How to Read Food Labels
October 26, 2011
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Portland
• 0 Comments
How to Read Food Labels
When it comes to food, the old adage “what you don’t know can’t hurt you” is false. If you don’t know what is in the food that you are eating, then you could be doing a lot of harm.
In addition to the food that you see advertised on the label, there can be any number of natural or artificial additives that affect everything from taste to color to the products shelf life. It is important that you begin to read ingredient and nutrition labels to understand exactly what is in the foods you are consuming.
Thanks to the growing local and organic food movements, you will may more attention to food labels today as student at a cooking school in Portland than you would have only a few years ago. You must read food labels carefully to understand what you are serving to restaurant guests.
Packaging Labels
A food’s packaging is like a commercial. It sells the product. But, just like a commercial it doesn’t tell the whole story. Nutrition specialists suggest caution when it comes to packaging with the following labels:
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Fortified or Enriched – This usually means that naturally occurring nutrients that were lost during processing were added back into a product.
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Natural – This means that the manufacturer started with a natural ingredient but processing may have made those ingredients anything but natural.
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Organically Grown or Pesticide-Free – Products are only organic if they carry the USDA “Certified Organically Grown” label; otherwise it is marketing speak
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Sugar- or Fat-Free – The addition of one or both of these does not make a product healthy. The fat and sugar are replaced by something, usually something artificial and unhealthy.
Chances are that the instructors of today’s cooking classes are spending much more time talking about this kind of labeling then they ever did before. That’s a good thing.
Nutrition Labels
Every food product carries a nutrition label that tells you what’s in it and its relative nutritional facts. Nearly every nutrition label is based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet. You can assume more or less depending on your dietary needs. Pay close attention to the following items:
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Serving Size–Portion control is the key to managing weight. Most foods that appear to be single servings like chips, sodas, candy, and other packaged goods are actually multiple servings. That 100-calorie snack may actually 200 or 300 calories if you eat the whole thing.
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Calories and Calories from Fat – This shows the calorie hit and percent of fat for a single serving size. Be sure to multiple that number by the number of servings you plan on eating.
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Percentage of Daily Value - %DV shows the percentage of fats, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein. Sometimes other nutrients with high values are shown for marketing purposes.
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Vitamins and Minerals – This shows the amount of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron.
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Ingredients – Ingredients are listed from the greatest amount to the least. Quality, healthy foods will list natural, whole ingredients first before any difficult to pronounce additives. And if the first ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup? We’d suggest leaving it on the shelf or eating it only as an occasional treat.
Don’t let the fact that you don’t know something harm you or your family’s health. Be smart, read a label!
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/Portland for more information.
Find disclosures on graduation rates, student financial obligations and more at www.chefs.edu/disclosures. Le Cordon Bleu® and the Le Cordon Bleu logo are registered trademarks of Career Education Corporation. Le Cordon Bleu cannot guarantee employment or salary. Credits earned are unlikely to transfer.