Grocery Shopping for Your Health “Making Sense of Food Labels”

August 08, 2015

Since 1994, virtually all packaged products have been using the improved label format. Current food labels show nutrients in context, standardized serving sizes set by the FDA, more information on fat, fiber, sugar, and sodium, and new definitions.

Even though this information is more helpful, easier to understand, and useful, reading labels can still be confusing. At first, the front side of a box or package may look like it indicates a healthy food, but then when you start reading the fine print, you discover it is not all it’s “cracked up to be”!!! For example, you pick up a loaf of bread thinking it is whole grain because it reads “health nut bread” but then you read the list of ingredients and find the first ingredient is enriched wheat flour—not whole grain or whole wheat at all.

So what should you should know when reading a food label?

Nutrition Information Panel: Calories, Calories from Fat, Total Fat, Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Total Carbohydrate, Dietary Fiber, Sugars, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Iron
Nutrition Panel Format: All nutrients must be declared as percentages of the Daily Value, which are label reference values. This is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Serving Size: The serving size remains the basis for reporting each food’s nutrient content. Serving sizes are now more uniform and reflect the amounts people actually eat. They are expressed both in common household and metric measures.
Daily Values-DRVs: Daily Reference Values have been established for macronutrients that are sources of energy: fat, saturated fat, total carbohydrate (including fiber), and protein; and for cholesterol, sodium, and potassium, which do not contribute calories. A daily intake of 2,000 calories has been established as the reference. This level was chosen, in part, because it approximates the caloric requirements for post-menopausal women. This group has the highest risk for excessive intake of calories and fat.

DRVs for the energy-producing nutrients are calculated as follows:

Fat based on 30% of calories
Saturated fat based on 10% of calories\
Carbohydrate based on 60% of calories
Protein based on 10% of calories. (The DRV for protein only applies to adults and children over the age of 4.)
Fiber based on 11.5g of fiber per 1000 calories.

Because of current public health recommendations, DRVs for some nutrients represent the uppermost limit that is considered desirable. The DRVs for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium are:

Total fat: 65g
Saturated fat: 20g
Cholesterol: less than 300mg
Sodium: less than 2400mg

Nutrient Content Claims: The regulations also spell out what terms may be used to describe the level of a nutrient in a food and how they can be used:

Free: this term means that a product contains no amount of, or only trivial amounts of, one or more of these components: fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, and calories. For example, “calorie-free” means fewer than 5 calories per serving. Synonyms for “free” include “without”, “no”, and “zero”. A synonym for fat-free milk is “skim”.
Low: this term can be used on foods that can be eaten frequently without exceeding dietary guidelines for one or more of these components: fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calories.
- Low-fat: 3g or less per serving
- Low-saturated fat: 1g or less per serving
- Low-sodium: 140mg or less per serving
- Very low-sodium: 35mg or less per serving
- Low-cholesterol: 20mg or less and 2g or less of saturated fat per serving.
- Low-calorie: 40 calories or less per serving
Lean and Extra Lean (used for meat, poultry, seafood, and game meats):
- Lean: less than 10g fat, 4.5g or less saturated fat, and less than 95mg cholesterol per serving and per 100g
- Extra Lean: less than 5g fat, less than 2g saturated fat, and less than 95mg cholesterol per serving and per 100g.
High: this term can be used if the food contains 20% more of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient in a serving.
Good Source: this term means that one serving of a food contains 10-19% of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient in a serving.
Reduced: this term means that a nutritionally altered product contains at least 25% less of a nutrient or of calories than the regular or reference product.
Less: this term means that a food, whether altered or not, contains 25% less of a nutrient or of calories than the reference food. For example, pretzels that have 25% less fat than potato chips could carry the “less” claim.
Light: the descriptor can mean two things:
- First, that a nutritionally altered product contains one-third fewer calories or half the fat of the reference food.
- Second, that the sodium content of a low-calorie, low-fat food has been reduced by 50%. Also, “light in sodium” may be used on food in which the sodium content has been reduced by at least 50%.
The term “light” can be used to describe such properties as texture and color, as long as the label explains the intent—for example, “light brown sugar” and “light and fluffy”.
More: this term means that a serving of food, whether altered or not, contains a nutrient that is at least 10% of the Daily Value more than the reference food. The 10% of Daily Value also applies to “fortified” “enriched” and “added” “extra and plus” claims, but in those cases, the food must be altered.
Healthy: a “healthy” food must be low in fat and saturated fat and contain limited amounts of cholesterol and sodium. In addition, if it’s a single item food, it must provide at least 10% of one or more of the vitamins A or C, iron, calcium, protein, or fiber. Exempt from this “10%” rule are certain raw, canned and frozen fruits and vegetables and certain cereal-grain products. These foods can be labeled “healthy”, if they do not contain ingredients that change the nutritional profile, and, in the case of enriched grain products, conform to standards of identity, which call for certain required ingredients.

Health Claims:

Calcium and Osteoporosis: to carry this claim, a food must contain 20% or more of the Daily Value for calcium (200mg) per serving, have a calcium content that equals or exceeds the food content of phosphorus, and contain a form of calcium that can be readily absorbed and used by the body.
Fat and Cancer: to carry this claim, a food must meet the nutrient content claim requirements for “low-fat” or if fish and game meats, for “extra-lean”.
Saturated Fat and Cholesterol and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD): this claim may be used if the food meets the definitions for the nutrient content claim “low-saturated fat”, “low-cholesterol”, and “low-fat”, or if fish and game meats, for “extra-lean”. It may mention the link between reduced risk of CHD and lower saturated fat and cholesterol intakes to lower blood cholesterol levels
Fiber-Containing Grain Products, Fruits, and Vegetables, and Cancer: to carry this claim, a food must contain a grain product, fruit, or vegetable and meet the nutrient content claim requirements for “low-fat”, and, without fortification, be a “good source” of dietary fiber.
Fruits, Vegetables, and Grain Products that Contain Fiber and Risk of CHD: to meet this claim, a food must be or must contain fruits, vegetables and grain products. It must meet the nutrient content claim requirements for “low saturated fat”, “low-cholesterol” and contain, without fortification, at least .6g of soluble fiber per serving.
Fruits and Vegetables and Cancer: this claim may be made for fruits and vegetables that meet the nutrient content claim requirements for “low-fat” and that, without fortification, for “good source” of at least one of the following: dietary fiber or vitamins A and C. This claim relates diets low in fat and rich in fruits and vegetables (and thus vitamins A and C and dietary fiber) to reduced cancer risk. FDA replaced this claim in place of an antioxidant vitamin and cancer claim.
Sodium and Hypertension: to carry this claim, a food must meet the nutrient content claim requirements for “low-sodium”.
Folic Acid and Neural Tube Defects: this claim is allowed on dietary supplements that contain sufficient folate and on conventional foods that are naturally good sources of folate. A sample claim is “healthful diets with adequate folate may reduce a woman’s risk of having a child with a brain or spinal cord defect”.
Soluble Fiber from Certain Foods, such as Whole Oats and Psyllium Seed Husk, and Heart Disease: this claim must state that the fiber also need to be part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and the food must provide sufficient soluble fiber. The amount of soluble fiber in a serving of food must be listed on the Nutrition Facts panel.

Ingredients Labeling:

Ingredient declaration is required on all foods that have more than one ingredient. The ingredients are always listed from most to least amount. Because people are allergic to certain additives and to help them better avoid them, the ingredient list must include, when appropriate:

FDA-certified color additives, such as FD&C Blue #1, by name.
Sources of protein hydrolysates, which are used in many foods as flavors and flavor enhancers.
Declaration of caseinate as a milk derivative in the ingredient list of foods that claim to be non-dairy, such as coffee whiteners.
Beverages that claim to contain juice must declare the total percentage of juice on the information panel.

Food Trends Worth Following:

Flexitarianism: eat primarily plant-based diet composed of grains, vegetables, fruits and occasionally from lean meat, fish, poultry, or dairy. Meatless meals at least four days a week.
Locally Grown Food: community supported agriculture programs and farmers markets give consumers direct access to produce, meats, cheeses, breads, honey, and other foods produced in nearby communities.
Functional Food: foods that are enriched with nutrients that may not be inherent to a given food.
Organic Food: these foods are produced following government-regulated practice of growing and processing that minimizes exposure to pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals used in traditional farming. Sales of organic foods have grown more than 20% since the 1990’s and it one of the fastest growing market segments.
Slow Food: launched in Italy 20 years ago originally to protest the encroachment of fast food on the traditional Mediterranean lifestyle. “Slow Food embraces the psychological component in food choices, meal preparation, and the act of eating”. A healthful diet isn’t just about what you eat but how you eat it”!!!

Posted In:

Cholesterol Management , Meal and Menu Planning, Weight Management