Whether you’re concerned about cancer, cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, or simply losing weight, you want to eat a healthy
diet and focus on foods that are high in vitamins, minerals, and
phytonutrients, and balanced in fats, carbs, proteins.
There is only one way to incorporate healthy foods into our diet
and that is to make the decision to do it! Practical information
about the nutrition and safety of the foods we consume is
absolutely vital in making this decision.
One way to learn more about what we eat, is to snoop around the
supermarket. Check-out package labels to see what manufactures
are adding (or removing) from the foods we eat. Read the
information on the package and start making comparisons to
determine which foods are the best for YOU. Know about
nutritional labeling and the sometimes sneaky ways that
manufacturers have of hiding what is in the food. Know and
understand ingredient declarations, how they are used, and what
a few of the “technical” terms mean. Are the unfamiliar
ingredients good or bad for your health?
Since 1994 food manufacturers have been required by the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) to include food labels (or Nutrition
Facts labels) on product packaging so that consumers have
accurate nutritional information about the food they purchase.
But food labels are more than just a federal requirement - once
you understand the information they provide, you can use food
labels as a guide to planning healthier meals and snacks.
Food labels are required on almost all foods, except those that
don’t provide many nutrients such as coffee, alcohol and spices.
Although some restaurants provide information about the food
they serve, they aren’t required to have labels. The FDA
recommends that sellers provide nutritional information on
produce, meat, poultry and seafood, but it’s strictly voluntary.
What Is a Serving?
At the top of a food label under Nutrition Facts, you’ll see the
serving size and the number of servings in the package. The rest
of the nutrition information in the label is based on one
serving.
Calories, Calories From Fat and Percent Daily Values
This part of a food label provides the calories per serving and
the calories that come from fat. If you need to know the total
number of calories you eat every day or the number of calories
that come from fat, this section provides that information.
Remember that this part of the label doesn’t tell you whether
you are eating saturated or unsaturated fat.
On the right side of a food label, you’ll see a column that
lists percentages. These percentages refer to the percent daily
values (%DV). Percent daily values tell you how much of
something, whether it’s fat, sugar or vitamin A, one serving
will give you compared to how much you need for the entire day.
It will help you gauge the percentage of a nutrient requirement
met by one serving of the product. One way to use this section
of the label is when you comparison shop. For example, if you’re
concerned with sodium, you can look at two foods and choose the
food with the lower % DV. Are you trying to eat a low-fat diet?
Look for foods that have a lower percent daily value of fat.
The %DV is based on how much or how little of the key nutrients
you should eat whether you eat 2,000 or 2,500 calories a day. So
if you eat a 2,000-calorie diet, you should eat less than 65
grams of fat in all the foods you eat for the day. If you’re
eating 12 grams of fat in your one serving of macaroni and
cheese (remember that’s one cup), you can calculate how much fat
you have left for the day. You can use the bottom part of the
food label in white to compare what you are eating to the % DV
you’re allowed for that nutrient, whether it’s fat, sodium or
fiber. If you need more or less than 2,000 or 2,500 calories,
you’ll need to adjust this accordingly.
Nutrients
Fat, Sugar, Sodium and Carbohydrate
The sections on a food label shows the name of a nutrient and
the amount of that nutrient provided by one serving of food. You
may need to know this information, especially if you have high
blood pressure, diabetes or are eating a diet that restricts
certain nutrients such as sodium or carbohydrates.
Food labels also include information about how much sugar and
protein is in the food. If you are following a low-sugar diet or
you’re monitoring your protein intake, it’s easy to spot how
much of those nutrients are contained in one serving.
Vitamins, Minerals and Other Information
The light purple part of the label lists nutrients, vitamins and
minerals in the food and their percent daily values. Try to
average 100% DV every day for vitamins A and C, calcium, iron
and fiber. Do the opposite with fat, saturated fat, sodium and
cholesterol. Try to eat less than 100% DV of these.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Reading a Food Label
Until you become accustomed to reading food labels, it’s easy to
become confused. Avoid these common mistakes when reading labels:
-A label may say that the food is reduced fat or reduced sodium.
That means that the amount of fat or sodium has been reduced by
25% from the original product. It doesn’t mean, however, that
the food is low in fat or sodium. For example, if a can of soup
originally had 1,000 milligrams of sodium, the reduced sodium
product would still be a high-sodium food.
-Don’t confuse the % DV for fat with the percentage of calories
from fat. If the % DV is 15% that doesn’t mean that 15% of the
calories comes from fat. Rather, it means that you’re using up
15% of all the fat you need for a day with one serving (based on
a meal plan of 2,000 calories per day).
-Don’t make the mistake of assuming that the amount of sugar on
a label means that the sugar has been added. For example, milk
naturally has sugar, which is called lactose. But that doesn’t
mean you should stop drinking milk because milk is full of other
important nutrients including calcium.
Reading Label Lingo
In addition to requiring that packaged foods contain a Nutrition
Facts label, the FDA also regulates the use of phrases and terms
used on the product packaging. Here’s a list of common phrases
you may see on your food packaging and what they actually mean.
No fat or fat free - Contains less than 1/2 gram of fat per
serving Lower or reduced fat: Contains at least 25 percent less
per serving than the reference food. (An example might be
reduced fat cream cheese, which would have at least 25 percent
less fat than original cream cheese.)
Low fat - Contains less than 3 grams of fat per serving.
Lite - Contains 1/3 the calories or 1/2 the fat per serving of
the original version or a similar product.
No calories or calorie free - Contains less than 5 calories per
serving.
Low calories - Contains 1/3 the calories of the original version
or a similar product.
Sugar free - Contains less than 1/2 gram of sugar per serving.
Reduced sugar - at least 25% less sugar per serving than the
reference food.
No preservatives - Contains no preservatives (chemical or
natural).
No preservatives added - Contains no added chemicals to preserve
the product. Some of these products may contain natural
preservatives.
Low sodium - Contains less than 140 mgs of sodium per serving.
No salt or salt free - Contains less than 5 mgs of sodium per
serving.
High fiber - 5 g or more per serving (Foods making high-fiber
claims must meet the definition for low fat, or the level of
total fat must appear next to the high-fiber claim).
Good source of fiber - 2.5 g to 4.9 g. per serving.
More or added fiber - Contains at least 2.5 g more per serving
than the reference food.
With a little practice, you will be able to put your new found
knowledge about food labeling to work. Reassess your diet and
decide what needs to be changed. Start by eliminating the foods
that don’t measure-up to your nutritional wants and needs, and
replacing them with more nutritional substitutes.
And while you’re at it, visit the FDA website and learn about
the new labeling requirements, including those for “trans” fat.
Like saturated fats, trans fats can raise levels of low-density
lipoproteins (LDL) and increase your risk of heart disease. The
“Nutrition Facts” panel on food packaging must provide this
information beginning January 1, 2006, but most manufacturers
will start providing it sooner.