In recent years, the food industry has increased its use of labels. Whether the labels say “non-GMO” or “no sugar,” or “zero carbohydrates”, consumers are increasingly demanding more information about what’s in their food. One report found that 39 percent of consumers would switch from the brands they currently buy to others that provide clearer, more accurate product information. Food manufacturers are responding to the report with new labels to meet that demand, and they’re doing so with an eye towards giving their products an advantage over the competition, and bolstering profits.

This strategy makes intuitive sense. If consumers say they want transparency, tell them exactly what is in your product. That is simply supplying a certain demand. But the marketing strategy in response to this consumer demand has gone beyond articulating what is in a product, to labeling what is NOT in the food. These labels are known as “absence claims” labels, and they represent an emerging labeling trend that is detrimental both to the consumers who purchase the products and the industry that supplies them.

For example, Hunt’s put a “non-GMO” label on its canned crushed tomatoes a few years ago — despite the fact that at the time there was no such thing as a GMO tomato on the market. Some dairy companies are using the “non-GMO” label on their milk, despite the fact that all milk is naturally GMO-free, another label that creates unnecessary fear around food.

While creating labels that play on consumer fears and misconceptions about their food may give a company a temporary marketing advantage over competing products on the grocery aisle, in the long term this strategy will have just the opposite effect: by injecting fear into the discourse about our food, we run the risk of eroding consumer trust in not just a single product, but the entire food business.

Eventually, it becomes a question in consumers, minds: Were these foods ever safe? By purchasing and consuming these types of products, have I already done some kind of harm to my family or the planet?

For food manufacturers, it will mean damaged consumer trust and lower sales for everyone. And this isn’t just supposition. A recent study found that absence claims labels can create a stigma around foods even when there is no scientific evidence that they cause harm.

It’s clear that food manufacturers must tread carefully when it comes to using absence claims. In addition to the likely negative long-term impact on sales, this verbal trick sends a message that innovations in farming and food processing are unwelcome, eventually leading to less efficiency, fewer choices for consumers, and ultimately, more costly food products. If we allow this kind of labeling to continue, we will all lose.

In the age of reality television, success isn’t the only way to the public eye. Failure can also create fame, just like William Hung, 21, a native of Hong Kong.

Hung recently bas made an agreement with US-based entertainment firms Koch Records and Fuse Music Network. They will publish a full-length record, titled “The True Idol“ on April 6.

The idol isa civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley. He did a version of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” on television show “American Idol 3”, on January 27. The Fox TV singing contest searches for pop stars among ordinary people. In the case of Hung, however, his act was so bad that the judges cut him off in mid-act.

Hung’s response? “I already gave my best, so I have no regrets at all. “That’s good, because any common person would have found plenty to regret: the off-key singing; the blue Hawaiian shirt worn with pants pulled up too high: the terrible dancing: the hips jerking to a beat that did not belong to the song, maybe not even to this planet. Ut was, by all accounts, bad. But. it was this very bad act that sold well.

Marc Juns, president of Fuse, explained it this way, “Every one of us is happily guilty of singing our favorite song at the top of our lungs with complete freedom, completely off-key and completely unworried. That’s what William did and immediately won the hearts of America.”

Whatever it is, for the moment it’s big. Three websites devoted to Hung have gone up on the Internet in the past few weeks. Versions of his performance have been remixed with hip hop and techno music and have made it to the top 10 request list at a Chicago radio station.

So, what does Hung think of this?

“There were all these people saying things about me. A lot were saying I was very courageous and that I was great on the show, but some didn’t have much respect for me and some were kind of mean.”

Now he says he’s not so sure whether to distance himself from the glamour or to accept it. Returning to normal hasn’t been easy.

Old Computers Make for Unhappy Workers

LONDON (Reuters)-----Dealing with the dissatisfaction of aging and unreliable office computers leads to workers,unhappiness and more sick -leave, a survey showed on Wednesday.

A survey carried out by carefree. net of over 2, 700 European office workers from the UK,France and Germany found that workplace dissatisfaction increased greatly with the age of the computer equipment.

“We do know that job satisfaction is falling in Britain and most advanced nations, "said Stephen White, a researcher from the Work Foundation. “The actual reasons for this are the subject of very heated discussion. It's certainly one interesting theory that technology may be the cause of this in some way,”White added.

A quarter of those using outdated computers in Britain said they were"quite" or " very dissatisfied"with their everyday job compared to 16 percent of those who had enjoyed an advantage from up-to-date technology.

The survey also said that among workers dealing with outdated equipment, there was a 35 percent greater probability they would take six or more days of sick-leave per year compared with the average worker. In France, where more workers use old computers, the probability jumped to 55 percent.

Results also showed that women in the three countries were more likely to be using outdated equipment. In the UK, where more workers have up-to-date computers than in the other countries surveyed, the number of women using old equipment doubled that of men.

White pointed out that there were two sides to this problem, saying that continuously having to deal with new technology and equipment cap also be a source of worry. "Old and faulty equipment is a major cause of office dissatisfaction. There is no question about it; but you also have to say that the frequent change of equipment is also, or could be, a main cause of dissatisfaction.”