What You Need to Know to Read Food Labels Without Being Misled
What You Need to Know to Read Food Labels Without Being Misled
Reading labels may be a challenging task.
Consumers are more health sensitive than they have ever been, and as a result, some food producers use deceptive strategies in order to persuade consumers to purchase items that are highly processed and harmful.
Because of the complexity of the standards governing food labeling, it is more difficult for consumers to comprehend them.
For the purpose of distinguishing between items that are mislabeled as junk and those that are really healthy, this article provides instructions on how to read food labels.
You Should Not Be Misled by the Claims on the Front One of the most helpful pieces of advice is to entirely disregard the claims that are printed on the front of the container.
Front labels make health claims in an effort to get you to buy the items they are selling with them.
As a matter of fact, studies have shown that including health claims on product labels leads consumers to assume that a product is healthier than an identical product that does not include any health claims, which in turn influences the decisions that consumers make.
In the manner in which they use these labels, manufacturers often engage in dishonesty. They have a tendency to make health claims that are not just deceptive but also, in some instances, completely incorrect.
For instance, there are several morning cereals that include a lot of sugar, such as whole-grain Cocoa Puffs. The label may give the impression that these items are healthful, but that is not the case.
Because of this, it is difficult for customers to choose healthy eating alternatives without first doing a comprehensive review of the list of components.
Read over the list of ingredients.
All of the product’s components are given in descending order of quantity, from the most to the least. This demonstrates that the producer relied on the first ingredient the most in their production process. When you are eating, it is important to pay attention to the first three elements since they constitute the majority of the food that you are consuming.
In the event if the product’s primary components consist of refined grains, a certain kind of sugar, or hydrogenated oils, you may safely conclude that the product should be avoided.
Rather to that, you should concentrate on selecting products that contain whole foods listed as the first three components.
In addition, if the list of components is longer than two to three lines, it likely indicates that the product has been subjected to a significant amount of processing.
Watch careful for the Sizes of the Servings
On nutrition labels, the number of calories and nutrients that are included in a typical serving of the product, which is often referred to as a single serving, are listed.On the other hand, these serving sizes are usually far more than the amount that individuals eat in a single sitting.
A single biscuit, a quarter of a cookie, a half of a chocolate bar, or a half of a can of soda are all examples of different things that may be considered a serving.
When producers do this, they are attempting to trick customers into believing that the meal has less calories and less sugar than it really does.
The majority of people are not aware of this serving size scheme, and as a result, they incorrectly believe that the whole container is a single serving. In reality, the container may hold two, three, or even more servings.
If you are interested in determining the nutritional value of the food that you are consuming, you must multiply the serving measurement that is printed on the back by the total number of servings that you have ingested.