Food Labels 101: Food and Nutrition Guidelines According to the FDA.

If you’ve been on the internet lately, you have likely stumbled on content with food related buzzwords including “raw milk,” “pasteurized,” “grass-fed,” “free-range” and much more. This jargon is enough to leave you spinning, trying to understand how best to manage your diet. While there’s heavy debate concerning whether these words mean anything or if they’re simply marketing tactics, a significant step towards getting your nutrition right involves being able to read a nutrition label. 

Today, Adaaba hopes to provide an introduction to demystifying these words, a sort of Food 101. Looking to the U.S. specifically, we’re going to start by explaining the Nutrition Label, a useful tool created and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration aka, the FDA. 

Sample Nutrition Label, FDA.Gov

What is a Nutrition Label?

In essence, a food label is a brief content guide on processed and packaged for consumers. 

What Are the Sections of a Food Label?

Calories: a calorie can be loosely described as the unit of energy relevant to nutrition. According to the Mayo Clinic, a rough guide to estimating calories is; 40 calories is low, 100 calories is moderate, 400 calories or more is high.

Serving Sizes: a serving size reflects the amount of food that the governing body, in this case, the FDA, estimates that a regular person will eat. Use this a guide for your nutrition, for example, if you were to eat 2 serving sizes, you would double the calories.

Nutrients: nutrients are chemical compounds (including but not limited to: protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamin, or minerals) that are contained in foods. 

Common Nutrients: when evaluating a food, health experts recommend that you  take a wholistic approach to ensure you are getting a variety of nutrients per day. Nutrients are not a one size- fits all though, and depending on your age, gender, geographic location and daily occupation,  your dosage and specific needs may vary. More information can be found using the United States Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines.  On the whole, Experts agree its best to try to include these as a part of your daily diet:

• Protein: this supports everything, from your cells to bones to skin, hair, and muscles.

• Carbohydrates: these are key energy  sources for fueling your body and maintaining healthy blood sugar levels.

• Fats: are compounds that help your body absorb key vitamins and minerals. Contrary to what many think, fats are essential parts of our diets. 

• Minerals: these are compounds  which contribute to “the optimal function of the immune system” and contribute to “adaptive immune defense.” General guidelines  from Harvard Health include:

  • Calcium; about 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams (mg) per day,

  • Potassium about 4,700 mg per day,

  • Dietary fiber at least 28 grams (g) per day, and,

  • Vitamin D between 600 to 800 international units (IU) per day.

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The Ingredient List: the rule of thumb when it comes to ingredients is to go for products with less ingredients, rather than more. The industry standard also dictates that ingredients are listed in descending order based on their weight and or concentration in the food.  

Expiration Dates: an expiration date, often called a date of expiry, is a date which defines the end of the efficacy of a food product. This is often listed separately on a product, but its important to adhere to these guidelines, as the agents which preserve foods start to be less potent leading to rotting food.

Food labels are a handy invention can are typically the first step to take when considering how to take control of your diet. Try to keep in mind that the information they provide is definitely not entirely summarized in this list, you could take it a step further by finding more information at Nutrition Source.