Deciphering Food Labels

Companies with tons of money behind their marketing efforts place eye catching phrases on their products to reel customers in. To make the best purchases with our money, we need to know what all these labels really mean so that we aren't fooled into buying a product that isn't as healthy as we think. Here are a few of the most common food labels:


                                                     
Made With Whole Grains

The consumption of whole grains has been heavily promoted recently. Most of us choose one food over a similar one just because it has a label stating it is made with whole grains. Before taking their word for it, flip the product to check out the ingredients list. Make sure that one of the first two ingredients is WHOLE wheat flour. If not, then the "whole grains" it contains does not make up a bulk of the product. Unbleached wheat flour and wheat flour are not whole grains.



Ingredients

In case you do not already know, the contents of a product are placed in order from greatest in quantity to least. The first two listed tend to make up the majority of the food item. A common trick that companies use is listing ingredients separately so that the customer feels there is less of a certain ingredient. For example: sugar, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are all pretty much the same thing. If listed as the first three ingredients you know that the product is practically all sugar. Another tip is to try avoiding a product that has too many ingredients you have no clue about or can't even pronounce.

                                                             
Serving Size


You might pick up a chocolate bar, look really quick at the nutrition facts and say "Perfect, this is only 100 calories!"....... Beware! This is something we tend to overlook. Just because a product comes in a single package does not mean that the nutrition facts were written for it to be consumed in one sitting. If you take a closer look you may see that the nutrition facts state 2.5 servings. That means you need to multiply all the information by that amount. So while you blissfully devour that chocolatey goodness thinking you're only adding 100 calories to your day, you are actually consuming 250 calories. Although some companies have taken the initiative to include the information for both a single serving and the entire package, keep an eye out.


0 Trans Fat

This label is everywhere! Products love promoting this claim. Thing is, a company is allowed to put this label on their product if it contains 0.5g of trans fat or less. This might not seem like a big deal, but when the product has more than one serving, which the average person has a multiple of, it can add up. Individuals should be avoiding trans fats and because of this sneaky food label you may be consuming them without even knowing.




Omega-3

The omega-3 craze is everywhere. We all know that there are good fats and bad fats but what are they really? There are 3 fats our body needs and these are considered the good fats: ALA a.k.a omega-6 (derived from plants), EPA and DHA a.k.a omega-3's (derived from fish oils). All of these fats needs to be consumed in moderation and at a certain ratio. Their effects are antagonistic(oppose eachother) therefore if one is consumed in definite excess over another, issues arise. The problem with foods, that are not fish, usually promoting omega-3 also contain a large dose of omega-6. Omega-6 can be easily obtained through the common diet so more care needs to be placed in maintaining an equal amount of all fats in the body.

Free Range Eggs

After watching one of those videos where you see the horrible conditions in which some chicken live, a label like this might catch your eye. Supporting free range animals seems like it is worth the extra few cents. The only problem with this is that the food label is not regulated by the government. Basically, anyone can decide to put this label on their egg products. Chicken, on the other hand, has a slight regulation stating that in order to have this label the chicken must have at least 5 minutes a day in free open space. Wow, a WHOLE 5 min, wonderful -__- Since there is no regulation on this label there is no guarantee that the extra money you are spending is actually going to a humane farmer. 



Made with Real Fruit


Many foods claiming to contain fruit don't tend to have the real thing. A fruit juice or concentrate is basically sugar. Watch out for these ingredients when checking the list. Usually if you want to have your daily serving of fruit your best bet is to actually have fruit.




Fiber

Fiber is known for maintaining regularity and reducing cholesterol but some of the foods advertising it on a label might not have the form that actually provides these benefits. Check the ingredients list for inulin, polydextrose and maltodextrin. These unnatural fibers, although not harmful, do not perform the same way in the body. Instead of the wanted benefits most of us go to fiber for, these ingredients might just assist with filling. Some natural foods that contain fiber are whole grains, fruits, vegetables and beans. 

 

Reading Food Labels