Food Label Gotchas

If you’re trying to eat healthy, you most likely look at food labels to make sure you aren’t overloading on trans fats, cholesterol and calories.  But it takes more than a glance at the nutritional information to get the entire picture.  Here are some of the ways food labels can be deceptive.

Number of servings: The other night I had Trader Joe’s Butter Chicken. I glanced at the calories and it said 270, which is reasonable for a frozen dinner. But wait, something’s wrong. This dinner is at least one-third bigger than some of the other dinners I enjoy. Looking more carefully, the label said the dinner  had 1.5 servings.  I could see if it had two servings, you would split the dinner, but 1.5 servings? What would I do with the other ½ serving? I ate if, of course!

Many food packages that appear to be for one person have more than one serving.  Snack foods such as trail mix or nuts frequently have multiple servings per package. So watch out! You could be eating two or three times more calories than you expected.

Trans fats: Many labels say ‘contains no trans fat.’ But manufacturers can say that a food has no trans fats if it contains less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving. If the food contains .5 grams of fat per serving and you eat four servings, you’d get 2 grams of trans fats. You’d also get 2 grams of trans fat if during the day you ate four different foods, each with .5 grams of trans fats. While there is no agreement on how much trans fat you can eat, many health specialists say trans fat in any amount cannot be safely consumed, especially if you are at risk for high cholesterol, heart disease or stroke.

So how do you avoid trans fats?  If the ingredient list contains partially hydrogenated oil, or shortening, the food has trans fats. Surprisingly, fully hydrogenated oil does not contain trans fats.³ But if the label simply says hydrogenated oil, it’s best to assume it has trans fats.

You should also be aware that trans fats are in the oils many restaurants use for frying. A Mayo Clinic article points out that a large serving of French fries could contain as much as 5 grams of trans fat.

How to avoid the Gotchas:

1. Check the serving size – I do sometimes buy snacks like peanuts or trail mix that have more than one serving, but try to eat only one serving and clip the package and hide them in my drawer for the next day.
2. Read the ingredients list – Avoid foods with hydrogenated oils. Some people say to avoid foods where high fructose corn syrup is one of the first three ingredients or to avoid it altogether. Many health specialists say to avoid foods with ingredients you don’t recognize because they are chemicals. Remember the Breyers Ice Cream commercial, “our ice cream contains only milk, strawberries and cream.  Other ice cream labels contain ingredients you can't pronounce like carrageenen.  Carrageenen, ooh, that’s glue!”

So read those labels carefully.  You may be getting more than you bargained for.

Side note:  In blog post When Did I Get Fat, Gal Josefsberg plots his weight against life events and concludes that Life Matters. He says “We like to think that health is about eating and exercise but health is about much more than that.  Health is about how you feel and what your life is like.  Changes in your health don’t just happen, they usually involve some kind of major life change.  That corollary to this is, if you want to make a change in your health, you’ll need to make a change in your life.”  Read the entire article. I loved it!

References

1. Eng, Monica. "Girl Scout Cookies and Other Sweets Offer Confusing Labeling on Trans Fats - Chicago Tribune." Featured Articles From The Chicago Tribune. 25 Jan. 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
2. Gurd, Vreni. "Deceptive Food Labels | Trusted.MD Network." Trusted.MD Network | Empowering Healthcare Relationships. 27 Jan. 2007. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
3. Mayo Clinic Staff , Trans Fat Is Double Trouble for Your Heart Health. Mayo Clinic. Web.  
4. Van Dusen, Allison. "Nine Ways Food Labels Mislead - Forbes.com." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. Forbes Magazine, 29 July 2008. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
5. Wright, Brierley. "Health | Eating Well." Healthy Recipes, Healthy Eating, Healthy Cooking | Eating Well." Eating Well, 5 Mar. 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.