What to Look for in a Nutrition Label when Grocery Shopping
To make the best nutrition decisions, it’s imperative that you you know what to look for in a nutrition labels.
The main part of the new label is the Nutrition Facts Table, which has the following: Calories and 13 nutrients: Fat, Saturated fat, Trans fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Carbohydrate, Fibre, Sugars, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron.
Major things to look for on food packaging:
Serving size: When you see calories and macronutrients on a label, they are not for the whole package, they are for a fraction of it!
Calories: also based on serving size
Daily Value %: This shows how much nutrients are in each serving. 5% or less is little and 15% or more is a lot
The macronutrient amount: fats, proteins and carbs in each serving
If you are comparing two nutrition labels of similar products, choose foods that are higher in protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals and lower in trans-fat, saturated fat and sodium.
Nutrition claims:
Food will often have claims in the front such as “low fat”. These do not give you the full picture.
Source of Fibre: means it contains at least 2 grams of fibre in serving size (not whole package). High source of fibre means 4 grams and very high means 6 grams.
Low fat: means it contains 3 g or less fat in the serving size
Cholesterol-free: means it contains less than 2 mg of cholesterol in the serving size, and it’s also low in saturated and trans fat.
Sodium free: The serving size contains less than 5 mg of sodium
Reduced calories: contains 25% less calories than the regular version of that food
No sugar added: No outside sugar added but the item can still have natural sugar
Sugar free: Contains no sugar, but can contain artificial sweeteners
Fat Free: Contains no fat, but may have high amounts of sugar to make up for no fat
Gluten Free: Contains no gluten, but may contain chemicals to make up for the lost taste
*Gluten free foods are only for people with Celiac disease, not for everyone.
Claims can be misleading. To make an informed decision, look at the nutrition label, and the ingredient list.
Ingredient list basics:
The first item on the ingredient list is what the package contains most of: For example, a peanut butter jar has: peanuts, soy, traces of other nuts. That means, the majority is peanuts and then soy and then traces of other nuts. You’re better off choosing the natural option which is just peanuts. The ingredient list will be just peanuts.
Make sure you can read the items on the ingredient list: If comparing two ingredient lists, choose the one that has more foods and less chemicals.
I recommend you print out this list and take it shopping with you. I hope this helps you make informed decisions!
