How to really read food labels
FOOD labels are not easy to understand and, as a result, people often turn a blind eye to what they say and try to guess what’s healthy for them. But learning how to read and understand food labels can help you make healthier choices.
Ceilia Innerarity, nutrition associate at Nutrition and Diet Services, explained that while a Nutrition Facts panel is not required by law in Jamaica, it came about by nutrition advocacy so that people could know what it is that they were eating. She said many lifestyle diseases are linked to food consumption, and the facts or labels should empower people to make better choices.
While reading food labels, Innerarity said there are a few things you need to pay special attention to. These include the number of servings in the container and the different ingredients and their content levels.
“The food labels should tell the number of servings in the container and the amount of calories per serving as well as nutrients, which are usually based on a 2000 or 2500-calorie diet. Also, some packages have more than one serving. You, however, need to know how much your body needs or can handle to make the comparison and a registered nutritionist or dietician can assist with your personal analysis,” Innerarity said.
She said the labels tell the amount of sugar, salt, saturated and trans fats per serving, as well as other nutrients that you may need to monitor. If you are hypertensive, for example, you need to be aware of the sodium content.
You should also pay attention to the ingredient list as it tells you what’s actually in the food, starting from the greatest to the least amount.
“Therefore, if sugar is listed first, that is the ingredient with the most amount in the food,” she explained.
Innerarity further explained that the labels should also reveal food you may be allergic to and clarify if the food is highly processed.
“If the food is highly processed there will be lots of names you cannot pronounce. See what they use to sweeten it, for example, high fructose corn syrup or other sugar substitutes. You sometimes see “no trans fats” but in the ingredients it’s actually listed. For example, hydrogenated materials (trans fats) has to be over a certain amount for it to be declared. Products with lower amounts will not necessarily have it,” she said.
With regards to the different food measurements and how they should be interpreted, Innerarity said people should note that the daily values (DV) are different from recommended intakes expressed as recommended dietary allowances (RDA), which the nutrition professional will determine for you.
“The RDAs were created to reflect a standard by which almost all healthy people could compare their daily nutrient intakes and therefore could track their intake of calories and nutrients. That is, you are able to see how much of the particular calories and nutrients are being consumed from the particular product relative to other products and to the RDA determined for you by the nutritionist,” she said. “It is particularly helpful for people who must monitor things like salt or sodium, sugar, total fat intake (the type of fat, for example, trans fat, saturated fat) and calories.”
Additionally, she said other troublesome things to interpret include the grams of sugar, protein and fat.
“One gram of sugar and protein is equal to four kcals (kilo calories) of energy, and one gram of fat (saturated and unsaturated) is equal to nine kcals of energy.”
Innerarity said there are some things on nutrition facts labels that are often misinterpreted. These include:
1. No trans fats.
Check the ingredients list for hydrogenated materials or lecithin, which contain trans fats.
2. Fat-free
The nutrition associate said this usually means more sugar is added.
3. Calories per serving
Innerarity said some packages have multiple servings. So if you consume the entire pack you may be doubling or tripling your calorie intake.
