• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Biomanantial

Slimming, Beauty, Medicinal Plants

Main Navigation

Biomanantial

What would you like to find?
Browse by categories
  • Dietetics
    • Edible seaweed
    • Lose weight
    • Healthy Food
    • Diets
    • Syrup sap diet
    • Dietary
    • Vegetarian
    • Macrobiotic Food
  • Health
    • Pregnancy & Parenting
    • Fitoterapia
    • Herb teas
    • Manual therapy
    • Nature Centers
    • Alternative Therapies
    • Chinese Medicine
  • Beauty
    • Hair Care
    • Facial Care
    • Skin
    • Natural Cosmetics
    • Chest, Legs and Buttocks
  • Personal Development
    • Emotional Intelligence
    • Stress and Anxiety
    • Dating and Love
  • Organic Farming
    • Organic Nutrition
    • Natural Life
    • Environment
    • Transgenics
  • Sports nutrition
    • Burn Fat
    • Supplementation
    • Training and Exercises
  • Recipes & Cooking
    • Food Therapy
    • Seaweed Recipes
    • Soya recipes
    • Fruit recipes
    • Recipes with vegetables
    • Recipes with Grains
    • World Cuisine
  • Biomanantial from A to Z
  • All topics

How to read food labels

How to read food labels
  • Manifesto of the Platform for the Defense of Natural Health
  • What is Organic Agriculture?

Published: 09/19/2012 - Updated: 02/17/2018

Author: Miriam Reyes

Walk into any supermarket and you will find lots of packaged foods, endowed with information that tells us how healthy they are. From "fat free" to "natural", and of course there are some who mention that they "help your immune system". Today, the product labels can give the appearance of good nutrition, but the reality is a bit more complicated.

Unlike the Nutrition Facts panel, which is jealously regulated, the label on the front of the package does not have much control. In addition, food companies tend to exaggerate the properties of food, making a product look like something miraculous.
 
Although the labels mention the properties of food, we as consumers can learn how to really understand what they say, and prevent bad products.

Contents

  • No fat, sugar or salt
  • Low fat, low sugar or low salt
  • No Trans Fats
  • Health Claims

No fat, sugar or salt

When a food is labeled as free of salt, sugar or fat, they do not have any or contain an insignificant amount. If the package says "no calorie", then you probably have less than 5 calories per serving. For sugar or fat, this means that the food has less than 0.5 grams per serving. But beware, a food might say "fat free", and yet may contain a lot of calories in sugar. If you are watching your weight, you should also look at the total calories.

Low fat, low sugar or low salt

If a product is labeled low in a particular item, it means you can eat several servings without exceeding the recommended daily limit. Low fat products have less than 3 grams of fat per serving.
Those who claim to be low in saturated fat means they have less than 1 gram per serving. Low sodium means the food has 140 milligrams or less per serving, and "low cholesterol" means it has 20 mg. or less and less than 2 grams of saturated fat. Low calorie products have less than 40 calories per serving, but they are not free of calories.

No Trans Fats

Even if the label of a package says "trans fat free", beware. Products bearing this label may still have up to half a gram of trans fat per serving, if you eat a lot of rations, that would be bad. Trans fats are a type of unsaturated fats that raise LDL cholesterol (bad) and increases the risk of heart disease. Because of these health hazards, trans fats have been banned or restricted in many countries.

Health Claims

Some products state on their labels that have healthy properties, though they must be substantiated by scientific studies. However, there is little control over the data that a food claims to do in your body and functions.
As in the following example, if a label indicates that a food "may help reduce the risk of heart disease" would require a study to demonstrate its effectiveness and impact, while "helps maintain a healthy heart" would not.

We should not get carried away by these properties that mention front labels, as they are all quite misleading. If we have any doubt of how a food will help us to improve our health, it is best to check their properties in other sources, more accurate and scientific, since it may be a marketing strategy to attract consumers who are concerned about their health.

1 estrella2 estrellas3 estrellas4 estrellas5 estrellas

(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)

Loading...

About the author

By Miriam Reyes

Miriam Reyes is a professional expert in nutrition and dietetics. She has more than 12 years of experience in caring for patients with overweight and eating problems. She studied at the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac (UNIVA), where she obtained a degree in nutrition. Linkedin profile.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie policy

You may also be interested

  • Tofu Recipes Tofu Recipes Tofu is made by curdling soymilk, which is also known by the name of tofu. [...]
  • Azukis Recipes Azukis Recipes The adukis or azukis are a type of reddish legume typical of Japanese macrobiotic diet [...]
  • tepezcohuite-1 tepezcohuite-1 Tepezcohuite or Tepescohuite is traditionally known as "skin tree". Toast of Tepezcohuite bark was used by [...]

You are here: Biomanantial » Dietetics » Healthy Food » How to read food labels

All about Healthy Food

  • Rice: Intestinal Regulatory, Cardiovascular Health, Cancer Prevention and more Rice: Intestinal Regulatory, Cardiovascular Health, Cancer Prevention and more Nutritious and healthy, it is rich in carbohydrates and vitamins of group B. For its [...]
  • The power of Whole Grains The power of Whole Grains Whole grains like brown rice, wheat, oats and rye integral not only taste delicious but [...]
  • Soybean: Textured vegetable protein, Tofu and more Soybean: Textured vegetable protein, Tofu and more Soybean or soy plant is the seed of the leguminous soybean plant. Soybeans and derivatives [...]
  • Kefir: how to do it , conservation and more Kefir: how to do it , conservation and more Originally from Caucasus, kefir is a type of water-alcohol fermentation of milk. The longevity of [...]
  • Cereals Cereals Most of us are aware that we consume more cereal. We are accustomed to seeing [...]

Copyright © 2023 · Biomanantial
   
Disclaimer  About Us  Cookies Policy  Privacy policy  Contact  Topics
RIVAS INTERNET S.L. CIF: ESB86492501 Travesía Fortuny, 2. 28300 Aranjuez. Spain.
The services, content and products on our website are for informational purposes only. Biomanantial does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment