A handful of studies have indicated that slightly more than half of Americans actually read the nutrition facts and ingredients lists on processed foods while at the grocery store. It is very unlikely that you are lucky enough to eat processed foods without reading ingredient labels while eating healthy, nutritious foods. With more than 35% of U.S. citizens at least 35 pounds above a healthy weight, I'm not surprised so few people actually read what's in their food.
Food companies don't make it easy to find out what's in their food. They uses the smallest type possible. They don't want you to know how unhealthy their product is or what unpronounceable chemicals you're eating. The powerful food lobby spends a great deal of money keeping transparency to a minimum and your focus on the front of the package where they make marketing claims that often lack oversight or don't mean what you think they mean.
The FDA mandates the use of the nutritional panel on all food packaging. It alerts consumers to macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals in their food. It also provides information on serving size and the percentage each ingredient makes up of the government's recommended daily amount. The first order of business when reading food labels is to make sure the serving sizes are close to the amount you typically eat. If you are going to eat five helpings, those seven grams of fat or 200 calories, then you need to adjust the numbers you're reading.
The percentages you see of fat, carbs, and proteins are relative to a 2,000 calorie diet. It does not tell the breakdown of these nutrients as a percentage of the whole item. A hotdog may show the fat content of 8g as 12% of the recommended daily value of fat intake, however, if you do the math, those 72 fat calories make up 65% of the total 110 calories. Very misleading if you don't understand what those numbers are measuring.
When looking at the actual ingredients list, the number of ingredients is often a good clue if an item is clean or not, although it' not a fool-proof method. You certainly want to eat as close to whole foods as possible, but if there are ten ingredients and they are all organic with no chemicals, it's cleaner than something with three ingredients that have preservatives or a sweetener. The ingredients are also listed in size order. The greatest quantity is listed first down to the smallest.
With the growth in usage of processed foods, due to convenience and lower costs, there are so many chemicals in our food today, often ones the average person knows nothing about. It pays to do your homework about every ingredient you ingest. If you're in a bind, a good rule of thumb is if you don't know what it is, can't pronounce it, and you or your spouse wouldn't buy it separately to make a home-cooked meal, it's probably best to avoid.
I recommend completely disregarding marketing claims on the front of the package. Go directly to the Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient lists. If you are going to use label marketing claims (which have so many loopholes, they're virtually useless), I suggest using them as a starting point for further investigation. It also helps to know what claims are regulated and which aren't as well as what they actually mean. They are often misleading. Did you know there can be fat in a no-fat product? These marketing claims are not what they seem. If you're going to eat processed foods, make them as clean as possible. To do that, you have to read your food ingredient labels.
Food companies don't make it easy to find out what's in their food. They uses the smallest type possible. They don't want you to know how unhealthy their product is or what unpronounceable chemicals you're eating. The powerful food lobby spends a great deal of money keeping transparency to a minimum and your focus on the front of the package where they make marketing claims that often lack oversight or don't mean what you think they mean.
The FDA mandates the use of the nutritional panel on all food packaging. It alerts consumers to macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals in their food. It also provides information on serving size and the percentage each ingredient makes up of the government's recommended daily amount. The first order of business when reading food labels is to make sure the serving sizes are close to the amount you typically eat. If you are going to eat five helpings, those seven grams of fat or 200 calories, then you need to adjust the numbers you're reading.
The percentages you see of fat, carbs, and proteins are relative to a 2,000 calorie diet. It does not tell the breakdown of these nutrients as a percentage of the whole item. A hotdog may show the fat content of 8g as 12% of the recommended daily value of fat intake, however, if you do the math, those 72 fat calories make up 65% of the total 110 calories. Very misleading if you don't understand what those numbers are measuring.
When looking at the actual ingredients list, the number of ingredients is often a good clue if an item is clean or not, although it' not a fool-proof method. You certainly want to eat as close to whole foods as possible, but if there are ten ingredients and they are all organic with no chemicals, it's cleaner than something with three ingredients that have preservatives or a sweetener. The ingredients are also listed in size order. The greatest quantity is listed first down to the smallest.
With the growth in usage of processed foods, due to convenience and lower costs, there are so many chemicals in our food today, often ones the average person knows nothing about. It pays to do your homework about every ingredient you ingest. If you're in a bind, a good rule of thumb is if you don't know what it is, can't pronounce it, and you or your spouse wouldn't buy it separately to make a home-cooked meal, it's probably best to avoid.
I recommend completely disregarding marketing claims on the front of the package. Go directly to the Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient lists. If you are going to use label marketing claims (which have so many loopholes, they're virtually useless), I suggest using them as a starting point for further investigation. It also helps to know what claims are regulated and which aren't as well as what they actually mean. They are often misleading. Did you know there can be fat in a no-fat product? These marketing claims are not what they seem. If you're going to eat processed foods, make them as clean as possible. To do that, you have to read your food ingredient labels.
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You can learn more at my website Food Labels or my blog at dangerous food additives
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