How to make sense of a food label

Do you know how to decode a food label, especially when looking for a healthy product?

At times food labels can be confusing but with some practice, you can be a ‘food label reading professional’.

Here are some tips:

•  Start with the serving size. Do not assume that one package is always one serving.
•  Check how many calories per serving the product contains.
•  Pay close attention to the fat content. Total fat includes saturated, trans, mono and polyunsaturated fat. Limit saturate fat to 20 grams a day. Limit trans fat to two grams a day. If the product contains less than 0.5 grams per serving it can be labelled 0 grams trans fat. Look for “partially hydrogenated oil” to be sure it does not contain trans fat.
•  Limit sodium to 2 000 milligrams a day.
•  Total carbohydrates includes sugar, starch and fibre. Read the label to determine if the product is a whole grain.
•  Strive for 25 to 35 grams of fibre a day from whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables.
•  With regard to sugar in milk and fruit, you should strive for no more than 40 grams of added sugars per day. Remember that these foods contain naturally occurring sugars.
•  Ingredients are listed by weight. Ingredients listed first make up the majority of that product. Look for shorter ingredient lists and ones you can pronounce.

Information provided by Curves.