Food labels are supposed to help you understand what’s in your food, but deciphering endless lists of ingredients, nutrition facts, and marketing claims can often feel impossible—especially when you’re on the go.
Taylor Stein, RD
“Knowing how to read food labels is key to making good food choices,” says Taylor Stein, Associate Researcher and Registered Dietitian at The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “But keep in mind that food labels don’t tell you how the food will make you feel. You might eat a protein bar that says ‘20 grams of protein’ but still feel hungry afterward. This is important to consider, since foods that don’t fill you may trigger you to overeat later.”
In this Q&A, Ms. Stein explains why it’s so important to read the labels and offers seven tips to help you separate the good from the bad.
Check the Nutrition Facts
Most people only look at the marketing copy on the front of the product (for example, “25 percent less sugar,” “gluten-free,” or “fat free”). Marketing claims are often misleading. A bag of potato chips may claim to be 25 percent less fat, but compared to what? If the comparison is to potato chips in general, 25 percent is still a lot of fat. The Nutrition Facts on the back of the product gives you the actual breakdown of nutrition. People also often overlook the subsections under the Nutrition Facts—added sugar, saturated fat, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, etc., which are just as important as the totals. Fiber, for example, helps you feel full and is essential for gut, heart, and brain health.
- Look at the Nutrition Facts and Ingredients on the back or side of the packaging, rather than the marketing labels on the front, which are often misleading.
- The first ingredient is the primary ingredient. Generally, the more ingredients, the more processed the food is.
- If the product does not look anything like the food that’s supposed to be in it, it’s likely highly processed (ultraprocessed). Ultraprocessed foods often contain many calories with little substance, which can lead to overeating.
- Pay attention to the subsections under the Nutrition Facts—added sugar, saturated fat, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, etc.
- To know how much sugar has been added to a product, divide the added grams of sugar by four. This gives you the exact number of teaspoons that were added.
Pay Attention to Serving Size
People often misunderstand “Serving Size” and “Percent Daily Value” on the Nutrition Facts panel. They think serving size is how much of a product they should eat. A serving size is simply the amount of nutrition that is in a specific amount of the product. If the number of calories is 100 and the serving size is one cup, then you are consuming 100 calories if you eat one cup. It does not mean that you should only eat one cup. The “Percent Daily Value” is based on a standardized 2,000-calorie diet or the recommended daily allowance of that nutrient, and is not representative of what you as an individual should consume.
Some Added Ingredients Are Good for You
Many people assume added ingredients are bad for them, but some products, such as cereals, are fortified with ingredients that are good for you. Unless you have a food allergy or intolerance, you don’t need to avoid any ingredients. The Food and Drug Administration regulates food, so anything truly hazardous is not sold. People may also not realize the ingredients list is ordered by weight. The first ingredient is the primary ingredient. As you go down the list, the amount of the ingredient gets smaller—the last ingredient is the smallest amount. If the first ingredient is sugar, that tells you the product is predominantly sugar.
Be Mindful of Foods Without Labels
Some people assume food products that don’t have labels, such as fresh vegetables and meat, are healthier than packaged foods. This is generally true of produce, whole grains, fish, and lean meats; however, red meats and certain cheeses, for example, may be high in saturated fat, and should be limited.
Look Out for Ultraprocessed Foods
Processed foods are foods made from whole foods that have been broken down into their basic components (sugars, starches, fats, etc.) and reassembled to make packaged foods. There’s a spectrum of how processed a food could be—anywhere from not processed at all (whole foods, including those with minimal processing, such as frozen fruit) to foods that are extremely processed (ultraprocessed). These include chips, sodas, lunchmeats, ice cream, sweetened cereals, etc. One example is protein bars made from soybeans that have been turned into a powder. The manufacturer adds fats and sugars to make it tasty, which adds calories but not substance. The food is so processed that your body cannot tell when it should be full. For example, you can eat 500 calories of corn chips and not feel full, versus eating a whole corncob filled with fiber and water that satisfies you. For this reason, consuming too much ultraprocessed food can lead to chronic health conditions, such as obesity and diabetes.
How can you know how processed a product is? Look at the food—does it look like what is supposed to be in it? Applesauce has been ground down, but you can still tell it comes from apples. It’s processed, but not very. A bag of snacks claiming to be made from vegetables features images of carrots and onions, but the product does not look anything like vegetables—it’s actually made from potato flour and starch (with a little added carrot and onion flavoring).
Look at the Number of Ingredients
The number of ingredients, and the breakdown of ingredients, is another way to tell how processed a food is. Generally, the more ingredients, the more processed, though this is not always the case (trail mix, for example). Applesauce has a few ingredients, but it’s not been radically changed from its original form. In comparison, the bag of ultraprocessed “veggie” snacks contains a long list of ingredients.
Limit Your Sugar
The American Heart Association recommends no more than six teaspoons of added sugar per day for women and nine for men. We all know what a teaspoon looks like. But the Nutrition Facts panel lists ingredients by weight, in grams. In the Nutrition Facts panel, added sugar is listed separately under the total amount of sugar. An easy way to know how much sugar has been added is to divide the added sugar by four, which gives you the exact number of teaspoons. For example, if the added sugar is 12 grams per serving, divide that by four, which gives you three added teaspoons of sugar per serving.