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Print Food Labels: What they say and what they mean
by Anita RomaniwShopping for healthy food choices can sure be tough. If you've been told you have high cholesterol or diabetes, you know the frustration in having to change how you eat ASAP. While it's pretty clear that bananas are cholesterol-free, the average person has a bit of trouble understanding why margarines and oils are too.
If you're on a mission to lose weight, lower cholesterol or salt, manage your blood sugars and keep your insides clean, then this article is for you. Making healthy food choices is easy when you figure out what all the claims mean. Let's take a look.
Ingredient list: Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. The first ingredient is present in greatest amounts, and the last ingredient in least amounts. Tip - if a product's first few ingredients are fat, sugar or salt, there's not much room for nutrients. For example, ketchup may not be a staple, but it sure can accent a healthy diet.
Cholesterol-free: means that the food comes from a vegetable source and not an animal. Tip - does not mean fat-free or even low fat. A common example is vegetable oil that is a heart-healthier type of fat, but still 100% fat calories.
Low In Fat: means the food has less than 3 grams fat per serving. Tip - watch your portion size. If one portion is 8 crackers and you eat half the box, your snack becomes high in fat.
Lean Ground Beef: has a maximum of 17% fat by weight, which is almost half the fat of regular ground beef. Tip - lean may actually be cheaper to purchase since you're not throwing out a lot of the fat that you may be when cooking with regular ground beef.
Calorie Reduced: contains half the fat of the company's regular version. Tip - does not mean low calorie. Use regular or calorie-reduced salad dressing sparingly.
No Sugar Added/Unsweetened: This means that there has been no white sugar added. Tip - may contain naturally present sugar. For example, jam is concentrated fruit sugar while unsweetened fruit juice is fruit sugar and water. Although sugar may not be added to either, they are both sugar. Anyone with blood sugar problems would want to limit concentrated sweets.
Light: most often describes a product's properties as being lighter in colour, taste or texture. An example might be light pancake syrup which is lighter in colour. Tip - may not have anything to do with the product's fat or calorie content.
Source of Dietary Fibre: must contain at least 2 grams of dietary fibre per serving. A good example here is bread. Look for an ingredient list that starts with whole wheat, cracked wheat, rye or oat flour. Tip - enriched, unbleached and wheat flour means white flour, and no fibre.
High Source of Dietary Fibre: must contain at least 4 grams of dietary fibre per serving. A good example is cereal, which really varies in fibre content. Whether a small child or full-grown adult, most of us can benefit from more fibre. Tip - mix your favourite low-fibre cereal with a higher-fibre choice for a win-win situation.
Low Sodium: must contain half the salt of the company's regular version and have no extra salt added. Look for this claim on processed, canned and packaged foods. Tip - to lower the salt content of canned vegetables or fish, rinse through a strainer. Dilute regular soups with lots of water or milk for a lower sodium product.
These are just some of the many claims you've seen on food packages.
Anita Romaniw is the Community Nutritionist for the Fraser Valley Health Region in British Columbia, Canada.
