Rhetorical Analysis on Healthy Food and Labeling Problem

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O’Connor, in his article in the New York Times, talks about labeling drinks and foods in supermarkets and raises the question of their inconsistency with reality. The main thesis of the author is the fact that the labels are “healthy,” “tad is sweet,” or “low-sugar” mislead customers, since these products are not healthy. O’Connor provides various examples to highlight the problem and show its cause. Such examples are real figures about the sugar content in products, the lack of standards determining the appropriateness of using labels, and, therefore, the manipulation of wording in advertisements (O’Connor). These features allow companies to use this terminology at their discretion, which confuses consumers who want to consume healthy food. A significant part of these arguments is manifested in ethos as they help to make the author’s statements more convincing. At the same time, pathos has an insignificant place in this article, since its purpose is to draw attention to the problem. Consequently, all figures and facts demonstrate that the main rhetorical element of the article is logos since the author focuses on rational explanations of his statements.

The article “Food Labels Often Mislead Consumers ” focuses on the use of labels that show the “healthy” advantages of some products over others to attract customers. The thesis of the author is the fact that labels are often unnecessary and serve only as bait for inattentive buyers; therefore, people need to be more conscious about shopping to avoid manipulations. The author uses the opinions of experts to emphasize his thesis and show the main marketing moves of many companies. The article reveals the meaning of such terms as “gluten-free,” “cholesterol-free,” or “genetically modified organism,” as well as the inappropriateness of their use in many cases (“Food Labels”). This approach of the author is a manifestation of logos since the explanations rationalize the existence of the problem. However, the main rhetorical element of the article is pathos because its purpose is to force readers to understand that they have been deceived, respond to their discovery, and gain more knowledge on this issue. This feature is not obvious at first glance; however, it has the most significant influence on the readers and forces them to change their purchasing behavior.

This article offers a fresh perspective and solution to the problem of obesity and healthy eating. Freedman argues that the best option for improving the quality of food and making it healthier is the involvement of food junk establishments in this process since they can influence the tastes of consumers while maintaining the availability of food. This article has three parts, in which the author explains the cult of “healthy” unprocessed food, the unaffordability of such foods to ordinary Americans, and also offers a solution to combat obesity. Freedman does not use many scientific facts or statistics but demonstrates the evidence of his statement in simple terms and situations familiar to most readers. The author also shows that unprocessed foods often have even more fat and problem carbohydrates than junk foods by using his experience visiting “healthy” establishments (Freedman 71-72). He also discusses the taste and prices of such meals, which is unreasonably expensive for him to show why most Americans prefer junk food (Freedman 71, 84-85). Thus, although the article has many logical arguments, Friedman focuses on such a rhetorical element as ethos, since he uses many personal examples.

The Comparison of the Articles

A healthy diet is one of the trends in modern society as many people want to look strong and feel good. However, this trend is also a convenient way of marketing manipulations that bring significant profit to food companies. The article “Food Labels,” as well as the work of O’Connor, explains these manipulations, which are manifested in misleading labels on products that force people to think that they buy healthier food than it is. However, while O’Connor explains the problem of added sugar and refers to logical and ethical reasons, the author of “Food Labels” addresses a stronger emotional response of readers by talking about misleading labeling.

Many drinks and foods have added sugar to make them tastier. However, O’Connor, in his article, demonstrates that this feature does not prevent food companies from promoting their products as healthy or ” Just a Tad Sweet “. O’Connor uses rhetorical techniques such as logos and ethos to convey the danger of such a situation to the readers. The author gives exact numbers and facts such as the high amount of added sugar in “tad sweet” tea and the norms of its consumption by a person per day. This feature is a manifestation of logos since the author consistently and rationally explains the problem of the lack of labeling standards. However, the figures and facts are also used to show the ethical appeal and to convince the reader of the convincingness of the ideas. For example, the author demonstrates that each company, in its way, justifies the low-sugar and healthy labels. Consequently, the main focus of the article is expressed in the logo, which helps to convey the main issue under discussion.

At the same time, the “Food Labels” is the perfect complement to the O’Connor arguments. Firstly, this article continues the topic of incorrect labeling. Secondly, it has more pronounced elements that are aimed at the emotional response of readers, or pathos. The author more widely covers the topic of how companies use such labels as “gluten-free,” “natural,” or “cholesterol-free” on products that do not require this to attract customers. The article also has logos and ethos, which are expressed in specific examples and explanations of experts. For example, a specialist says that many products cannot contain cholesterol or gluten, since they a priori do not have these substances in their composition, such as water cannot have vegetable protein (“Food Labels”). However, all these arguments and explanations cause the reader only a smile or indignation, depending on their level of knowledge. Besides, the main purpose of the article is to force people to be more conscious about the product’s advertisements and label interpretation, and the emotional response caused by the understanding of marketing deception contributes to this. Consequently, this article has logos and ethos, but its most influential element is pathos.

Therefore, one may note that the two articles are mutually reinforcing, since they have similar content but focus on different rhetorical elements of the text. O’Connor’s article is filled with logical arguments that aim to reveal the labeling problem. At the same time, “Food Labels” is designed to arouse the emotional response of readers and push them to solve the problem of healthy food and marketing.

Works Cited

“Food Labels Often Mislead Consumers.” US Fed News Service. 2020.
Freedman, D.H. “How Junk Food Can End Obesity.” The Atlantic. 2017.
O’Connor, Anahad. “The ‘Low’ on Some Labels May Not Be So Low.” New York Times, 2020, p. D4(L). Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints. Web.

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Rhetorical Analysis on Healthy Food and Labeling Problem

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