One of my favorite things to do in Chicago was grocery shop. My husband and kids thought I was crazy and wasting money. I can spend hours in a grocery store that is clean, large and not crowded. I hope I find one of those near where I live.
Anyways, I love reading food labels. I enjoy finding food products that are healthy and have less preservatives and added sugars so I can substitute them for products that a have a whole list of ingredients that can harm my health. We have so many choices in the grocery store, that it can take ages to accomplish this.
Teaching nutrition for over 20 years, I have realized that learning how to read a food label should be a requirement once kids learn to read. Every single person, should know what they are putting in their body, especially if its packaged.
The Food and Drug Administration or FDA are responsible for the regulation of the food labels in this country, and they do a pretty good job with the basics. The latest addition of separating natural sugar from added sugars is great as its so important for us to know how much sugar is added to the product. Natural sugars are the sugars found naturally in the food, like the sugar found in fruits and milk.
The food label can sometimes be misleading too and last Tuesday after going to a talk at the Hunter College New York Food Policy Center , I decided to talk about the word “Natural”. “Natural” as defined by the FDA, means the food contains no added colors, artificial flavors or synthetic substances.
Foods that say “natural” can still have added sugar, pesticides and a host of other ingredients that you have never ever heard off. Foods that say “natural” are not necessarily foods that are good for your health.
Try not to only read the front of a package, read the Nutrition Facts Panel at the back and read the ingredients. If a food has a lot of ingredients you have never heard off, then think twice before putting it in your cart.
We all have our favorite foods and its not easy to change, but educating ourselves is very important.