One Simple Fix for a Broken Food System

People often ask, “How do we fix the food system?”
Usually the question is followed by something complicated—policy overhauls, education programs, subsidies, taxes, committees, task forces, white papers that no one reads.

But there’s a fix that is simple, proven, and already supermarket-ready.

Warning labels.

Not calorie tables.
Not microscopic ingredient lists.
Not greenwashed marketing slogans.

Real warnings. Right on the front.

Chile Already Ran the Experiment (So We Don’t Have to Guess)

Chile did something radical—and refreshingly honest.

They put big, black, front-of-pack warning labels on ultra-processed foods:

• HIGH IN SUGAR

• HIGH IN SALT

• HIGH IN SATURATED FAT

No spin.
No nuance gymnastics.
No “part of a balanced diet” nonsense.

Just a clear signal to the consumer: this product carries risk.

And here’s the inconvenient truth for the food industry:

It worked.

People bought fewer products with warning labels.
Children pestered their parents less for them.
Companies reformulated products to avoid the warnings.

When honesty enters the building, behavior changes.

The Problem Isn’t Willpower. It’s Information Asymmetry.

We’ve been told for decades that the obesity, diabetes, and chronic disease crisis is a personal failure.

Too lazy.
Too indulgent.
Too undisciplined.

That’s a convenient story—for corporations.

The reality is simpler and uglier:

Products are engineered to look healthy while being metabolically destructive.

A cereal can scream “whole grain” while being 70% refined starch.
A snack bar can whisper “natural” while delivering industrial seed oils and glucose spikes.
A frozen meal can promise “heart health” while driving insulin resistance.

From a BBHC perspective, this isn’t a lack of self-control.
It’s asymmetric warfare—industrial food science versus human biology.

Tobacco Already Taught Us This Lesson

We’ve been here before.

Cigarettes didn’t decline because people suddenly developed iron willpower.
They declined because:

• Packaging became honest

• Advertising was restricted

• Health risks were clearly stated

A cigarette pack doesn’t say:

“Enjoy responsibly.”

It says:

Smoking causes cancer.

And smoking rates dropped.

So why do ultra-processed foods—now linked to multiple chronic diseases—get a free pass?

Let’s Go One Step Further: Tell the Truth About Risk

Chile’s labels are a great start. But we can—and should—go further.

Ultra-processed foods should clearly state what the science already shows in large population studies:

• Linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes

• Linked to increased risk of bowel cancer

• Linked to obesity and metabolic disease

• Linked to cardiovascular disease

Not as a footnote.
Not buried in a website.
Right on the front of the package.

Just like tobacco.

This isn’t fear-mongering.
It’s informed consent.

Why This Matters for Real People

BBHC works with people every day who:

• Thought they were eating “healthy”

• Followed official guidelines

• Trusted labels and marketing

And still ended up:

• Insulin resistant

• Overweight

• Diabetic

• Exhausted

• Inflamed

They didn’t fail.

They were misled.

Honest packaging doesn’t remove choice.
It restores it.

Make Supermarkets Night and Day

Imagine walking into a supermarket where:

• Real food looks like food

  • Meat, eggs, fish, vegetables, fruit

  • No slogans needed

• Ultra-processed food carries a warning

  • Big

  • Black

  • Impossible to ignore

Suddenly, the environment works with human biology instead of against it.

And when environments change, behavior follows—without lectures, guilt, or shame.

The BBHC Bottom Line

We don’t need perfect discipline.
We don’t need motivational slogans.
We don’t need another app.

We need honest packaging.

Because when a product can scream “healthy” while quietly increasing disease risk, the system is broken.

Fix the labels.
Tell the truth.
Let people decide—with eyes open.

That’s how you fix the food system.

Not with willpower—but with honesty.