Food Labels 101 - Part 3 (Final)

Putting it all Together and Looking to the Future
Guest blogger: Emily Vong, RD 

To demonstrate how someone might use the information on food labels to support their health, let’s look at this example scenario:
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Ms. Smith is a 28-year-old new mom who has decided she would like to lose some weight to improve her health. She goes grocery shopping and carefully looks at food labels to make the best choices.
Her first stop is in the bread aisle, where she is comparing different types of bread for sandwiches. She first compares white bread to whole-wheat bread and sees that the whole-wheat bread has an extra 3 grams of fiber per serving, which she knows can help her feel full and make it easier to not over-eat. She then compares two different types of whole-wheat bread and sees that one of them has 50 Calories per slice, while the other has 80 Calories per slice. She chooses to buy the 50-Calorie per slice bread to help her cut back on calories and lose weight.

She then looks at different types of peanut butter. She can see that one kind of peanut butter has high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient and 10 grams of sugar per serving, but it is also labeled as “Gluten-Free.” The other one has zero grams of sugar and says nothing about gluten. Since she knows that too much added sugar could be bad for her health, and that gluten isn’t normally found in peanut butter anyways, she chooses the peanut butter with no sugar. When she looks at the serving size, she notices that 1 serving equals 2 Tablespoons, and contains 200 Calories. When she goes home and makes her sandwich, she measures out 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter, so therefore knows that she is eating 100 Calories from the peanut butter.

Ms. Smith compared food labels throughout her grocery shopping trip and is confident that she made nutritious food choices--bread with whole grains, more fiber and fewer calories per slice, and a peanut butter with no added sugar--to help her reach her health goals.

Image Source: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm385663.htm

The New and Improved Nutrition Facts Label
The current format for the Nutrition Facts panel has been around for more than 20 years, and many experts agree it is time for an update. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just finalized the format for an updated Nutrition Facts panel, which will go into effect by July 2018. Though the new label will look very similar, it will have a few changes.

First, the Serving Size of many foods will change to reflect the actual amount that is usually consumed at one sitting. This means that the bottle of soda that was previously labeled as containing 2 servings even though most people drink the whole container all at once will now be listed as one serving, and all of the information on the label will have to reflect the new serving size.

Next, as shown on the example above, a line for Added Sugars has been created. Added Sugars come from table sugar, brown sugar, honey, corn syrup, fruit concentrate and juices, cane sugar, malt extract, dextrose and many other sources, but the bottom line is that they are added to the food for sweetness. These added sugars add extra calories but little nutritional value to the food (think fiber, vitamins, etc.) and may be a contributor to rising rates of diabetes and obesity. Foods that are naturally sweet or naturally contain sugars will not have a value in the Added Sugars line, such as whole fruit, 100% fruit juice and dairy products.

Lastly, the new label will be required to list a few vitamins and minerals that were not always essential on the old label. While we’ll still see Calcium and Iron on every label, we’ll also see Vitamin D and Potassium, regardless of whether or not there is much in the food. Also, the old label only listed % DV for each of these nutrients, but the new one will now include unit amounts in milligrams (mg) or micrograms (mcg) per serving.
The objective that officials are hoping to achieve with these changes is that the new label will be more relevant to the nutritional needs of the U.S. population and will be easier to apply to our everyday lives in order to support our health and wellbeing.
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Conclusion
From nutrient claims and “health halo” descriptions, to the Nutrition Facts panel and its upcoming changes, the labels on a food package are a valuable source of information when read and understood correctly. By paying attention to food labels for pertinent information, you will be using this resource to your advantage in order to make healthful, educated food choices.

Missed a post? Read Part 1 and Part 2.