Do You Read Food Labels?

How often do you look at food labels when you shop? There's a lot of good information there, although I have to admit some parts of the Nutrition Facts labels can be a bit tricky if you're not careful. Like servings per container. Look at a can of condensed soup - there's probably two or three servings there and not just one, so if you eat the whole thing you've got to double or triple the calories, sodium, or fat when you keep track of them.

Even if it isn't perfect, it's still a good idea to look for the Nutrition Facts labels before you buy something. Especially if there's some impressive looking claim made on the front of the package. Some of those claims made by the manufacturers can be a little sneaky, or at least that's my opinion of them. Like cereal or bread packages that boldly proclaim how many grams of whole grains are found in each serving of the product. Seems to me they're hoping you'll think that means the product is either 100-percent whole grain (it probably isn't or it would make that claim instead) or maybe you'll think that's how many grams of fiber is in a serving of the product - it isn't, it's probably much less. Food labels may also claim they're low-calorie or reduced sodium. It's okay for them to use those claims as long as they're, but words like "reduced" or "low" aren't all that specific - you still need to look at the labels to see what you're consuming.

Need help? Here's how to read Nutrition Facts labels.