Learning how to read food labels can help you pick up right and healthy foods. They can tell you a lot about what you are going to pick up, provided you know how to interpret the readings on that label.
Most countries today make it mandatory for packaged food manufacturers to carry food labels. Read out what you need to check out in a food label before you pick up some stuff from the supermarket next time. Here are a few easy tips for reading food labels.
How to Read Food Labels?
The main things you need to check while buying a packaged food are listed below in no particular order.
Read on and see how well you have been reading food labels right:
Check for “Nutrition Facts”
Before picking up any packaged food item, check whether the packing or the label contains “Nutrition Facts”. If it does not, it means that the item you are picking up has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA or the equivalent health regulatory authorities in your country.
Health experts strongly recommend leaving out such items altogether.
This is the first and most important step in reading a food label.
Serving Size
If you want to learn how to read a food label correctly, you should read the serving
size of each food carefully.
If you do not read the food label carefully and eat up double the size that you were supposed to have, your calorie intake will be twice of what is mentioned on the label.
You also need to know what DV is.
%DV mentioned on any food label shows how the food item you are holding fits into the average 2000calorie per day diet.
If you are a bodybuilder, you might need more than 2000 calories a day. Let’s assume you need 3000 calories a day. In that case, your DV goal will be 150% for each nutrient mentioned in the food label.
On the contrary, if you are trying to shed weight and going for a 1500 calorie/ day diet, your DV goal will be 75% of what is mentioned thereon.
Food labels by some manufacturers mention daily values for a 2500 calorie a day or 3,000 calorie a day diet in addition to the standard 2,000 calorie/day diet.
If you have two servings of the food, you are doubling your calorie and nutrient intake and vice versa.
Calorie Intake
Based on your serving size, calculate the calories you will consume by having each serving of the proposed food.
According to a thumb rule, a serving size which gives you:
- 40 calories is considered to be ‘light’ or healthy,
- 41-100 calories is considered to be ‘moderate’, while
- 400 calories or more is considered to be ‘heavy’ or extremely unhealthy.
List of Ingredients
Take a quick glance at the ingredients listed on the food label. The ingredients in any food are listed on a food label in a descending order. That is, any food anywhere in the world invariably contains the maximum amount of ingredient mentioned on the top of the list and the minimum amount of the one which appears last in the table.
If undesirable ingredients like palm oil or coconut oil which are extremely rich in trans fat appear at the top of the list, you should consider putting the pack you are holding back on the shelf.
On the other hand, if you see healthy ingredients like whole wheat flour, soy or olive oil near the top, continue checking the label.
If sugar in any form is at the top of the list, you will know that the food consists mainly of sugar.
Some clever manufacturers who know that most consumers look out for low sugar foods hide dreaded words like SUGAR by replacing them with words like sucrose, fructose, invert sugar, honey, corn syrup, maltose, etc.
As a rule, anything ending in “-ose” contains is a form of sugar. Try to cut down on it whether you want to shed weight or not.
Total Fats and Calories from Fats
Most of us struggle hard to cut down on the extra pounds/ kilos hanging on to us. Even the ones who are not involved in a perpetual battle against the bulge would do well to minimize their calorie intake from fat to avoid health complications due to high blood pressure, high blood sugar, raised levels of blood cholesterol and obesity.
To keep yourself healthy and fit, pick up foods where a greater part of the calories come from sources other than fats.
Not only that, take care to cut down on saturated fats and trans fats as much as possible. Monounsaturated fats will not be AS harmful for the heart as the ones listed above.
Look out what the labels of the proposed food say as regards fat content. This is what they mean by the most commonly used terms:Fat Free- Less than 0.5 gram of fat per servingLow Fat- 3 grams of fat (or less) per servingLean- Less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and no more than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per servingLight (Lite)- 1/3 less calories or no more than ½ the fat of the higher-calorie, higher-fat version; or no more than ½ the sodium of the higher-sodium versionCholesterol Free- Less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol and 2 grams (or less) of saturated fat per serving(Source: HealthCare)
Calories from Carbohydrates
Usually we tend to consume more of carbohydrates when we try to cut down on fats. And though we do not need to strike either carbs or fats off our list of required nutrients altogether, we should remember not too get too many calories from either of these sources.
White bread, potatoes and rice are rich sources of carbohydrates. Not only are most such foods fattening but also difficult to digest for the body.
Besides, they are calorie dense foods.
Roughage/ Fiber Content
Fiber refers to that part of plant foods which is not digested completely by the body. Opt for foods which give you lots of dietary fiber.
That keeps your metabolism fast and efficient and helps avoid digestive disorders and also other problems like anal fissures, IBS, hemorrhoids, chronic constipation, etc. not only that, it also helps cut down on cancer and heart disease.
Foods with high fiber content include fruits, vegetables, beans, peas and pulses.
Proteins
Our body needs adequate amount of protein to provide for wear and tear of worn out tissues and for growth.
The problem with most of us is OVERDOING the protein bit. Most of consume protein in excess of our requirements. To avoid doing that, read the protein content on food labels very carefully.
Another thing which we need to keep in mind is that animal protein is a rich source of fat and cholesterol as well. Both of which, as we all know, are major health hazards. Try to meet your protein requirements from plant sources like beans, cereals and grains.
If you opt for animal sources, eat smaller servings which gratify your taste buds without harming your health. Opt for leaner cuts of meat, poultry and fish. As far as dairy products are concerned, use low fat or fat free milk, yogurt and cheese to avoid health complications later.
Sodium
Check the “sodium” or salt content on the food labels of the item you are picking up with utmost care. It is one of the main culprits for high blood pressure and eating foods which are rich in sodium can send a hypertensive person’s blood pressure into danger zone in no time at all.
By all means, keep the daily sodium intake low. 2,400- 3,000 mg of it a day is usually safe though high BP patients might need to cut on it further.
Colors on the Food Label
Some food labels today contain color coding to represent nutrition data.
You can know from the colors used for representing the information whether they contain safe amounts of sugar, salt, saturated fats and trans fats.
Just like traffic lights, RED indicates dangerous , YELLOW means medium while GREEN stands for low amounts of specified ingredients.
Pick up foods with lots of greens or yellows on the label while trying to avoid those with reds.
Food Additives and Preservatives
More than 90% packages foods contain additives like edible colors and flavoring agents and preservatives to enhance their shelf life. Most such additives are mentioned in the form of numbers instead of their names at the bottom of the list. If you are allergic to any such chemical, you will have to take extra care to memorize the number of the chemical, so that you can avoid foods containing them.
It is better to be extra cautious while picking up a food than get a severe allergic reaction and pay heavily for it.
Specific Information for Allergy Sufferers
There are some foods which have been known to cause severe allergic reactions. Most common foods that fall inn this category include peanuts, walnuts, eggs, other nuts like almonds and cashews, fish, dairy, gluten and wheat.
Almost all foods containing major allergens like these are mentioned specifically in the food labels as
“May also contain”.
Needless to add, you should avoid picking up foods containing ingredients which can trigger off an allergy in you or a family member.
Directions for Use and Storage
All food items come with specific instructions for handling and storage. Read them carefully and follow them to help maintain the safety and quality of food.
Certain frozen foods, for example, come with the print, “Do NOT refreeze after thawing”.
Look for any such instructions carefully on the label and do as instructed by the manufacturer.
Conclusion
Reading food labels properly can influence your buying patterns and help you opt for healthier foods. We hope this simple guide helped you learn how to read food labels better.
If you have any more valuable tips for reading a food label, please share them with us.
If you have any more valuable tips for reading a food label, please share them with us.
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