WSJ Wednesdays - The Metric System and Grocery Shopping

It's another edition of WSJ Wednesdays. Saturday/Sunday, March 10 - 11, 2012's edition of The Wall Street Journal had an excellent article by Carl Bialik on how limited the metric system is in the grocery aisle.  For decades, the federal government has mandated nutrition labels list nutrient quantities in grams, despite that not being the standard measurement in America. As Bialik states, "many may not really understand how much fat, protein, and--in particular--sugar is in their food."

Back in the 1970s there was a movement to make a national shift to the metric system. I remember learning it in school. My kids have learned or are learning it in school. This shift was foiled. If Americans have no idea what grams means, then how useful are those nutrition labels we're reading? We want a healthier society that lives longer, but do the majority of Americans know that 25 grams of sugar and six teaspoons are equivalent quantities? I didn't. Here I am thinking buying a cereal with only 10 grams of sugar is a good thing, when it still means the kids are getting 2 teaspoons of sugar with every serving. Who eats only the serving size anyway?

According to Bialik's article, a 2010 survey conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group, found 72% of Americans wanted to see sugar content measured in teaspoons on food labels, and more than half of the participants wanted grams to be removed completely. While some still believe America should make the move to metric, does anyone ever see it happening?

I feel like I have been a lazy consumer. I could have found out at any time I wanted to that a cereal with 10 grams of sugar means my family is eating a bowl of cereal with a minimum of 2 teaspoons of sugar in it. Was it not important enough to me? Is buying my kids what they want more important than the negative impact to their well-being? Most importantly, now that I know, am I going to change my buying habits? I stopped buying soda. My favorite brand in a 12 oz. bottle has 41 grams of sugar or the equivalent of 8.2 teaspoons. Would I put that much sugar in a bowl and eat it? No. This is going to be a slow transition, but Bialik's article definitely got me to thinking.

Do you know grams/teaspoon equivalents? Do you read nutrition labels when you shop? How much do you think the lack of knowledge over the metric system contributes to obesity in America?