Move Those Feet!

Label Lingo

Food labels offer consumers vital information to consider when making a purchase. Especially for those of us who are careful about what we eat, the labels serve as a sort of “study guide,” allowing us to be more mindful shoppers as well as eaters. But what do these labels mean? Words like “enriched” or “fortified,” “low,” “reduced,” “light,”  “free,” and even “healthy” are defined by strict federal guidelines. Unfortunately, these guidelines aren’t explained on the label. Let’s do a quick run-through.

If a food label says “enriched,” it means that some nutrients lost during the packaging or refining process have been replaced. For example, the process of refining flour to bake bread removes nutrients that are later replaced, creating “enriched” bread. A “fortified” food is on the other end of the spectrum. Fortification is the adding of additional dietary muscle to a food’s existing nutrient content. Vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids can be added to foods that did not contain these nutrients originally. A common example is calcium-fortified orange juice.

The guidelines for using the word “low” on a food label are as follows:

• A low-fat food has 3 grams or less of fat.
• A food low in saturated fat contains 1 gram or less of saturated fat.
• A low-sodium food has 140 milligrams or less of sodium.
• A food labeled “very low sodium” must contain 35 milligrams or less of sodium per serving.
• Low-cholesterol foods have 20 milligrams or less of cholesterol and 2 grams or less of saturated fat.
• Low-calorie foods have 40 calories or less per serving.

To be described as “lean,” meat or poultry must contain less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per serving. An extra-lean serving has less than 5 grams of fat, less than 2 grams of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol.

The word “reduced” on a package is very different from “low.” For example, a nutritionally altered food with reduced fat contains at least 25 percent less fat than the regular food. The word “less” has the same meaning, but might not be altered in the same way. For example, a steak with all of the fat trimmed off might be advertised as having “less fat.”

“Light” or “lite” means that the nutritionally altered product contains a third fewer calories or half the fat of the original food. When applied to sodium, it means a 50 percent reduction in sodium content. “Free” on the other hand means virtually no fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugars, or calories. This is defined as a trace amount. For example, “fat-free” means less than 0.5 grams per serving, and “calorie-free” means fewer than 5 calories per serving.

To be labeled as “healthy,” federal guidelines require that the food must be low in total fat and saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Additionally, in most cases the food must also provide at least 10 percent of the recommended amounts of vitamins A or C, iron, calcium, protein, or fiber.

So now that you know what some of these key words mean, maybe the labels will be simpler to decipher. Just be sure to read the Nutrition Label on every  product as well, to give yourself an overview of what your favorite foods contain. Consider your normal serving size compared with that on the package, and calculate accordingly. Try to keep your calories, fat, cholesterol and sodium low, and your protein and vitamin contents high. Most importantly, be aware of what you are eating…that’s the first step to reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

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