Kids & Company Blog

Reading Food Labels

As more and more food items become available in stores understanding what’s written on the label is becoming more and more challenging. With the addition of media input it can make it near impossible to know what’s actually in the food you and your family are eating.

Don’t fret! I’m here to give you some pointers on reading labels so that you can make the best choices for your family’s needs.

First, let’s start with some basics. Prepackaged food has to have its ingredients listed and they are written in order of quantity with the greatest being first, and the least being last. Foods also have to display a “Nutrition Facts” table which has its own laws about what should be found on it. The table has a serving size found at the top. The rest of the information is displayed in a standard order; from top to bottom it is: Calories, Fat, Saturated, Trans, Cholesterol, Sodium, Carbohydrate, Fibre, Sugars, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Iron.

I know, it looks like a lot, but let me give you some suggestions on how to use the Nutrition Facts table to your advantage. Most people look at the number of calories first, which is totally fine as long as you’re also looking at the portion size. If the label tells you there’s 100 calories, but you eat three times the serving size then your low calorie snack just took a giant hike that you might not have noticed.

Sometimes the information on the Nutrition Facts table that can be misleading is the Daily Value %. These values are based on a 2000 calorie diet, so, if you’re not eating 2000 calories then these percentages aren’t right for you. This is especially true for your children. The most important percentage to look out for is sodium. The sodium percentage is calculated based on a 2400 mg daily serving. This amount is actually more than should be consumed in a day. For adults the tolerable upper limit (which means the amount that should not be exceeded per day) is 2300mg. However, the amount that we actually need per day is only 1500mg. The best way to make sure you’re not going over is to ignore the Daily Value % and to just look at the mg amount found on the table. To see how much sodium is needed for all age groups, click here

Another important tip to keep in mind is to be aware of product claims and statements. The word "nutritious" can be used on a food that contains at least a "source" of one nutrient permitted in the Nutrition Facts table. This can mean that the food isn’t actually as nutritious as you might think it is. Another thing to be aware of is that even though a food item says ‘low fat’ doesn't mean that it’s actually the best choice. Sometimes these low fat options have lots of added sugar or sodium to replace the flavour lost from removing the fat. It’s important to be aware of the potential for this. A great way to check is to look at the Nutrition Facts table because it will tell you the amount of sugar and sodium found within the product.

Allergies and intolerances are becoming more and more of a concern as time passes. There are some fairly new laws pertaining to allergens. Some products may have a section that lists allergens by their most common name (for example “contains soy and nuts”). Allergens must be listed in either this section or in the ingredients list, but they don’t have to be in both. If allergens are something that you need to look out for, make sure you’re checking both places.

There are specific laws that govern what is mandatory for labelling in Canada. For more information, check out the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s website

 

Cheers,

Chef Lisa Ruscica

Chief Food Ambassador

Posted on: Wednesday May 28th, 2014

Posted by: Lisa Ruscica