{"id":38027,"date":"2022-09-14T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/?p=38027"},"modified":"2024-11-12T16:17:19","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T00:17:19","slug":"how-to-read-food-labels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/blog\/how-to-read-food-labels\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Read Food Labels: Your Complete Consumer Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 16th-century Elizabethan England, the merchant class was growing prosperous, and many people started<\/span> affording nice things, such as fancy clothing. However, this presented a problem to the royals and upper classes: if you couldn\u2019t tell who was of a noble station just by looking at their attire, how would you know if the person in front of you was important or not?<\/p>\n

The queen attempted to solve the problem by decreeing a dizzying array of “<\/span>sumptuary laws<\/span><\/a>“<\/span> \u2014 essentially, a government-mandated dress code. She believed that the clothes a person wore told the world a great deal about them, and wanted to ensure that the messages conveyed by fashion choices were true and accurate. Only those of a certain rank could wear fine fabrics like silk, satin, and velvet. Dukes, marquesses, duchesses, barons, and knights were all <\/span>instructed<\/span><\/a> on allowed colors, size of neck ruffs, placement of furs, and sleeve length.<\/span><\/p>\n

With that framework in mind, consider what goes on a food label as the way the manufacturer wants to present that item to the world. Is it delicious? Crunchy? Made by elves? Healthy? Ethical? For refined palates only? And how should this be communicated? <\/span>A brand that knows its market will strive to make every square inch of its packaging sell the product to its intended audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Food Label Laws and Regulations<\/h2>\n

At the same time, various governments have enacted their own versions of food label sumptuary laws, enforcing and restricting certain language and images. Have you noticed that the photo of a bowl of cereal with milk and blueberries is always captioned \u201cserving suggestion<\/a>\u201d? That\u2019s so the package won\u2019t mislead a consumer into thinking that the dry chunks inside the box also come with milk and fresh berries.<\/p>\n

There are laws for food packaging about words and phrases that convey specific meanings, too. In the US, for example, \u201cfree-range<\/a>\u201d chicken means that the birds have some degree of access to the outdoors, and that they have at least two square feet of space per bird. Two square feet per bird might not be your or my idea of \u201cfree range,\u201d but that\u2019s the official meaning of the term.<\/p>\n

Companies are also required to include a set of nutrition facts, including calories, serving size, macronutrient content, added sugars, sodium, and a bunch of vitamins and minerals. They must also include a list of ingredients, ordered by weight.<\/p>\n

All these regulations mean there\u2019s a natural tension between the legal requirements and the marketing department\u2019s mandate to increase sales. Brands have to navigate that tension \u2014 to comply with regulations while still making their products appealing to consumers.<\/p>\n

Food Label Confusion<\/h3>\n

Unfortunately, there’s often a conflict between brand goals and having to comply with government regulations, resulting in food labels that are often confusing. Take, for example, the trend to label bottled water as gluten-free and non-GMO, a practice known as \u201clabeling what\u2019s absent<\/a>.\u201d While no water that I\u2019ve ever heard of has contained gluten (unless you just threw a slice of bread into a duck pond) or has been genetically modified, these terms still signal to consumers that the product is \u201cpure\u201d and \u201cnatural.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the many choices you might have, it\u2019s not always easy to figure out what the differences are between different foods and different brands of the same food.<\/p>\n

And especially in places where fresh produce \u2014 which doesn\u2019t need such labeling \u2014 is hard to access, it\u2019s all the more important that people become aware of what parts of the food label are saying true and important things, and which parts are just marketing fluff or even downright misleading.<\/p>\n

In this article, I\u2019ll show you how to read and decipher food labels \u2014 common words, seals, nutrition facts, and ingredient lists \u2014 to understand what you\u2019re really getting so you can make informed food choices.<\/p>\n

Why Are Food Labels Important?<\/h2>\n

Food labels exist as a public health measure, to provide important details about what you\u2019re about to put in your body.<\/strong> Details included on food labels are the nutritional composition of a food, as well as ingredients and their relative amounts. When relevant, they may also indicate important details about the food\u2019s quality, origin, processing, and method of preservation.<\/p>\n

With this information, the theory goes, you can make intentional decisions about what to buy. And hopefully, use that information to make safe and healthy choices<\/a>. Ideally, information about nutrition will reduce obesity and the accompanying burden of chronic lifestyle diseases linked to diet \u2014 including health care costs<\/a>, which tend to be borne disproportionately by historically marginalized communities.<\/p>\n

Food labels may also help you avoid common allergens<\/a> and expired food.<\/p>\n

The problem is, a food label is only as useful as the reader\u2019s ability to decipher the information it contains. To fully understand the Nutrition Facts portion of a label, for example, requires some basic knowledge of your nutritional needs. As well as instructions on what not<\/i> to pay attention to (I\u2019m looking at you, Kellogg\u2019s Frosted Flakes, when you claim<\/a> to be a \u201cGood Source of VITAMIN D\u201d).<\/p>\n

This trick has a name \u2014 greenwashing<\/a>. It\u2019s important to look closely at the different elements of food labels, so you\u2019ll know what to look for \u2014 and what to look out for \u2014 when you purchase packaged foods.<\/p>\n

Just a reminder before we dive in \u2014 some of the healthiest foods you can eat include fresh fruits and vegetables, which don\u2019t usually have much in the way of food labels. So one easy label \u201ccheat\u201d is to limit the amount of food, to the extent that you can, that requires a label in the first place.<\/p>\n

Front of Package Food Claims<\/h2>\n
\"Woman
iStock.com\/skynesher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Basically, the front of the package is the \u201cWild West\u201d of the food label. This is the part that consumers see first, and can most powerfully influence their purchase.<\/p>\n

One gimmick that food companies know increases sales is adding a meaningless health stamp or checkmark that implies the food within is good for you. When consumers rely on these images without also reading the Nutrition Facts label, along with the ingredients list, they can end up making unhealthy choices without even knowing it.<\/p>\n

Front of package claims may also include certifications about how a food was grown or produced. This can include words such as \u201cNatural<\/a>\u201d or \u201cNon-GMO\u201d \u2014 but without a certification seal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Food manufacturers can pick and choose here, displaying words or images that may highlight the appealing qualities of a food (such as \u201cmade with whole grains\u201d) while leaving out less favorable information (like also including refined grains, or being high in sodium, sugar, or saturated fat). In the United States, all front-of-package labels are voluntary, which allows food manufacturers to highlight or ignore nutrition information to help promote or preserve sales.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While food labels can throw around generic terms like \u201cnatural\u201d and \u201cpure\u201d with abandon, they\u2019re severely restricted in the health claims<\/a> they can make. Even though many studies suggest that green tea is a powerful cancer-fighting agent, for example, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforces a disclaimer<\/a> on any tea label that wants to talk about this benefit. The disclaimer reads: \u201cGreen tea may reduce the risk of breast or prostate cancer although the FDA has concluded that there is very little scientific evidence for this claim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the US, some countries have implemented warning labels<\/a> that can look like traffic lights or stop signs to highlight health-compromising ingredients, such as sugars and saturated fats in sweetened beverages and ultra-processed snacks.<\/p>\n

FDA Nutrient Content Claims<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s a list of common words that can be included on the packaging of food sold in the US as long as the food meets particular criteria as defined by the FDA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Note that other countries have their own rules, so if you don’t live in the US, different standards may apply. The European Union\u2019s version of this table can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Low-fat\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\nThere are no more than 3 grams of fat per serving. Fat is often replaced with sugar. Low-fat products are not necessarily healthy. They could, for example, be a combination of white flour and sugar.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reduced fat<\/b><\/td>\nContains at least 25% less fat than the \u201coriginal\u201d version of the product. This could be a step in the right direction, especially if the fats in the product are coming from fried foods, but it doesn\u2019t guarantee the product is healthy.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Low-sodium<\/b><\/td>\nLess than 140 mg of sodium<\/a> per serving. This can be a helpful target, especially if you are selecting a healthy product such as canned beans.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sodium-free or no sodium\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\nLess than 5 mg sodium per serving. This can be a helpful target if you are selecting a product that is otherwise healthy.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reduced sodium<\/b><\/td>\nAt least 25% less sodium than the regular or original product. If you reduce the sodium in a high sodium, highly processed food, it does not mean the product is suddenly a healthy (or even a low-sodium) choice. Reduced sodium chips may still be fried and (slightly less) salted slices of potato.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Low-carb<\/b><\/td>\nThere is not yet a specific requirement for this claim. It is often used for foods with less than 5\u201310% of calories from carbohydrates<\/a>. This typically means the product is mostly fat \u2014 and in processed foods, it is often highly processed fat.\u00a0It may also be high in chemicals, flavorings, and preservatives.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Low calorie<\/b><\/td>\nThe food must have a serving size of >30 g (1 ounce) and fewer than 40 calories<\/a> per serving. Low-calorie junk food is still junk food \u2014 often padded with a lot of air (like certain kinds of chips) or water (like sweetened drinks).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reduced-calorie<\/b><\/td>\nThe food must contain at least 25% fewer calories than the original version of the product. It could be a better option than the original \u2014 but if the original is not healthy, neither is the reduced-calorie version.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Light<\/b><\/td>\nThe product has 50% less fat than the original product. Again, the product is not necessarily healthy \u2014 it could be watered down, or the fat could have been replaced with sugar or nonnutritive fillers, to reduce caloric density.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Natural\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\nThis means that the food contains some components that are made from real food, like bananas or nuts, for example. This term does not guarantee a healthful product.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
No added sugar<\/b><\/td>\nThe product has no sugars added during processing and no ingredients that contain sugar (e.g., jam). This is generally a good thing, but it doesn\u2019t mean that the product is necessarily healthy. For example, a cracker made with white flour and partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil could carry this claim.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sugar-free<\/b><\/td>\nThe product contains less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gluten-free<\/b><\/td>\nGluten-free<\/a> means the product does not contain wheat, rye, barley, Kamut, spelt, triticale, or farro. For people with celiac or gluten sensitivity, this is important. But keep in mind that many gluten-free foods are highly processed and may contain refined gluten-free flours, unhealthy fats, added sugars, and salt.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vegan\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\nThis means the food does not contain animal products \u2014 which is good news for a lot of people who want to steer clear of meat and dairy. But keep in mind that there is plenty of \u201cvegan junk food,\u201d and that sugary soft drinks are vegan \u2014 so don\u2019t assume vegan equals healthy.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Trans fat-free<\/b><\/td>\nIn the United States, if a food has less than 0.5 grams of artificial trans fats in a serving, the food label can read 0 grams trans fats. Since 2018, all foods sold in the US have by law had to meet this designation. So putting it on the label means, effectively, nothing at all. But in reality, a product with a very small serving size could contain 0.4 grams of trans fats per serving. So if you ate 3 servings, you could still wind up theoretically having consumed 1.2 grams of trans fat that wouldn\u2019t show on the label.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Made with whole grains<\/b><\/td>\nThis means that at least one of the grains<\/a> used in the product is whole. But most of the grains could still be refined with a small amount of whole grain oats added, and the manufacturer could then say, \u201cmade with whole grains.\u201d So this claim doesn\u2019t necessarily mean much.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Multigrain<\/b><\/td>\nThis just tells you that a product is made with more than one type of grain. It doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that the grains are whole or healthy.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Growing Methods & Certification Labels<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In addition to the permissions allowed by government regulations, food companies can get many certifications for their products. Some, like the USDA organic appellation, are granted by governmental organizations, while others are managed by third parties.<\/p>\n

The problem is, anyone can create a certification for any purpose and ask food companies to pay to display it on their products.<\/strong> For example, if I wanted to (which I don\u2019t),<\/span> I could design an \u201cOcean Approved\u201d logo and charge frozen food manufacturers to put it on their boxes of frozen veggies. Therefore, it\u2019s useful to know some of the most important and reliable accrediting bodies and their logos to give you confidence in their oversight.<\/p>\n

Organic Certifications<\/h3>\n

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) certifies produce as organic<\/a> if it is grown without the use of prohibited substances, including most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides<\/a>. Organic products must also be free of bioengineered (i.e., GMO)<\/a> ingredients.<\/p>\n

The USDA isn\u2019t the only guarantor of organic purity. Oregon Tilth Certified Organic<\/a> and Certified CCOF Organic<\/a> are two popular third-party organic certifiers that have their own labels. These organic labels will sometimes appear on a package in addition to the USDA Certified Organic label, as long as the product meets the USDA organic labeling requirements. Both of these certifications are done by nonprofits.<\/p>\n

The largest third-party certifier is Quality Assurance International<\/a> (QAI), which is a for-profit corporation. Due perhaps to conflicts of interest<\/a> (food producers pay QAI for its certification), the company has certified many products that may not be truly organic.<\/p>\n

Whole Grains & Gluten-Free Certifications<\/h3>\n

Many consumers avoid gluten, either by choice or for medical necessity. That\u2019s where the Gluten-Free Certification Organization<\/a> (GFCO) comes in. The GFCO is a nonprofit that independently verifies that food products are sourced, processed, and packaged in facilities that are completely gluten-free. In addition to audits and paper trails, the GFCO tests products for traces of gluten.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a seal for those who can and do eat gluten-containing and gluten-free grains. <\/span>Choosing whole grain products over fractionated grains that are missing fiber and nutrients is an important part of a healthy diet. But food labeling rules make it easy for manufacturers to fudge whether a product contains 100% whole grains, using phrases like \u201ccontains whole grains\u201d (which can technically<\/a> mean, \u201cHey, there\u2019s a single groat of oat flour in this cracker\u201d) or \u201cmultigrain\u201d (which just means there\u2019s more than one kind of flour in the product). The Whole Grains Council offers a 100% Whole Grain certification<\/a> to help you quickly identify breads, rolls, crackers, and desserts that are truly made from whole grains.<\/p>\n

Pesticide & GMO-Free Certifications<\/h3>\n

The Non-GMO Project<\/a>, a nonprofit organization whose logo is an orange butterfly hovering over a green checkmark in the shape of two leaves, helps you avoid bioengineered ingredients in food.<\/p>\n

And the Detox Project<\/a> certification indicates that products are free from the world\u2019s most popular herbicide, glyphosate (sold under the trade name \u201cRoundup\u201d). Glyphosate<\/a> is a known endocrine disruptor and probable carcinogen, so it\u2019s probably a good thing to keep out of your food and your body. It’s also potentially responsible for significant environmental damage, including biodiversity loss<\/a> that can compromise the resilience of natural systems.<\/p>\n

Rather than oversee the entire supply chain, this nonprofit works with a laboratory that measures the amount of Roundup residue in foods \u2014 single ingredients sold to food manufacturers, and finished products for consumers.<\/p>\n

Ethical Food Labels<\/h3>\n

A Rainforest Alliance<\/a> certification signals that the product supports positive social, economic, and environmental stewardship. In addition to protecting rainforests from destruction, the alliance also focuses on human rights and fair wages for farmers and farmworkers.<\/p>\n

Fair Trade Certified<\/a> is another certification dedicated to ending poverty in the global food supply chain. It recognizes brands and products that price their products and share the profits to ensure a safety net for vulnerable farmers, which is especially significant when commodity prices plummet. Buying Fair Trade Certified food items generally means you\u2019re patronizing companies that forbid child labor and unsafe and unhealthy working conditions.<\/p>\n

And 1% for the Planet<\/a> is a certification that signifies the companies it recognizes are putting their money where their green marketing is by funneling at least 1% of their profits into environmental philanthropy.<\/p>\n

Dates on Food Packaging<\/h2>\n
\"\"
iStock.com\/nobtis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most foods on supermarket shelves have been processed in ways that extend their life spans: by killing things that can hasten spoilage (like bacteria), adding stabilizers and preservatives, and sealing them in airtight and watertight containers. While some of these items can remain viable for decades, their quality and safety can degrade over time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why food labels often include information about shelf life. But <\/span>packaging dates<\/a> have to do with quality, rather than making recommendations about food safety. <\/strong>These are rarely mandated by federal law (some US states institute their own requirements), and instead are typically determined by the food manufacturer. It makes good business sense, as there\u2019s more money to be made in products that expire and have to be replaced than in the saltines you can put by when the baby is born and break out at their college graduation (not that I recommend this custom, but you get the idea).<\/p>\n

Sell by, Use by, and Best by Dates<\/span><\/h3>\n

To keep things confusing, there are three different dates commonly included on food labels:<\/p>\n