How To Read a Food Label

If you aren’t reading what’s on the label, you may be consuming alot more fat, sugar, and calories than you think.  Reading food labels will help you make better choices about the foods you eat and what you are willing to put in your body.

Here’s a quick primer…

There are 7 things you need to look for on a food label.  Here’s what you need to know about each of them:

1.  SERVING SIZE
Start here by checking the serving size. The label describes the nutritional value for the stated serving size, not the whole package. For example, if the label on a box of pasta says the serving size is 1 cup, but you usually eat 2 cups of pasta, you will need to double all of the nutrition information.

2.  CALORIES
The average person should consume about 2000 calories per day, less if you’re not active. It sounds like a lot but consider your average McDonald’s Big Mac meal (Big Mac, medium fries and coke) has about 1130 calories. That is more than ½ of the calories you should consume for one day.
Remember that the calories listed on the label will only be for the serving size, not the whole package. Spread out the calories you consume over the day

3.  TOTAL FAT (including Saturated Fat & Trans Fat)
Total fat tells you how much fat is in one serving of the product you are looking at. It includes healthy fats our bodies need (mono- and poly-unsaturated) and unhealthy fats we should limit (trans fats and saturated fats). Remember to ‘limit’ the saturated fats and ‘avoid’ ALL trans fats.  

4.  CHOLESTEROL & SODIUM
Cholesterol and sodium should be limited.  The American Heart Association describes cholesterol as “a soft, waxy substance found among the lipids (fats) in the bloodstream and in all your body’s cells”. It’s an important part of a healthy body because it’s used to form cell membranes and some hormones, and is needed for other functions. But a high level of cholesterol in the blood is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack.

Sodium is salt. Adults should aim for less than 2400 mg of sodium per day; this includes table salt as well as salt already present in foods.  If you have high blood pressure, it is recommended to consume even less salt.  Fresh foods are generally much lower in salt than packaged foods.

5.  TOTAL CARBOHYDRATES
The total carbohydrates listed include sugars, dietary fibers, and other carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are a part of a healthy and balanced diet. However, there are some carbohydrates that are better than others. Try to get the majority of your carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grain sources (whole grain cereals, breads, brown rice, quinoa, etc). Click here for information on how to find whole grains at the grocery store.

Sugars, listed on nutrition labels, include both added sugars and natural-occurring sugars. Added sugars come in products such as sodas and cookies while natural sugars are found in fruits and milk. Limit the added sugars – you can do this by referring to the ingredients list at the bottom of the food label. Names for added sugars on food labels include:

§ brown sugar

§ corn sweetener

§ corn syrup

§ dextrose fructose

§ fruit juice concentrates

§ glucose

§ high-fructose corn syrup

§ honey

§ invert sugar

§ lactose

§ maltose

§ malt

§ syrup

§ molasses

§ raw sugar

§ sucrose

§ sugar syrup

6.  PROTEIN
Helps build muscle. Foods like chicken, tofu, seafood, nuts and beans are high in protein.

7.  INGREDIENTS
As a rule of thumb, the fewer ingredients a product has, the healthier it is. Our bodies evolved for millions of years eating the bounty of nature, and that’s what suits them best. Ingredients are listed in descending order, from the greatest amount to the least.  This means that foods with sugar as the first or second ingredient are high in sugar and low in other needed nutrients.

BUZZ WORDS: REDUCED FAT, LOW FAT, & LIGHT
Don’t let these words fool you into thinking that the product is automatically healthy. These words are often used on packaging to describe products that might be low in fat but not necessarily nutritious. A low fat food can also be high is sugar or high in calories, while offering little that’s good for you.