Have You Figured Out The way to Read Nutrition Labels

I spoke to a group of parents and youngsters on the way to read nutrition labels this weekend and decided it will be good to blog regarding this for a bigger audience. From my experience, even among the educated, 'Nutrition Literacy' is way from which it needs to be and understanding how to read nutrition labels can be a good beginning point.

Many people head into a food market and add things to our basket, blissfully not aware of what nutrition it actually delivers. In reality, a lot of us rarely stop and read the label and also if we do get around to looking at it, we is probably not sure just what the numbers imply. So below are a few pointers that will help you decide when the product falls in the "healthy or perhaps not so healthy category" and just how often you or your child should consume it.

"No Label Don't Buy " -check out nutrition label around the food pack you buy. Today, all food manufacturers in america ought to declare the next over a label -nutritional facts per 100 g or 100 ml or per serving of the product:

energy value in kcal, total carbohydrate and sugar, the quantity of protein, fat in gram (g) or ml, and nutritional supplements for which a health claim is created

"Match Nutrition information for the quantity you take in"- next check if the nutrition details are given per 100 g or per serving.

Net weight grams = grams declared around the nutrition label template - the package can be a one serve pack, say net weight is 30g along with the nutrition label gives information for a serving size, then the numbers the thing is about the label may be the nutrition you get in the pack.

Net weight (g or ml) > grams/ml declared around the nutrition label - an excellent example for this is the fruit drinks/juices segment - nutrition facts tend to be shown per 100 ml even if a normal serve dimension is 200 ml. So when you will not be alert to this fact, you could possibly believe that your son or daughter is consuming only half the calories /sugar!

Net weight (g) < grams on nutrition label- The single serve snack packs which we buy frequently for children weigh approximately 30 g while nutrition information is given for 100 g, so we need to do some simple division here else you might be left wondering how a small packet can deliver so many calories!

"Stay away from large snack packs" - they weigh more than 100 g, but present nutrition information for 100 g. Unfortunately, current labeling norms do not mandate serving size, and even if they did when was the last time you were able to convince your child to close the packet after eating 15 chips? So, it is wiser to stick to the single serve /smaller packs!

"Deciphering the calories further": What is declared on the pack is the total calories you get from the product. To arrive at the number of calories from fat multiply the amount of fat, given in grams by 9, for carbohydrates and proteins, multiply by 4.

"Sugar watch": The number declared against carbohydrates indicates 'total carbohydrates' which includes complex carbohydrates (like what is found in cereals), simple sugars as found in fruit, milk and cane sugar and fibre. Check if the product contains added sugar. Some responsible fruit beverage companies do differentiate between the added sugar and the sugar coming from the fruit but many do not. So, if you are not able to figure out, take a look at the ingredient list on the pack - if the ingredient list includes 'sugar' in addition to water and juice concentrate, you can be certain that sugar has been added to make the product.

"Fat Facts": There are good fats and bad fats. But in our country, companies are not required to provide a break-up of the fat in foods unless they make health claims like 'low fat,' 'low cholesterol'. As a result, one can never be sure of the type of fat used in the packaged food. One way to find out is to look at the ingredient list for words like 'partially hydrogenated fat' 'shortening,' as these products have a higher proportion of bad fats (trans fat). In the absence of any of the above information it might be best to avoid products which are high in fat content.

Trust you find these pointers useful. Next time when you go to the grocery store, do look for the nutrition label and ingredient list on pack. If you are not happy with the information given, or after doing the math realise this should not be in your basket, put it right back on the shelf and do yourself and your kids a favour!