I found this article which goes into detail about how to properly read a food label. There is even a chart that goes into how to interpret "FDA lingo" such as 'fat-free', 'less fat', 'lean', 'high-fiber' and others.
From my standpoint, I had believed that I understood how food labels were to be read and interpreted and what each item had on my overall health status. I feel that by enabling the Harlem community (both children and adults) we can lower the incidence and prevalence rates of food associated illnesses.
Here are some interesting facts that I learned by reading the article.
- In 1990 the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act went into effect and required that the common name of the product, net content in terms of weight, measure, or count, ingredients list, and serving size.
- Ingredients are listed based on their predominance in the foo product.
- The nutrition facts are based on one serving, so you have to locate on the label how many servings are in that particular product.
- And here is a conversion: 1 gr. fat = 9 calories
1 gr. protein = 4 calories
1 gr. carbohydrate = 4 calories
1 gr. alcohol = 7 calories
I had no idea that the ingredients were listed in order of abundance in the item. It will be interesting to see where the ingredients associated with cancer will be listed in the series of ingredients.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Now that I think about it, we should incorporate the "FDA lingo" into our healthy living guide. This would be valuable information to people who are trying to live a healthier lifestyle.
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