“Eat fewer calories!” “Eat more fiber!” “Balance carbohydrates, fat, and protein!” “Don’t eat too much cholesterol!” These are just a few demands that we hear from doctors, trainers, or on our favorite talk shows. Understanding these concepts may be easy, but putting them into practice can be a whole other story. With so many foods on the market, it may seem impossible to know what foods have what nutrients, and in what amounts they are present.

Luckily, it is not impossible to know exactly what is in food, all thanks to the National Labeling Education Act (NLEA) implemented in 1993. This law made it mandatory for foods to be labeled with “nutrition facts” disclosing specific nutrients and ingredients. Having this information available allows consumers to make informed choices about the foods they eat. However, the labels are useless if they are not read and understood correctly. Therefore, it is important to learn what is on a food label, what it means, and what listed is important to you.

What is on the Label

The NLEA requires that all food labels provide information on 15 nutrients. Of these 15, 5 are considered “core nutrients” and must always be included. These 5 are calories, fat, carbohydrates, sodium, and protein. The other 10 may be omitted if present in insignificant amounts. These 10 are calories from fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, fiber, sugar, vitamins A and C, calcium, and iron. All other nutrients listed by a manufacturer are done so on a voluntary basis.

Alongside most of the nutrients listed is a percentage. This number is called the “Percent Daily Value” or “% DV.” This is the percent of the daily requirement provided in each serving of food. The percentages vary depending on how many calories an individual needs each day. The requirements are usually based on a 2000-calorie diet. Because everyone’s calorie requirement varies, these numbers are not always useful. However, they can be helpful in getting a general idea of what is considered a high or low amount of a specific nutrient.

Also mandatory on a food label, is the list of ingredients. Manufacturers are required to list ingredients in a descending order. This means that the ingredients listed first is the most abundant, and the ingredient listed last is the least. Due to allergies, labels must also disclose in bold lettering beneath the ingredients if there is milk, soy, or nuts associated with the product.

Another bit of information on the label is the serving size. This is important because it allows consumers to know how much is considered an appropriate serving, and how to adjust the nutrient values based on the actual amount consumed. For example, a bag of pretzels may state that 10 pretzels equals one serving and provides 100 calories. So if we eat 20 pretzels, or 2 servings, we will consume 200 calories (100 calories x 2 servings).

What it Means

Food companies are allowed to make certain claims about a food product on the label. Claims include “low-fat,” “low-calorie,” “low-sodium,” and “high-fiber.” There are strict guidelines outlining exactly what each claim means, and when they can be used. They are as follows:

• “No Fat” or “Fat Free”: Contains less than ½ gram of fat per serving
• “Reduced Fat”: Contains 25% less fat per serving than the original food
• “Low Fat”: Contains less than 3 grams of fat per serving
• “No Calories” or “Calorie Free”: Contains less than 5 calories per serving
• “Low Calories”: Contains 1/3 the calories of the original food
• “Cholesterol Free”: Contains less than 2 milligrams per serving
• “Sugar Free”: Contains less than ½ gram of sugar per serving
• “Reduced Sugar”: Contains 25% less sugar per serving than the original food
• “Low Sodium”: Contains less than 140 milligrams per serving
• “No Salt” or “Salt Free”: Contains less than 5 milligrams per serving
• “High Fiber”: Contains 5 grams or more per serving
• “Good Source of Fiber”: Contains 2.5 – 4.9 grams per serving

What’s Important

The amount of information on a food label can be quite overwhelming, especially if you try to account for all nutrients, ingredients, and claims. To simplify things, it helps to know what is important to you based on your specific health needs and diet goals. The following are examples of different goals, and the parts of the food label that can play a role in the achievement of these goals.

Goal #1: Weight Loss

When it comes to weight loss, it is most important to pay attention to total calories. Fat, carbs, and protein all contribute to total calories. However, there is no need to count each nutrient individually. Counting total calories, and ensuring you are within your daily range, is all you need to do to have weight loss success.

In addition, choosing foods high in fiber (more than 2 grams per serving), can help to control appetite and subsequent overeating. Eating fiber increases the time it takes to digest food. Therefore, eating a meal that is high in fiber will result in feeling full longer compared to eating a meal with little or no fiber.

Goal #2: Heart Health

If you are concerned about maintaining a healthy heart, you should concern yourself with a few things on the food label. First, is the amount of fat, namely, saturated and trans-fat. These fats can lead to increased bad cholesterol and plaque in arteries. The average person should eat less than 20gms of saturated fat, and 0gms of trans-fat per day. Consumer Beware: Some foods claim “Zero grams trans-fat per serving” even if there is trans-fat present. This is perfectly legal if there is less than ½ gram per serving. Even in these small amounts, trans-fat is dangerous. The only way to know for sure if a food contains trans-fat is to read the ingredient label. If the label lists “hydrogenated oil,” then trans-fat is present and the food should be avoided.

Also important to ensuring a healthy heart is to monitor cholesterol intake. No matter how many calories a person requires, no more than 300mg should be consumed each day. Eating plenty of fiber can also help maintain a healthy heart. This is because fiber can bind to cholesterol, and “flush” it out of the body. Looking for foods that claim “low fat or no fat,” “cholesterol free,” and/or “high fiber” can make certain you are doing something good for your heart.

Goal #3: Controlling High Blood Pressure/Fluid Retention

If you have high blood pressure or problems with swelling caused by water retention, you want to pay attention to the sodium, or salt content of food. Sodium is a core nutrient included on all food labels. The recommended amount of sodium to be consumed each day is 2000mg. The average American consumes about 10,000mg/day! Consuming too much sodium can result in the body holding on to excess water which can lead to increased blood pressure, difficulty breathing, and swelling in the arms and legs making moving very difficult. Sticking to foods that are labeled “low sodium” can help alleviate and/or prevent these symptoms.

Goal #4: Controlling Diabetes

Controlling diabetes means counting carbohydrates. Carbs are also a core nutrient that will always appear on a food label. Unlike sodium or cholesterol, the number of carbs to be consumed daily will vary depending on calorie requirements. In general, about 50-60% of calories should come from carbohydrates. To determine the number of grams you need each day, multiply your daily calorie requirement by 50-60% then divide that number by 4 (4 calories in each gram of carbohydrate).

Although diabetes is often associated with sugar, it is not very important to pay attention to the grams of sugar in a food. The grams of sugar will be included in the total number of carbohydrates listed, so although you may feel like you are ignoring the sugar content, you are not. Choosing foods low in sugar is still beneficial to controlling appetite because it takes more time to digest “complex carbohydrates” like fiber, and less time to digest “simple carbohydrates” like sugar.

Goal #5: Staying Regular

Maintaining a healthy gastro-intestinal tract (GI tract) by having regular bowel movements is very important to an overall clean bill of health and well-being. In order to achieve this goal, it is very important to eat an adequate amount of fiber. The recommended amount of fiber to be consumed is 25-30 grams per day. The average American consumes about half of this amount. Eating foods labeled as “a good source of fiber” or “high in fiber” is a good way to ensure you meet your daily requirements. Also, fresh fruits and vegetables are good sources of fiber that often do not have nutrition labels on them. So including these foods is a sure fire way to maintain great GI health.

References:

Hare, Karen. Food Labels. 2008 Faqs.org. 20 June 2009. http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Foo-Hea/Food-Labels.html
“How to Understand a Food Label” 18 June 2009. FDA.gov. 20 June 2009. http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ConsumerInformation/ucm078889....
“Food Labels” 2009. LifeClinic.com. 20 June 2009. http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/nutrition/food-label.asp
Robinson CH, Weigley ES, Mueller DH. Basic Nutrition and Diet Therapy, 7th edition. 1993, New York: Macmillan.