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Label Reading Primer

Food labels can be extremely helpful when it comes to decoding what’s under the hood of a packaged food. Here’s how to make sense of what you see in the context of an approach to healthy eating that’s based on no calorie counting, an emphasis on healthy and nourishing foods, and a shift away from sugars and simple carbs. 

Serving size: This tells you the size of serving that the information on the label is referring to. Some packages contain more than one serving, so make sure you’re taking this into account (measure if you have to).

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are listed in grams per serving and are the sum of sugar, starch, and dietary fiber.

Sugar: Sugar is listed in grams per serving. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 25 grams of sugar per day for women, and no more than 38 grams per day for men. Yet the average American typically eats about 82 grams per day—so there’s a LOT of room for improvement! Ideally, you want to stick to foods that contain less than 5 grams per serving (especially if it’s a sauce or condiment, which can often be packed with sugar). A quick rule of thumb for recognizing when a food is way off base for sugar is if it’s higher than 10 grams per serving (a typical can of soda, for the record, contains about 39 grams. Flavored yogurt is another big culprit with many brands hovering around 26 grams). 

Fats: For trans-fats, if this is anything >0, that means it’s processed (do not pass go!). Contrary to popular belief, saturated fats are actually good in moderation. Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats can and should be consumed with each meal. Don’t worry so much about the specific number of grams.

Protein: Protein is listed in grams per serving. Try to make sure any packaged food you eat contains protein.

Nutrients: It’s useful to check out nutrients such as calcium or vitamin D, which are labeled as a % of daily intake. If something is totally free from nutrients AND has a lot of sugar and/or unfamiliar ingredients, you can bet that it’s processed and unhealthy. However, keep in mind that a lot of processed foods will add nutrients back in (these are called “fortified” foods), so your safest bet is always to look at ingredients and sugar.

% Daily Value: You will see this listed next to each item on a food label. The % daily value of an item is based on a 2000 calorie diet and is not something you need to pay attention to.

Ingredients: Here are some tips from our first food class to help you interpret what you see on this list.

  • Refined flour—found in white bread and many packaged foods like cakes, crackers, and cookies—is highly processed. Processing grains into flour removes most of the grain that contains nutrients such as fiber and protein. This leads to quick digestion and spikes in blood sugar that can (over time) increase your risk for type 2 diabetes. Additionally, many unhealthy and harmful ingredients are added back to increase the shelf life of the food. Throughout the Calibrate program, we’ll be referring to refined flour and white bread as “refined grains.”
  • While all flour is in some way refined, there’s a difference among products made from 100% whole grain and white flour. “Whole grain” includes the entire grain kernel and offers some nutritional value including fiber and some vitamins and minerals (“whole wheat” is the same as 100% whole grain; the whole grains are just all wheat). “White flour,” again, is refined and stripped of fiber and vitamins. Importantly, while “multigrain” may sound healthy, it actually just means that the food contains more than one type of grain and those grains can be whole or white. In the program, we’ll be calling whole grain and whole wheat products "processed whole grains.”
  • Manufacturers list ingredients from most abundant to least. This means that the first ingredient is what they used the most of. If the first three ingredients contain a type of refined grain (white flour), added sugar (including high fructose corn syrup, cane juice, dextrose, rice syrup, and sucrose), or hydrogenated oil, then avoid this food. Likewise if “trans fat” is anywhere on the list.
  • Another easy rule of thumb is to avoid anything with ingredients that you don’t recognize or couldn’t buy separately in a store. The more ingredients like this there are, the worse the food probably is for you. 
  • Finally, stay away from anything fried (especially “deep fried”). Fried foods often contain trans fats, which are harmful for your health and can increase your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.