Making Sense of Food Labels

By Joanne Chaconis, RD
Chief Clinical Dietician

Food labels are a great idea, right? They’re like windows on the products we buy. Despite the fact that they are under the watch of either the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the U.S. Department of Agriculture, some of the wording can make food labels difficult to decipher. Here are some guidelines adapted from an article in the March edition of “Real Simple” magazine.

Heart Healthy: These foods are low in saturated fats, low in cholesterol, and low in sodium. They also have no trans fats. It also means they contain three or less grams of fat per serving and have at least 0.6 gram of soluble fiber.

0 grams trans fat: Contains less than 0.5 gram of fat per serving. Light means the food has up to 50 percent less fat than the counterpart.

Fat-free: This product contains less than 0.5 gram of fat per serving. Most adults should aim for 2,300 milligrams or less per day. Try to choose foods with fewer milligrams of sodium than calories.

Low-carb: There are no standards for this term. Remember that whole grains and fresh fruit and veggies are healthy carbs. The low-carb term does not distinguish between “good, healthy” carbs and “refined” carbs like sugar.

Sugar-free: The serving contains less than 0.5 gram of sugar. Sugar free doesn’t always mean low calorie as these products are sometimes laced with sugar alcohols or starch.

Gluten-free: This product contains no gluten, which is a wheat protein. A gluten-free product means no wheat, but a product labeled wheat-free doesn’t mean it’s gluten-free. Check also for rye, barley, malt, and malt extracts (oats can also be an offensive item to someone who is gluten intolerant.)

Organic: Foods are made without potentially harmful pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, synthetic hormones or genetic engineering. It also means the product contains at least 95 percent organic ingredients.

100 percent natural: These products do not contain artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. They can still be abundant with sugar, fat or calories, however.

Light: Most of the time this means the product contains a third less calories than the full calorie counterpart. If referring to sodium or fat, it means up to 50 percent less.

No antiobiotics: Found on the labels of red meat, poultry and milk. This means the animals were raised without being fed antibiotics.

No hormones: Found on the labels of beef and dairy. This means the animals were not given hormones. The hormones are usually added to make the animals gain weight or produce milk quicker.

Happy shopping!