You Need To Know What Is In Your Food

 Whether you're concerned about cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or 

simply losing weight, you want to eat a healthy diet and focus on foods that 

are high in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, and balanced in fats, 

carbs, proteins.

There is only one way to incorporate healthy foods into our diet and that is to 

make the decision to do it! Practical information about the nutrition and safety 

of the foods we consume is absolutely vital in making this decision.

One way to learn more about what we eat, is to snoop around the supermarket. 

Check-out package labels to see what manufactures are adding (or removing) from 

the foods we eat. Read the information on the package and start making comparisons 

to determine which foods are the best for YOU. Know about nutritional labeling and 

the sometimes sneaky ways that manufacturers have of hiding what is in the food. 

Know and understand ingredient declarations, how they are used, and what a few of 

the "technical" terms mean. Are the unfamiliar ingredients good or bad for

 your health?

Since 1994 food manufacturers have been required by the Food and Drug Administration 

(FDA) to include food labels (or Nutrition Facts labels) on product packaging so 

that consumers have accurate nutritional information about the food they purchase. 

But food labels are more than just a federal requirement – once you understand the 

information they provide, you can use food labels as a guide to planning healthier

 

meals and snacks.

Food labels are required on almost all foods, except those that don't provide many 

nutrients such as coffee, alcohol and spices. Although some restaurants provide 

information about the food they serve, they aren't required to have labels. The 

FDA recommends that sellers provide nutritional information on produce, meat, 

poultry and seafood, but it's strictly voluntary.

What Is a Serving?

At the top of a food label under Nutrition Facts, you'll see the serving size 

and the number of servings in the package. The rest of the nutrition information 

in the label is based on one serving.

Calories, Calories From Fat and Percent Daily Values

This part of a food label provides the calories per serving and the calories 

that come from fat. If you need to know the total number of calories you eat 

every day or the number of calories that come from fat, this section provides 

that information. Remember that this part of the label doesn't tell you whether 

you are eating saturated or unsaturated fat.

On the right side of a food label, you'll see a column that lists percentages. 

These percentages refer to the percent daily values (%DV). Percent daily values 

tell you how much of something, whether it's fat, sugar or vitamin A, one serving

 will give you compared to how much you need for the entire day. It will help you 

gauge the percentage of a nutrient requirement met by one serving of the product. 

One way to use this section of the label is when you comparison shop. For example, 

if you're concerned with sodium, you can look at two foods and choose the food with 

the lower % DV. Are you trying to eat a low-fat diet? Look for foods that have a 

lower percent daily value of fat.

The %DV is based on how much or how little of the key nutrients you should eat 

whether you eat 2,000 or 2,500 calories a day. So if you eat a 2,000-calorie diet, 

you should eat less than 65 grams of fat in all the foods you eat for the day. If 

you're eating 12 grams of fat in your one serving of macaroni and cheese (remember 

that's one cup), you can calculate how much fat you have left for the day. You can 

use the bottom part of the food label in white to compare what you are eating to the 

% DV you're allowed for that nutrient, whether it's fat, sodium or fiber. If you need 

more or less than 2,000 or 2,500 calories, you'll need to adjust this accordingly.

Nutrients

Fat, Sugar, Sodium and Carbohydrate

The sections on a food label shows the name of a nutrient and the amount of that 

nutrient provided by one serving of food. You may need to know this information, 

especially if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or are eating a diet that 

restricts certain nutrients such as sodium or carbohydrates.

Food labels also include information about how much sugar and protein is in the 

food. If you are following a low-sugar diet or you're monitoring your protein intake,

 it's easy to spot how much of those nutrients are contained in one serving.

Vitamins, Minerals and Other Information

The light purple part of the label lists nutrients, vitamins and minerals in the 

food and their percent daily values. Try to average 100% DV every day for vitamins 

A and C, calcium, iron and fiber. Do the opposite with fat, saturated fat, sodium 

and cholesterol. Try to eat less than 100% DV of these.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Reading a Food Label

Until you become accustomed to reading food labels, it's easy to become confused. 

Avoid these common mistakes when reading labels:

-A label may say that the food is reduced fat or reduced sodium. That means that 

the amount of fat or sodium has been reduced by 25% from the original product.

It doesn't mean, however, that the food is low in fat or sodium. For example, if 

a can of soup originally had 1,000 milligrams of sodium, the reduced sodium product 

would still be a high-sodium food.

-Don't confuse the % DV for fat with the percentage of calories from fat. If the % 

DV is 15% that doesn't mean that 15% of the calories comes from fat. Rather, it 

means that you're using up 15% of all the fat you need for a day with one serving 

(based on a meal plan of 2,000 calories per day).

-Don't make the mistake of assuming that the amount of sugar on a label means that 

the sugar has been added. For example, milk naturally has sugar, which is called 

lactose. But that doesn't mean you should stop drinking milk because milk is full 

of other important nutrients including calcium.

Reading Label Lingo

In addition to requiring that packaged foods contain a Nutrition Facts label, the 

FDA also regulates the use of phrases and terms used on the product packaging. Here'

s a list of common phrases you may see on your food packaging and what they 

actually mean.

No fat or fat free - Contains less than 1/2 gram of fat per serving Lower or 

reduced fat: Contains at least 25 percent less per serving than the reference food. 

(An example might be reduced fat cream cheese, which would have at least 25 percent 

less fat than original cream cheese.)

Low fat - Contains less than 3 grams of fat per serving.

Lite - Contains 1/3 the calories or 1/2 the fat per serving of the original version 

or a similar product.

No calories or calorie free - Contains less than 5 calories per serving.

Low calories - Contains 1/3 the calories of the original version or a similar

 product.

Sugar free - Contains less than 1/2 gram of sugar per serving.

Reduced sugar - at least 25% less sugar per serving than the reference food.

No preservatives - Contains no preservatives (chemical or natural).

No preservatives added - Contains no added chemicals to preserve the product. 

Some of these products may contain natural preservatives.

Low sodium - Contains less than 140 mgs of sodium per serving.

No salt or salt free - Contains less than 5 mgs of sodium per serving.

High fiber - 5 g or more per serving (Foods making high-fiber claims must meet

 the definition for low fat, or the level of total fat must appear next to the 

high-fiber claim).

Good source of fiber - 2.5 g to 4.9 g. per serving.

More or added fiber - Contains at least 2.5 g more per serving than the 

reference food.

With a little practice, you will be able to put your new found knowledge about 

food labeling to work. Reassess your diet and decide what needs to be changed. 

Start by eliminating the foods that don't measure-up to your nutritional wants 

and needs, and replacing them with more nutritional substitutes.

And while you're at it, visit the FDA website and learn about the new labeling

 requirements, including those for "trans" fat. Like saturated fats, trans fats 

can raise levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and increase your risk of heart 

disease. The "Nutrition Facts" panel on food packaging must provide this information 

beginning January 1, 2006, but most manufacturers will start providing it sooner.