What Does the Label Say?
What is on a label?
Have you ever looked at a food label and wondered what it meant?
Learning to read food labels can help you know what you are eating and help you
reach your weight and blood sugar goals.
The labels give information about serving size, and the calories, fat,
protein and carbohydrate in the food. It may give additional information
about the types of fat (saturated or unsaturated), cholesterol and other
vitamins.
What does the label tell me?
Here is an example of a nutrition label from a box of graham crackers.
Look at the serving size, four crackers. All of the rest of the
information is for one serving of four crackers.
The Percent of Daily Value compares the amount in one serving to the amount
needed in a 2,000 calorie diet plan. Your needs will be different
depending on your total daily calorie need. The vitamins listed are
compared to a generally recommended amount.
What is in food?
The label can also tell you what is in the food. The ingredients list
can help you avoid foods you are allergic too. The ingredients are listed
in order of the amount (weight) of the ingredient in the food.
On the example label, wheat flour is listed first and is the major
ingredient. Notice the sugars listed. There is more carbohydrate
information in the carbohydrate section.
How does reading nutrition labels help me?
Calories
Look at the number of calories in each serving and then look at the serving
size. Is the serving size more or less than what you eat? If you
usually eat ore than the listed serving size you are getting more than the
listed calories. Can you find another brand of the same food with less
calories in a serving. Can you eat a different food with less calories?
Fat
Check the amount of calories that come from fat. The label will also
tell the amount of saturated fat. Try to choose food with lower total and
saturated fat. In the example label for the graham crackers 22% (18 of the
80) calories are from fat.
Total Carbohydrates
The carbohydrates have the greatest effect on your blood sugar. If you
count carbohydrates in your meal plan, this section will tell you how many to
count.
Sugar
Sugar is listed under total carbohydrates. There may be many different
names for sugar in the ingredient list. Sucrose, fructose, dextrose, corn
syrup, honey, molasses are all types of sugar. The label lists how many
grams of sugar in each serving. Try to choose foods with 5 grams or less
of sugar.
Fiber
This lists the amount of soluble and insoluble fiber.
Sodium
Sodium is the indication of how much salt is in the food. If you have
high blood pressure and eat high salt you may not be able to keep your blood
pressure in range. Food with more than 400 mg in a serving are considered
high sodium foods. 400 mg sodium is about 1/4 teaspoon salt.
What do label claims mean?
New regulations restrict the claims that labels can say.
| Claim |
Meaning |
| Calories |
|
| Calorie-free |
Less than 5 calories per serving |
| Low calorie |
40 calories per serving or less |
| Reduced calorie |
At least 25% fewer calories than the usual product |
| Fat |
|
| Fat-free |
Less than 1/2 gram fat per serving and no added fat or oil |
| Low fat |
3 grams or less fat per serving |
| Reduced fat |
At least 25% less fat per serving than the usual product |
| Sodium |
|
| Sodium-free |
Less than 5 mg sodium in a serving |
| Low sodium |
less than 140 mg sodium per serving |
| Reduced sodium |
At least 25% less sodium than the usual product |