How to Read a Nutrition Label
What is on the front of a package is not necessarily true and usually isn’t. You must look at 2 items on the nutrition label (most of it is useless) and the ingredient list.
Nutrition Label:
- Fat from calories should be no more that 20% of calories per serving.
- Sodium should be no more than the number of calories per serving.
Ingredient list:
- The ingredients are listed from the most plentiful to the least plentiful.
- Grains and pastas should be listed as “whole”.
- If there are multiple sugars in the list the product may contain excessive sugar. Here are some ingredients that are sugars:
- any word ending in –ose (glucose, fructose*, sucrose, dextrose)
- MSG
- maltodextrin (could contain MSG)
- high fructose corn syrup
- sucanat – (stands for “sugar cane natural”)
- sucralose – chlorinated sugar
- avoid all artificial sweeteners
- Fats can be listed as:
- mono-glycerides or di-glycerides
- lecithin
- Some words to avoid in ingredient lists:
- partially hydrogenated or fully hydrogenated
- numbers (Blue Lake #5 etc)
- modified oils
- interesterified oils
- trans fats
* Fructose has been linked with excessive weight gain. It is the sugar in fruit but when it is taken out of the fruit is becomes a problem. It is in many, many products. Some believe it is the underlying cause of obesity in our country.
