Read Beyond Food Labels but Don't Always Trust

Food label literacy is very important for healthier lifestyles. The FDA-required Nutrition Facts is a list of calories, fat, carbohydrates, sodium and other nutrients available in one serving. It also includes a jumble of percentages, ingredients and a lot of other data confusing most consumers.

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Read beyond the large print. While a package of Nutri-Grain Bars says, 'naturally flavored,' it also says 'artificially flavored.' 7-Up says they only use 'all-natural' flavor, when they actually use filtered water and sweeten it with high-fructose corn syrup.
Organic All Vegetable Shortening makes nutrient content claims such as "cholesterol free," "less saturated fat than butter," and "good source of … monounsaturated fat," but does not meet the legal requirements to make these claims. Organic, natural and low-fat products aren't always the healthiest choices either.
Look at the serving size and keep in mind recommended daily values for your health group. The average adult consumes 2,775 calories per day, according to the most recent USDA statistics, which is nearly 40% above the recommended amount.
Keep in mind that some of calculated calories are up to 20% higher than actual number. "Lower in calories" selections at many restaurants are not really a diet type, some of side dishes have even more calories than in the entree.

While it is very important to read all information given on the packages and be able to interpret the labels, sometimes it is more important to trust your instincts. The F.D.A. looks into ingredients to calculate calories missing food components added during preparation, allows manufacturers to print claims such as 'zero grams trans fat' on their packages, when their products contain less than half a gram of trans fat per serving. zero grams of fat, salt and sugar eventually add up.

See also:

Read Beyond Food Labels and Don't Always Trust what you Read Lisa Lillien explains why you can’t always trust food labels Related articles by Zemanta Eating your Way to a Healthier You (slideshare.net) NutritionData.com (dropthescale.blogspot.com) 7 Healthy Foods that Really Aren't (sheerbalance.com) Reading Food Labels (itakeoffthemask.com) NYT: FDA weighs update to serving sizes (msnbc.msn.com) The FDA Wants YOU! Help Improve Nutrition Labeling (fooducate.com)