Become a Food Label Sleuth: What You Need to Know

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When you’re shopping, do you read the Nutrition Facts label on food? Most of us do but then groan about how complicated it is. Let’s clear up some of the confusion when it comes to reading food labels so you don’t waste your time and you better understand what you’re buying. There are several ‘buzzwords’ on labels that sell product but don’t necessarily mean what you might think.

Less or Reduced Sugar: interpret these words to mean ‘artificial sweetener added’. The sugar content may be reduced but it’s replaced with an artificial sweetener. This is very common in products such as cookies, instant oatmeal, yogurt and fruit drinks. Be a label sleuth and know that reduced sugar doesn’t mean reduced calories. The calories may be the same as the original product or even more. Check the calories per serving on the Nutrition Facts label.

Natural/Pure/Wholesome: Natural is one of my favorite label words to talk about. Think how often you see the word ‘natural’ on a product? What does it mean to you? The word ‘natural’ has no meaning on a food label. It means whatever you want it to mean. So do the terms ‘pure’ and ‘wholesome’. They have no definition according to the food label standards but imply that the product is healthy. These terms have nothing to do with the nutritional value of a product. It’s all marketing hype.

Trans-Fat-Free: it’s the hot new buzz phrase found on a plethora of products. Some manufacturers do take out the trans or hydrogenated fat but they replace it with coconut oil or palm oil, two oils which naturally are very high in saturated fat. So you trade one villain for another. Also, a trans-fat-free or zero trans fat product by law can still contain up to 0.5 gram per serving of trans fat. So, let’s say you buy a cookie that says trans-fat-free but you read the ingredient list and see the words ‘partially hydrogenated’ fat listed. This tells you there will be 0.5 gram or less of trans fat per serving and if you eat quite a few servings, the total grams of trans fat start to add up.

The Nutrition Facts label has come a long way in providing us with timely nutrition information, but you still need to be a label sleuth to separate fact from hype. Use these tips to help you the next time you shop.