Ever wonder what youre really eating in that buttery snack cracker, sugary canned fruit, or slice of processed cheese. Give your students the knowledge of food labels to allow them to make healthy food choices. If you buy prepacked foods and drinks, deciphering the information on the labels can help you make healthier choices that will help you and your family to eat well. This policy book is assembled in dictionary form and may be used in conjunction with the meat. It takes time to fully understand the relationship between the foods you eat and how they affect your overall health, and the best way to begin this process is to arm yourself with information by reading and interpreting your food labels. Understanding what youre eating, is an excellent book it explain to you how to read food labels. Reading food labels can help you make smart food choices. Find out what food labels you should look for and which you should ignore from consumer reports. The label helps you figure out the amounts of nutrients youre getting and compare one product to another. The policy book is intended to be guidance to help manufacturers and prepare product labels that. Reading and understanding food labels is a good step toward healthy eating.
Below are the ingredients for a pound cake, as you would expect to see them in a recipe or cook book. Lite, fat free, extra lean, and cholestrol free all mean something to your. How to understand and use the nutrition facts label fda skip to main. Home lifestyle health how to understand food labels in south africa. The food label on a food package is a lot like the table of contents in a book it tells you exactly what the food contains. A food label initially helps sell the product to the consumer and gives the consumer information about the product identity, quality, nutrition, and relevant health and safety information. The flavor rule states that a food may be labeled as beef flavored dog food even if it does not contain any beef, as long as the flavor is sufficiently. Food labelling can help us make an informed decision when shopping. It is important to know what each actually means, or doesnt mean. Candy cumming, a registered dietitian formerly with sharp healthcare, how to make sense of food labels. These values are based on the food and drug administration fda recommended 2000 calorie diet. Understanding a food label interactive flip book by.
This book will help you understand the content of food labels, decipher the long and complicated lists of ingredients, and guide you to cleaner, healthier eating. Understanding how to read food labels can help you choose foods with less saturated fat, salt sodium and kilojoules, and with more fibre. Eating healthily means reading and understanding food labels its an unavoidable truth about modern life. Labels on foods and drinks give essential information, such as. For more information about understanding food labels, visit the foodstandards. Be alert, as sugar can sometimes be disguised under other names. This fact sheet will help you read food labels, so that you can meet the needs of your kidney diet. The healthy shopping guideyour essential supermarket companion can help you make healthy food choices. How to understand and use the nutrition facts label fda. Understanding food nutrition labels understanding ingredients on food labels. Choosing foods in the supermarket can be difficult, so heres a handy guide to help you make decisions. Understanding food nutrition labels learning how to understand and use the nutrition facts label can help you make healthier eating choices and identify nutrientdense foods for a healthy diet.
Like the table of contents in a book, nutrition labels help explain whats inside of the food you are eating. Understanding and reading food labels sbh health system. Nutrition labels or food labels can seem downright intimidating if youre unsure about what to look for or how to read them. Making small, simple changes to your overall eating pattern can help you and your family stay healthy.
Food label use, selfselectivity, and diet quality by kim, sungyong. List of books and articles about nutrition labeling online research. How to use the serving size on nutrition facts tables. Act nutrition support service dietitian rebecca, shares her simple tips to help you read food labels like an expert in no time. Often we dont have the time to spend trying to work out what they mean and how to use them. Here are some tips from the american heart association for making the most of the information on food labels.
Look on the side of a product to find the nutrition facts title. Well cover the basics so that these labels make shopping easier for you, from understanding serving sizes and amount per serving to carbohydrates, fat, and more. Understanding food nutrition labels american heart. To purchase a copy, call the ndss helpline on 1800 637 700. How to read a food label well guides the new york times. Discover librarianselected research resources on nutrition labeling from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic. For example, with a good source of calcium claim, the food must contain more than a set amount of calcium.
Develop your students understanding of nutrition and healthy eating with this lesson plan designed to help them read and understand the information given on food labels. The 520 rule means that 5% or lower is a low amount of nutritional value and 20% is a high nutritional value. The food label on packaged food has been there since the early 1990s. Although examining the food for signs of spoilage is one way to check its quality, understanding how to read food expiration date codes ensures that you can always determine where food is at in its lifespan.
They can also provide information on the amount of carbohydrate in the food you eat, to help manage your blood glucose levels. Learn the basics of good nutrition and making healthy food and drink choices. The nutrition facts section is located on the outside of the package and is easy to read. How understanding food labelling can help you keep a check on the amount of foods you eat that are high in fat, salt and added sugars, as well as help you. How to use, what is in them, foods that dont have a nutrition facts table. And with the clean eating trend making its way into mainstream culture in recent years, theres a lot of jargon around, with vague and even misleading wording. We all have a right to know whats in our food, how its produced, and where its from. The labels on our food, from organic vegetables to usdainspected meat to cagefree eggs, can be confusing. Packaging on food often contains claims that can be misleading. Demystifying nutrition and ingredient information on packaged foods. Replaces publication dated may 2003 and removal of publication dated 1996. Interactive understanding a food label flip book learning how to read a food label is an important lesson in our healthy vs.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Sugars are added for many reasons, including for preserving and flavouring. Nutrition labels give you important information about the fat, calories, and fiber in your food. And even if youre not cutting any of those out, reading and understanding food labels means youll know what youre getting when you buy food, and youll be able to make more informed choices when deciding what food to.
The nutrition facts labels on foods are really the key to making the best choices. Food labels, nutrition facts tables, serving size, ingredients, % daily value, nutrition claims. If the food label does not list the exact grams of pufas and mufas, you can determine the total. In fact, most consumers do not even realize that there is a hidden meaning in the label s wording. A good guide to reading organic and other food labels. They have been designed to be easy to find, simple to read and to allow canadians to make informed food choices.
Understanding food labels and the tricky titles companies use. Information on food labels must meet australian food labelling laws. Look out for food preservatives and additives such as artificial food dyes. Food standards and labeling policy book food safety and. Understanding how to read food expiration date codes. Figuring out food labels for kids nemours kidshealth. Just read the nutrition facts on the products food label what are the nutrition facts on the food label. Have you ever wondered what you should look for on the nutritional information on your food. Free sugars include all sugars that are added to foods, as well as sugars in fruit juices. In order to plan a healthy diet, we must know how to read a food label. Food labels give important information about whats really in the food you buy, if you know how to read the lingo about ingredients and serving sizes. However, the list of ingredients says tuna, water, soy, carrots, and celery. Food labels show us if a food has a little or a lot of certain nutrients.
However, a few quick tips can make shopping for healthy food a whole lot easier and quicker and can help you lose weight. About list of ingredients on packaged foods, common terms used for. Nutrition labelling became mandatory in canada in 2007 on all prepackaged foods. Learn how to read and understand the product date, ingredient list, and nutrition. By choosing foods within this value, 520, is the way to choose healthy foods for a. Learn how to understand and use the nutrition facts label to make informed food choices that contribute to a healthy diet. In 1990 the nutrition labeling and education act was passed, and the usda and fda were in charge of deciding what information you need to know about the food you eat. But food companies are often not required to give us the information we want to know. Some food labels list the amount of mufas and pufas in terms of grams. Food labels can be very confusing and tricky to understand. Sometimes labels will include nutrition content claims like low fat, reduced salt or high fibre.
If you have any other questions about food labels, diet, or nutrition, call your american cancer society. Understanding whats in the foods you buy is key to stocking a nutritious kitchen. Your guide to the new food label national kidney foundation. Understanding food, additives, and nutrition block, zenas on. By knowing how to interpret percentage daily value numbers on labels, you can adjust your diet and portion sizes for better weight control and good health. Demystifying nutrition and ingredient information on packaged foods, a guide to understanding food labels, will provide you with an overview on how to understand nutrition labels and make better choices at the grocery store. Reading food labels national institute on aging nih.
Food labels help consumers make purchasing decisions at the grocery store and provide information about what is inside the container. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading food labels decoded. Food and nutrition book 2 kindle edition by lien, kyra. If you focus only on food marketing claims, you might not be getting the full story. The labels follow a secret code, and consumers do not have the key to decipher it. Read our article for kids for more about food labels. The nutrition facts label helps you understand the nutrients a food product contains. On the packaged foods you do choose, the very best have fewer than 5 ingredients. Food labels can seem perplexing, and people often read them with an eye toward. Understanding food labels choosing foods in the 520 range means that you are choosing foods that are higher than 5% or lower than 20% of the nutritional daily value.
We go through how food labels work, what the key points mean. This section of the food label gives you information. Understanding the nutrition information and ingredients list can help you. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Lisa coleman answers our questions about understanding food labels. Food labelling get into the habit of checking the label. How to read food labels, understanding nutrition labels. It is a composite of policy and daytoday labeling decision, many of which do not. Food labels have percent daily values listed for a set group of nutrients. You wont have to read ingredient lists on unprocessed, unpackaged foods. Luckily we are breaking down the top 10 most common phrases to make it simpler yo make healthy choices. Since then, nutrition and ingredient information has been listed on the food label.