplier Shutterstock which offers the same graphic for as little as $3. However, it appears whoever created this image simply copied the watermarked version and placed it on the sugar bag.
So, this image is clearly a fake. But has crazy labeling like this happened in real life?
We couldn’t find any recent examples of something as laughable as “sugar-free sugar,” but in looking at data from the USDA we see many examples of what they term "misbranding" - usually caused when the wrong product goes into the wrong packaging.
There are also many cases of “undeclared allergens.” This happens when certain ingredients are omitted from required labels - either by human error when designing a label, or a domino-effect of misbranding and mislabeling.
In fact, there are nearly 30% more records of USDA recalls caused by a combination of misbranding, mislabeling, and undeclared allergens than in bacterial or chemical contamination.
And we did double-check - there are no records for a recall of Publix-brand sugar due to a label claiming it to be sugar-free.
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