So you’re at the grocery store and you pick up a bag of Cheetos. “How bad are these actually for me?” you ask? Here’s how you can find out yourself! Everyone checks the calories and the fat, but do you really know what you’re reading?
Thanks to the American Heart Association for this color-coded and straightforward illustration of a nutrition label! They go into further detail about what to look for in those numbers, but I think it mostly stands for itself. One of the most vital parts of the nutrition label can be the serving size.
Something may look low in calories and fat, but occasionally products have strange serving sizes to provide the illusion of being healthy. For example, Otis Spunkenmeyer muffins have a serving size of half of a muffin. No joke. Who eats half of a muffin? So you end up eating a whole muffin, look a little closer later and realize you consumed DOUBLE what you thought you were consuming. Yikes.
Another important thing to remember is that these percentages are based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet. Depending on your age, activity level, gender, and your goals, you may need to consume more or less than 2,000 calories. If you’re working out a lot, you’re going to need more. If you’re spending a lot of time watching television or sitting in the office, you might need to consume less.
“Oh, fat-free popcorn you say? Sounds delicious and healthy! I guess I can go ahead and eat ten bags.” And so we run into another common problem. FDA sets the definitions for things like “fat free” or “reduced sodium.” Don’t make the mistake of thinking fat free means there isn’t some fat content!
The AHA tells us, “When the Nutrition Facts label says a food contains “0 g” of trans fat, but includes “partially hydrogenated oil” in the ingredient list, it means the food contains trans fat, but less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. So, if you eat more than one serving, you could quickly reach your daily limit of trans fat.”
Here’s a detailed chart about the technical terms from the FDA:
| If a food claims to be… | It means that one serving of the product contains… |
| Calorie free | Less than 5 calories |
| Sugar free | Less than 0.5 grams of sugar |
| Fat | |
| Fat free | Less than 0.5 grams of fat |
| Low fat | 3 grams of fat or less |
| Reduced fat or less fat | At least 25 percent less fat than the regular product |
| Low in saturated fat | 1 gram of saturated fat or less, with not more than 15 percent of the calories coming from saturated fat |
| Lean | Less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat and 95 milligrams of cholesterol |
| Extra lean | Less than 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat and 95 milligrams of cholesterol |
| Light (lite) | At least one-third fewer calories or no more than half the fat of the regular product, or no more than half the sodium of the regular product |
| Cholesterol | |
| Cholesterol free | Less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol and 2 grams (or less) of saturated fat |
| Low cholesterol | 20 or fewer milligrams of cholesterol and 2 grams or less of saturated fat |
| Reduced cholesterol | At least 25 percent less cholesterol than the regular product and 2 grams or less of saturated fat |
| Sodium | |
| Sodium free or no sodium | Less than 5 milligrams of sodium and no sodium chloride in ingredients |
| Very low sodium | 35 milligrams or less of sodium |
| Low sodium | 140 milligrams or less of sodium |
| Reduced or less sodium | At least 25 percent less sodium than the regular product |
| Fiber | |
| High fiber | 5 grams or more of fiber |
| Good source of fiber | 2.5 to 4.9 grams of fiber |
Unless you happen to carry around that chart with you while shopping, here’s a concise summary from the AHA website!
“Free” means a food has the least possible amount of the specified nutrient.
“Very Low” and “Low” means the food has a little more than foods labeled “Free.”
“Reduced” or “Less” mean the food has 25 percent less of a specific nutrient than the regular version of the food.
FLIP how you shop at the grocery store. Read your labels with all your new found knowledge and savvy! When you change your diet, you reduce your risk for cancers like bowel cancer, according to cancerreasearchuk.com.
Post by Carolyn Smith