How To Read Supermarket Labels

With so many foods and drinks trying to pass themselves off as “healthy” these days, it can be hard to distinguish the good from the bad in the supermarket.

“Bad” foods would include those that contain multiple “junk” or “fake” ingredients, deceptive health claims or very misleading information on the packaging or box.

Take yogurt, for example. Yogurt gets high acclaim for its health benefits. Typically high in calcium and protein, yogurt can be an excellent snack or meal choice for most kids.Unfortunately, many yogurts today are high in sugar, and some contain more sugar than ice cream! For instance, on Breyers YoCrunch Cookies n’ Cream Yogurt, the ingredient list reads like a novel with shocking findings such as: modified food starch, enriched flour (really!), high fructose corn syrup, vanillin (an artificial flavor) and the word “sugar” 2 more times.This sounds more like food science than breakfast!

And, it’s not only conventional brands that are to blame - even some organic brands can be cause for concern. Stonyfield Farms is a wonderful brand, with lots of great, healthy and organic choices. However, some of their items are notoriously high in sugar.

Their 6oz Vanilla Truffle has 210 calories, 5 grams of fat and 33 grams of sugar per serving! To put this in perspective, Stonyfield’s Oikos brand of vanilla-flavored Greek Yogurt has just 110 calories and 11 grams of sugar. It has all the taste and flavor, but leaves lots of harmful added sugar behind.

Food manufacturers go to great lengths to emphasize their “healthy” ingredients, which can sometimes be misleading to consumers. Terms and phrases like “antioxidants”, “whole grains”, “Zero Grams Trans Fat”, and “heart healthy” are all examples of the jargon used to entice shoppers. Here’s a good tip: Avoid reading the advertising jargon on the front of the packaging and go straight to the nutrition label. Even items that tout “Zero Trans Fats” may contain up to 0.5g of trans fats per serving! That’s right, the FDA allows this loophole! (And there is NO amount of trans fats that are considered healthy in our diet.) Also, remember that ingredients are listed in order of amounts used in the item, so avoid products with ingredients such as sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or enriched flour at the top.

Bottom line: Read the ingredients list, especially on packaged or processed foods, and opt for those items made with real, whole foods (with words you can pronounce!). Scan the nutritional label too, keeping an eye out for serving sizes. Or better yet, skip the packaged foods and head to the produce section - it’s easy to find wholesome ingredients!