How to Read Food Labels
Saturday, December 27th, 2008You can’t measure all morsel that passes your lips, but it is a good idea to measure most foods and beverages until you get a feel for portion sizes.
It is a supersized world out there, and most people are surprised to acquire that their idea of a single serving is in reality 2 or three.
If you are into bells and whistles, there are food scales that are preprogrammed with nutritional information, as well as scales that will keep a running total of your everyday food and nutrient intake for you. The only tools you really need, however, are a easy and affordable gram scale, dry and liquid measuring cups, and idea on reading food labels.
Among all of the mentioned tools, reading food labels seem to be the most effective way of determining the right kind of food to be bought in the supermarket. It lets you make sensible food selections. Through the “Nutrition Facts” section in a specific item in the grocery, you can identify the amount of serving sizes provided in that product.
With food labels, you can clearly comprehend the amount and kinds of nutrients that are provided in the item. Usually, it contains the information on saturated fat, sodium, total fat, fiber, and cholesterol amount “per serving.”
However, understanding and reading these food labels can be very perplexing. A typical customer would definitely ask what those numbers mean and how it will affect her diet intake if ever she will religiously follow the serving guide as stipulated on the food label.
To further have a clear and more comprehensive understanding of the items said in the food label, here is a list of things that you require to know:
1. Serving size
This is the primary item you will see in a food label.
The amount of servings said in the food label refers to the quantity of food people usually consume. However, this does not necessarily mean that it reflects your very own amount of food intake.
Moreover, serving size determines the amount of nutrients that enters the body. This means that if you will follow strictly what the serving size is, you will acquire the same amount of nutrients according to the serving size that was given in the label.
For instance, if the serving size states 1 serving size is equal to 54 grams, that would mean you have to measure 54 grams and eat that and you have merely eaten 1 serving. So to speak, the amount of nutrients said in the food label is the same amount that has entered your body considering the fact that you have merely eaten 54 grams.
However, if you have eaten everything, and the food label states that all pack is equivalent to 4 servings, you have to compute the amount of nutrients that have entered your body. This means that if the food label states 250 calories per serving that means you have to multiply it to 4 to get the total amount of calories you have taken.
2. Nutrients
This refers to the list of available nutrients in a specific item. It is also where the nutritional claims of the product based on the suggested everyday dietary allowance are stated. Usually, the nutritional amounts are based on both the 2,500-calorie diets and the 2,000 suggested dietary allowances.
In order to comprehend the numeric value of all item, you ought know that the “% everyday value” that the food label indicates is in reality based on how a specific food corresponds to the suggested everyday dietary allowance for a 2,000 calorie.
If in the event that you have bought an item that has a dietary allowance different from the 2,000-calorie diet, you merely have to divide the stipulated amount by 2,000 and you will be capable to identify the “%daily value” for the nutrients.
3. Ingredients
This refers to the list of the elements that were used to manufacture the product. The listing is usually arranged from the main elements that have the greater amount by weight up to the smallest quantity. This simply means that the actual quantity of the food includes the biggest quantity of the main ingredient or the 1st item and the minimum amount of the very final ingredient.
4. Label claim
This refers to the kinds of nutritional claims of a specific food item. For instance, if an item states it is sodium-free, it has less than five milligrams per serving or a low fat item in reality contains three grams of fat or less.
Indeed, reading food labels can be very tedious and confusing. Nevertheless, once you get the hang of it, it would be easier for you to watch your diet because you can already control the amount of food that you take.














