Healthy Kitchen
Understanding Food Labels
By Marcia Stanley
Photo by John Hubbard
The labels on the foods you buy provide important information that can benefit your overall health.
Here's what the fine print means
Selecting healthy, tasty foods is an important component of any diabetes care plan. Fortunately, current
labeling laws simplify food choices by putting lots of information at your fingertips.
What’s on the package?
The front of the package gives you the basics — what’s in the package, how much is in it and who
manufactures it. Food makers also grab your attention with nutritional claims — general information about
nutrients, cholesterol, fiber or calories.
Although the terms are defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, they can be confusing. For example,
do you know the difference between a product labeled “reduced calorie” and one labeled “low calorie”?
If not, check out the chart below. You might even want to print the chart out and take it with you to
the grocery store.
While helpful, general nutritional claims don’t provide the detailed information someone following a
diabetic meal plan needs. For that, look at the Nutrition Facts label located on the side or back of the
package. It will specifically state:
- How much food is in one serving
- How many servings are in the package
- The number of calories per serving
- The number of grams of fat, saturated fat, trans fat, total carbohydrate, fiber, sugar and protein
per serving
- The number of milligrams of cholesterol and sodium per serving
- The percentage of the Daily Value of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron per serving
How can you use the package information?
Serving size, found at the top of the Nutrition Facts label, lets you know how much food is
considered one serving. Remember that the serving size listed on the package is not necessarily the same
as a serving size in your meal plan, nor is it always equivalent to one dietary exchange. You need to do
the math. If you eat double the listed package serving size, then you’re eating twice the number of
calories, twice the grams of fat, twice the grams of protein, twice the grams of carbohydrate, etc.
If you have diabetes or cook for someone who does, you might be inclined to look for products labeled
“sugar-free.” That’s fine, but be sure to read the Nutrition Facts panel too. Sugar-free products aren’t
necessarily carbohydrate-free, and it’s the carbohydrates that affect blood sugar levels. When comparing
a sugar-free food to a similar product that contains sugar, look at the number of grams of total
carbohydrate. If the sugar-free food has substantially fewer carbohydrates than the regular product, the
sugar-free food might be the better choice. However, if the two products are similar in grams of total
carbohydrate, then you might want to make your choice based on flavor or cost. The same principles apply
to foods labeled “no added sugar” or foods made with sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, xylitol and
mannitol.
“Fat-free” is another front-of-the-package nutritional claim that tempts calorie counters. But don’t be
duped. Fat-free foods may contain more carbohydrates and almost as many calories as their non-fat-free
counterparts. Check the Nutrition Facts label to know for sure. While you’re looking at the Nutrition
Facts, notice the breakdown of fat types listed below total fats on the label. Although all fats are
high in calories, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats help lower cholesterol and protect against
heart disease, while saturated fats and trans fats have the opposite effect.
The percent Daily Value (DV) listed on food labels is based on a 2,000-calorie average consumer diet. It
helps you estimate how much of a specific nutrient one serving of food provides compared to the daily
recommendations for an average person. But many people with diabetes consume fewer or more than 2,000
calories a day. In that case, use the percentage DV as a general reference and adjust your percent
accordingly. As a general rule, a food may be considered a good source of a nutrient if one serving
contains 10 percent to 19 percent of the DV, and a high source of a nutrient if one serving contains
20 percent or more. Use this guideline to find foods high in vitamins, minerals and fiber, but also to
limit consumption of foods that are high sources of fat, cholesterol and sodium.
Finally, the fine print
The ingredient list on a food package (often in fine print) provides even more information. Contents are
listed in descending order by weight, meaning that the first one or two ingredients are the most prevalent.
Look for ingredients that promote health, such as whole-wheat flour, oats, soy, olive oil, canola oil
or peanut oil. Likewise, use the ingredient list to avoid products you don’t want to eat, such as
saturated fat, hydrogenated fat or partially hydrogenated fat.
Look to the future
Today many companies voluntarily put symbols on the front of product packages that provide information
about the nutrient content of foods. Although helpful, these symbols vary from one food manufacturer to
another. The Food and Drug Administration is currently considering standardizing them.
HM
Defining Nutrition Claims
| Claim | What it means |
| Calorie free | less than 5 calories per serving |
| Low calorie | 40 calories or less per serving |
| Reduced calorie (fewer calories) | at least 25 percent fewer calories than the regular product |
| Sodium free (salt free) | less than 5 mg of sodium per serving |
| Very low sodium | 35 mg of sodium or less per serving |
| Low sodium (less sodium) | 140 mg of sodium or less per serving |
| Reduced sodium | at least 25 percent less sodium than the regular product |
| Fat free | less than 0.5 g of fat or saturated fat per serving |
| Saturated fat free | less than 0.5 g of saturated fat and less than 0.5 g trans fat per serving |
| Low fat | 3 g or less of total fat per serving |
| Low saturated fat | 1 g or less of saturated fat per serving |
| Reduced fat (less fat) | at least 25 percent less total fat than the regular product |
| Cholesterol free | less than 2 mg cholesterol per serving |
| Low cholesterol | 20 mg or less of cholesterol per serving |
| Reduced cholesterol | at least 25 percent less cholesterol than the regular product |
| Sugar free | less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving |
| No added sugar | no added sugar, such as table sugar (sucrose), milk sugar (lactose), corn sweeteners (dextrose), high-fructose corn syrup, honey, molasses, jam, jelly or fruit juice |
| Reduced sugar (lower sugar) | at least 25 percent less sugar per serving than the regular product |
| High fiber | 5 g or more of fiber per serving |
| Good source of fiber | 2.5 to 4.9 g of fiber per serving |
| Light/Lite | 33 percent fewer calories, 50 percent less fat, 50 percent less sodium or 50 percent less sugar than the regular product |
| Lean (used on seafood, meat or poultry) | less than 10 g total fat, 4.5 g or less saturated fat and less than 95 mg cholesterol per 3-ounce cooked serving |
| Extra lean (used on seafood, meat or poultry) | less than 5 g total fat, 2 g or less saturated fat and less than 95 mg cholesterol per 3-ounce cooked serving |
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