“all natural”  “no salt added” “made with real fruit”

We often rely on food labels to make healthier choices, however, these can be misleading. An important food skill is to not only to be able to understand the nutrition facts table, but to be aware of the ingredient list as well. The ingredient list tells the consumer what exactly is in the product.

INGREDIENT LIST 

  • Ingredients are listed in descending order of weight within the item, therefore the main ingredients are listed first.
  • The ingredient list can be located under the  nutrition fact table, at the side or back of the package.

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 ****Watch out for hidden ingredients****  

Companies can be sneaky and use alternative names for fat, sugar, and sodium.

 

ingredients

 

Watch out for these other names:

 

FAT

  • Lard
  • Vegetable oils
  • Palm oil
  • Hydrogenated fats and oils
  • Diglycerides
  • Shortening
  • Partially hydrogenated oil
  • Coconut oil
  • Suet

SUGAR 

  • Lactose
  • Cane juice extract
  • High fructose syrup
  • Maple syrup
  • Honey
  • Maltodextrin
  • Molasses
  • Invert sugar
  • Fructose
  • Glucose
  • Maple syrup

Note: most likely than not, words ending in “ose” are sugars

 SODIUM

  • Garlic salt
  • Sodium alginate
  • Soy sauce
  • Sodium phosphate
  • Sodium nitrate
  • Sodium bisulfate
  • Salary salt
  •  Monosodium glutamate(MSG)
  • Sodium bicarbonate

don’t forget the healthiest foods have no labels! Stock up on fruits and veggies.

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