HOW TO READ A FOOD LABEL

By Rick Morris

Thanks to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA), we can get all the nutritional information that we need, right on the label of most foods. Most foods are required to provide this labeling. The foods that are exempt from this rule are:

• Foods served for immediate consumption (airline, mall cookies)
• Ready to eat food prepared on site (bakery, deli, candy store)
• Food shipped in bulk.
• Medical foods used to meet needs of patients with certain diseases.
• Plain coffee and tea or other foods that have little or no nutritional value.

Nutrition information

The "Nutrition Facts" panel on the label contains some required information. It may also contain other voluntary information. The required information is:

• total calories
• calories from fat
• total fat
• saturated fat
• cholesterol
• sodium
• total carbohydrate
• dietary fiber
• sugars
• protein
• vitamin A
• vitamin C
• calcium
• iron

Daily values

Daily values are designed to reflect the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of the nutrients on the food label. If the daily value is 5%, it means that one serving provides 5% of the RDA for that nutrient.

Ingredient list

When you know how to read an ingredient list you have the key to selecting the healthiest food choice. The first ingredient listed is the one that is of the greatest quantity by weight. Look at any of the most popular powdered drink mixes. You will see that sugar is the first listed ingredient. You can now tell that the product is predominately sugar.

There are some things that you will want to be careful with. Look at some of the wheat breads. Many will show wheat flour as the first ingredient. Seeing this, you may think you are getting whole wheat bread. You are not. All flour is wheat flour. The first ingredient in whole wheat bread will say whole-wheat flour or whole grain. Also remember that corn syrup, honey, dextrose, fructose and sucrose are all different versions of sugar.

Nutrient content claims

Many products make claims such as "fat fee", "lean" or "low fat". There are regulations that define what terms may be used to describe the level of nutrients in foods. Here are the terms and their requirements:

• Free - This means a product that contains no amount of or an insignificant amount of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars or calories. Fat free means less than 0.5 grams per serving. Calorie free means less than 5 calories per serving.
• Low - This means foods that can be eaten frequently without exceeding guidelines for fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium or calories.
• Lean and extra lean - These terms describe the fat content of meat, fish and poultry. Lean means less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat and less than 95 mg of cholesterol per 100 grams. Extra lean means less than 5 grams of fat, less than 2 grams of saturated fat and less than 95 mg of cholesterol per 100 grams.
• High - This describes a food that contains 20 percent or more of the Daily Value for a nutrient.
• Good Source - This means a food that contains 10 to 19 percent of the Daily Value of a nutrient.
• Reduced - This means a food that has been altered to contain at least 25 percent less of a nutrient or calories than the normal version of the food.
• Less - This is similar to reduced except the food may or may not be altered.
• Light - This describes a food that has been altered to contain 1/3 fewer calories or ½ of the fat of the normal unaltered food.
• More - This means that the food contains at least 10 percent more of the Daily Value than the referenced food.
• Healthy - In order for a food to be described as “Healthy” it must be low in fat and saturated fat and contain limited amounts of cholesterol and sodium. It must contain at least 10 percent more of vitamins C or A, iron, calcium, protein or fiber. Sodium content cannot exceed 360 mg per serving.
• Fresh - The term fresh can only be used when the food is raw, never frozen or heated and contains no preservatives. Fresh frozen can be used if the food is quickly frozen while fresh. Terms such as fresh milk or freshly baked bread are not a part of this regulation.