Label Lingo

Healthy You is Growing!

3,323 or 55%
Staff are engaged on RedBrick Health

2,446 or 40%
Staff will receive the 1st quarter Healthy You Bonus

1,865 or 30%
Staff enrolled in the No Excuses Challenge

1,000+ 16%
Staff are attending wellness webinars like these

Goals for Today

What are the key components of a food label?
How do you interpret what they all mean?
How can you actually use the information to make
healthier choices?
What are we doing to help improve labeling?

Why Read the Label?

Helpful if trying to manage weight

Find info on how much saturated fat, cholesterol,
fiber and other nutrients of major health concern
% Daily Values can help you see how a food fits
into your overall daily diet
Helpful to compare products
Important info for those with food allergies

48%

The Nutrition Facts Label

Informs you what and how
many nutrients are in a food,
drink, or dietary supplement.
Foods exempt from this label
include:
foods in very small
packages
foods prepared in the
store
foods made by small
manufacturers

Information That Must Appear on

Nutrition Facts Label

Total calories

Dietary fiber

Calories from fat

Sugars

Total fat

Protein

Saturated fat

Vitamin A

Cholesterol

Vitamin C

Sodium

Calcium

Total carbohydrate

Iron

Serving Size

Serving size tells you the

measurement of one
serving.
All nutrients on the label
are based on this
amount.
Servings per container
tells you how many
servings are in the
package.
This package contains 2

Calories

Calories (and all

nutrients) listed are for
ONE SERVING.
So if you ate the entire
packaged, you would eat
500 calories.

% Daily Value

% Daily Values are based on

amounts of nutrients you
should get each day.
These tell you what
percentage of a nutrient that
one serving provides.
The mac and cheese label
shows that one serving
provides 20% of the daily
recommended amount of
calcium.
This means you still need
another 80% more calcium for

Daily Values
Percentages are based on:

2,000 calorie diet

30% calories from fat

10% saturated fat

<300 mg cholesterol

<2400 mg sodium

At least 60% calories from cho

25-30 grams of fiber

5% DV or less is Low
Limit
these
Nutrients
Get
Enough
of these
Nutrients

20% DV or more is
High

No % Daily Value
Trans Fat
Sugars
Protein

Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium

Tells you total grams
of fat, and number of
calories from fat.
Breaks down
saturated and trans
fat.
Tells you total mg of
cholesterol and of
sodium.

Total Carbohydrates

Includes fiber, sugar,

starches
Does not currently
distinguish between
added sugar and natural
sugar (like the sugar
found in dairy products
or in fruit).

Protein

Vitamins and Minerals

Tells you the percent
daily value for these
nutrients of
concern.
Only required to list
these four
May choose to list
others (Vitamin D)

The Footnote

Tells you that all of the

daily values come from a
recommended 2,000
calorie meal plan.
Some labels also include
information based on a
2,500 calorie diet.
Your nutritional needs
may be higher or lower
than what is
recommended.

So What Can We Say About Mac n

Cheese?

good source of calcium

moderate amount of calories
low in cholesterol

about 1/2 of calories from fat

high in sodium
low in vitamins
no fiber

INGREDIENT List

Tells you what is in your

food.
The ingredients appear in
descending order by
weight.
For this example, sugar is
listed first. This means
there is more sugar than
any other ingredient.

Added Sugar

Americans consume about 20 tsp added sugars per

day
AHA recommends no more than 9 tsp for man and 6
tsp for women
Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added
to foods during processing or preparation
Added sugars do not include naturally occurring
sugars such as those in milk and fruit

23

Got Added Sugar?

Brown sugar
Corn sweetener
Corn syrup
Dextrose
Fructose
Fruit juice concentrates
Glucose
High fructose corn syrup
Honey

Invert Sugar
Lactose
Maltose
Malt syrup
Molasses
Raw sugar
Sucrose
Sugar
Syrup

24

How Can You Tell From Label Whats

Added and Whats Naturally
Occurring?
Food label just lists grams of sugars
Consider the product
Look at ingredient list
Grams of sugar 4 = tsp of sugar in one
serving

25

Read the Nutrition Facts Label For Total

Sugars
Plain Yogurt

Fruit Yogurt

Look at the Ingredient List

Plain Yogurt
INGREDIENTS: CULTURED PASTEURIZED GRADE A NONFAT MILK, WHEY
PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, PECTIN, CARRAGEENAN.

Fruit Yogurt
INGREDIENTS: CULTURED GRADE A REDUCED FAT MILK, APPLES, HIGH
FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CINNAMON, NUTMEG, NATURAL FLAVORS, AND
PECTIN. CONTAINS ACTIVE YOGURT AND L. ACIDOPHILUS CULTURES

 cup
15 grams sugar
1 tablespoon plus tsp

Sugar Alcohols

A type of reduced-calorie sweetener

Ice creams, cookies, puddings, candies and chewing gum
that is labeled as "sugar-free" or "no sugar added.
Lactitol
Maltitol
Mannitol
Sorbitol
Xylitol

Whole Grains
Whole" should appear as the first
ingredient, whether whole wheat, oats,
rye, or another grain.
Look for at least three grams of fiber per
serving
Each day, shoot for half of your grains to
be whole grains
7 Grain, Multi-Grain, Wheat may be whole
grain, but frequently not.

Trans Fats

Labeled under Total Fat

A processed fat that is added to many packaged
foods to increase shelf-life (small amounts occur
naturally in meat and dairy products)
Found in fried foods like doughnuts, and baked
goods including cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen
pizza, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines
and other spreads
Increase risk of heart disease
A product can have up to .5 gram trans fat per
serving, but still be labeled 0 grams

Read the Ingredient List

A product can have up to .5 gram trans fat per

serving, but still be labeled 0 grams
If you eat many packaged foods throughout the
day, you can eat a high amount of trans fats
without realizing it
Trans fats are created by taking vegetable oil and
adding hydrogen to it
If you read the ingredient list and see partially
hydrogenated oil, there are trans fats in the
product

Organic
100% Organic
Only organically-produced ingredients and processing
aids
Specific processing methods
Specific nutritional labeling
Organic
95% organically produced ingredients
Specific processing methods
Specific nutritional labeling
Made with Organic Ingredients
At least 70% organic ingredients
Specific ingredients noted
Specific processing methods

Genetically-Modified Organisms
(GMOs)

Genetically modified foods are made by adding genes from other plants or

organisms to increase a plants resistance to insects; slow spoilage; or

improve flavor, nutrient content, or other desired qualities.
In the United States, most soybeans and corn are grown from seeds that
have been modified to resist herbicides, and in the case of corn, to make
a natural insecticide.
Concerns have been raised about the safety of using genetically modified
seeds.
There is no proof at this time that the genetically modified foods that are
now on the market are harmful to human health or that they would either
increase or decrease cancer risk because of the added genes.
Because these foods have been around for a fairly short time, the possible
long-term health effects are not known.
Examples of genetically modified foods approved for sale in the United
States include varieties of carrots, corn, tomatoes, and soy.
Three states have passed GMO labeling bills, but none are currently in
effect.

No Nitrites or Nitrates Added,

Nitrate-Free

Sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate are manufactured and

used as preservatives to keep meat that bright red color and help
prevent bacterial growth.
Some leafy vegetables (celery) contain naturally-occurring
nitrates/nitrites
Celery powder/juice frequently added to take the place of
manufactured nitrites/nitrates
Able to be labeled as above

Bottom line: limit processed meats!

What Else is on a Package

Label?

Food Allergens

Approximately 2% of
adults and about 5% of
infants and young
children in the U.S.
suffer from food
allergies.
Each year, roughly
30,000 individuals
require emergency
room treatment and
150 individuals die
because of allergic
reactions to food.

Top 8 Major Food Allergens

Milk
Produ
cts

Shell
fish

Fish

Soy

Pean
uts

Eggs

Whea
t

Tree
Nuts

Nutrient Content Claims

Nutrient content claims characterize the level of

a nutrient in a serving of food.
To make this type of claim, a food product must
contain a FDA-designated amount of the nutrient
per reference amount (or standard serving size).
Excellent source of calcium, Low cholesterol
and Less sugar.

 Reduced 25% less than original

Free less than .5 gram per serving
Low calorie 40 calories or less per
serving
Light or lite one-third fewer calories
Lowfat 3 grams or less per serving
Low sodium no more than 140
milligrams of sodium per serving

Natural

Term regulated by FDA on food

labels, except for meat and poultry
(regulated by USDA)
Vaguely defined: does not contain
synthetic or artificial ingredients
Not verified food companies can
decide when to use the term
Any meat labeled with the word
natural is required to be
minimally processed without
adding artificial ingredients, such
as flavors, colors and

Front of Package Marketing

What Are We Doing

to Improve
Nutrition Labeling?