Grocery shopping is becoming unusually complicated.
Consumers are already inundated by the countless number of products that line the shelves, but what overwhelms some even more are those baffling black-and-white labels typically displayed on the back of packages.
They’re jumbled with numbers and words we can’t pronounce. (What is disodium inosinate, anyway?) And dissecting them can sometimes feel like we’re back in school, trying to figure out an advanced math problem.
While it’s true that at times labels seem almost impossible to read, they are important because they help us learn more about what we’re feeding our bodies.
We just have to take the time to educate ourselves, says Brenda Marty-Jimenez, a University of Florida family and consumer sciences extension agent (provides educational programming for UF/IFAS Extension Broward County).
Today’s society is focused on getting things done quickly, and grocery shopping tends to be one of the errands that is rushed. Many of us go in and out of stores in mere minutes, while others don’t even shop anymore, paying someone to do it for them instead.
Marty-Jimenez says shoppers simply need to slow down.
“We are a fast-paced society and people are constantly on the go,” she says. “With the increase in online shopping, the consumer has someone else purchase items without looking at the nutrition facts panel. Many busy people don’t take the time to look.”
Those customers who do decide to check out the label usually notice serving size and calories first. Both are at the top and are usually highlighted in bold, large font. Calories for the amount of one serving of food are also listed, but Marty-Jimenz says that it is important to know that the serving size isn’t set in stone.
“Serving sizes have been updated to list amounts that more accurately reflect what consumers realistically eat,” she says. “Serving size is not a recommendation for everyone about how much to eat, but rather a reference point.”
Some health experts believe today’s serving sizes should be reduced because the obesity rate in the United States is soaring.
According to Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit health policy advocacy organization, 41.9% of adults are obese. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by 2022, 22 states had an adult obesity rate at or above 35%.
A decade ago, not one state had an obesity rate that high. According to a U.S. Gallup poll in 2013, 27.1% of adults were obese in 2013.
Perhaps one reason for the rising obesity rate is the descriptions that adorn the packages. When shoppers see terms like “fat-free,” “sugar-free” and “calorie-free” or “reduced fat,” “reduced calorie” and “reduced sodium,” they tend to believe that those foods won’t cause weight gain.
According to The National Institute on Aging (NIA), the products labeled “free” or “reduced” have at least 25% of that particular item removed (salt, fat, calories). Oftentimes we end up eating more of those foods because we think they are better for us, however, eating more means consuming additional calories, which means you’re more likely to gain weight.
Products with the word “light” on the package are also ones to be mindful of. Food touted as “light” means that it’s been created with a reduction in calories or fat. The NIA says that some of the time, manufacturers will replace those things with other ingredients that may not be the best for you, so it’s yet another reason why shoppers should check food labels.
The number of ingredients in a food item is also important.
Ideally, most of our meals should contain whole foods and not processed foods like chips, sugary drinks and frozen meals. The higher number of ingredients listed on a nutrition label, the more processed the food product is. So, a simple tip is to eat foods with a minimal number of ingredients.
But if you do find yourself craving a food with multiple ingredients listed, health experts recommend focusing on the first three.
Ingredients are placed in order of quantity, which means the first few mentioned have been used the most. If the first three ingredients are butter, sugar and cream, for example, then that particular food is made up of mostly those three things.
Besides the ingredients list, shoppers should also look at the percent daily value which shows how much of the nutrient the consumer will get in one serving of food.
Abbey Thiel, a food scientist and YouTuber in Indiana who runs the blog, “Abbey the Food Scientist,” says a quick comparison of the percent daily value of two similar items, for example, can show you which one is better for you. In general, she says, 5% or less of a daily value means the food is considered low in that nutrient, while 20% of a daily value or more is considered high.
“Depending on the nutrient, high or low values can be good,” Thiel says. “For example, with vitamins and minerals, you want to see high values, but with saturated fat, you want to choose low values.”
Do you eat a lot of packaged foods? If you do, Thiel stresses to check the nutrition labels because packaged foods usually include excess sugar and salt to preserve the product and to give it a longer shelf life.
Yet another reason, she says, why cooking with whole foods is a much better option.
Buzzwords are also something to be aware of when deciphering nutrition labels.
High fructose corn syrup, agave nectar and the words that end in “ose” like glucose and maltose are all words that basically mean sugar. And others like brine, baking soda and monosodium glutamate? They are words for salt.
And don’t be tricked by ingredients that sound healthy, such as brown rice syrup, which is really just an added sugar.
Look for foods with nutrients that you want, such as dietary fibers, vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium and try to avoid too much sodium, saturated fat and added sugars because they can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires nutrition labels for most food packages/containers, this hasn’t always been the case.
Thiel says that consumers began fighting for nutrition labels many years ago because they demanded to know the ingredients in the food they were purchasing.
Before companies were required to reveal ingredients, food makers could substitute cheaper ingredients while claiming the product was of a higher quality. For example, Thiel says, butter was diluted with cheaper fats and oils and plant ingredients were used to bulk up expensive spices like saffron.
But an even bigger issue was the amount of food poisoning and even deaths that had occurred.
“There are several examples in history where green frosting on a child’s birthday cake was dyed using arsenic resulting in many fatalities,” Thiel says. “The nutrition label was regulation that came out of these horrific events. It’s meant to protect the consumer.”
Though the United States government began discussing food labels in 1969, it wasn’t signed into law until 1990. Once the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act was in place, consumers were armed with information that allowed them to make healthier food choices.
Since then, food labels have become even more detailed. In 2004, the FDA required companies to list the top eight major food allergens on the front of the package if the product were to contain any of them. In 2014, the FDA proposed changes to nutrition labels, including updating serving sizes based on true consumption and to include a specific listing for added sugars as opposed to naturally occurring sugars. Consumers were finally able to see these updates on labels in 2020.
Suddenly, consumers had the power to know exactly what they were buying in the grocery stores. This law especially helped those with allergies to food such as eggs, fish and nuts, so they would know to steer clear of certain products that could make them sick.
Nutrition labels are powerful tools that consumers should not take for granted, Marty-Jimenez says.
And the more often you read them, the better.
“The label increases your awareness of food,” she says. “We all want to live our best life, in good health, for as long as possible. Nutrition matters.”
