The secret to understanding a food label is knowing what exactly to look for. Once you to see the label jargon, it is no longer difficult to make your healthy purchases. The front label often lures customers into buying products based on health claims.
The nutrition facts label is a label required on most packaged food in many countries, showing what nutrients are in the food.
1. Study the ingredient list
2. Common labels
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1. UNDERSTANDING A
NUTRITIONAL FACTS
LABEL FOR NEW
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
An Academic presentation by
Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical Operations, FoodResearchLab
Group:ย www.foodresearchlab.com
Email: info@foodresearchlab.com
3. Introduction
The secret to understanding a food label is knowing
what exactly to look for.
Once you to see the label jargon, it is no longer
difficult to make your healthy purchases
The front label often lures customers into buying
products based on health claims.
Manufacturers often tend to use misleading health
claims. Terms such as "fresh natural", โno additivesโ,
โno cholesterolโ are causing serious confusion
among consumers.
Contd...
4. The nutrition facts label is a label required on most packaged food in many countries,
showing what nutrients (to limit and get enough of) are in the food. Labels are usually
based on official nutritional rating systems. Most countries also release overall nutrition
guides for general educational purposes. In some cases, the guides are based on
different dietary targets for various nutrients than the labels on specific foods.
5. Study the
Ingredient
List A good rule of thumb is to scan the food ingredients list,
as the product is made up.
Food Product ingredients are often listed by quantity
from highest to the lowest amount by weight.
The ingredient list will include refined grains, sugar and
hydrogenated oils, which can be used to screen healthy
and unhealthy options.
Contd...
6. The ingredient list that is longer than 2-3 lines also will suggest that the product is
highly processed.
This information will be crucial for consumers with allergies and wise consumers
who would like to know how much of their product is diluted with water or contains
preservatives and artificial additives.
Contd...
8. Serving size and number of servings is the first information you can find on the
nutritional facts label after nutrient analysis .
Consumers need to compare the amount they normally consume to the serving
size listed on the label.
The food ingredient supplier normally lists this information in common household
measurements, such as in pieces, cups or ounces.
Consuming larger portions might lead to weight gain, as you are consuming
twice the amount of calories and nutrients.
Contd...
9. U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agency had made it mandatory to print
the calorie count in largerand bolder in the label, making it easier for the average
consumer during food product development.
The nutritional information label also provides a column of values called per cent
% Daily Value (% DV).
It denotes how much of a nutrient is present in one serving of food which needs
to be consumed one day.
This value is based on an average daily diet of 2000 calories.
Contd...
10. However, this value varies from person to person based on gender, age and
activity levels.
Generally, a serving size of 5% or lower daily value is low, and a serving size with
20% is considered high.
Contd...
12. Dietary Fiber aids in the digestion of food that one consumes.
Fiber reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes and even a few types of cancer.
A fiber rich food will contain more than 5 grams per serving of food.
Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are usually rich in fiber content.
Men under the age of 50 should consume at least 38 grams per day, and
women under this category should become consumer at least 25 grams.
Contd...
13. "Healthy" foods must contain very little fat, with limited cholesterol and sodium.
Fat contains more calories than carbs or protein per gram of food.
Consumers should choose unsaturated fatty acids and limit saturated and
trans-fat.
Saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease and could lead to high
cholesterol.
The average consumer should not consume more than 20 grams of saturated
fat per day.
Contd...
14. Partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated also indicates that the product
contains trans-fat.
Trans-fat is also unhealthy and leads to an increased risk of heart disease.
The average consumer should get 0 grams of trans-fat per day.
Trans-fat is often present in fried foods, snacks, margarine and hydrogenated
vegetable oils.
For instance, "trans-fat free" products should only contain 0.5 mg of trans fats
and "cholesterol-free" foods can contain up to 2 milligrams of cholesterol and 2
grams of saturated fat.
Contd...
15. Overall, anyone should not consume more than 200 milligrams of cholesterol per
day.
Sodium should be restricted to less than one teaspoon of salt per day (2300 mg)
for healthy individuals.
Consumers with high blood pressure should not consume more than 1500 mg
per day.
Packaged foods with a serving label โlow-sodiumโ may contain up to 140
milligrams of sodium.
Contd...
16. Sugar adds plenty of calories and is often listed on the label in different terms,
such as high fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, dextrose, turbinado et.
These days artificial sweeteners are added to provide sweetness with fewer
calories.
It will be healthy to choose foods with less than 5 grams of sugar per serving.
Packaged foods with a serving label โlow-calorieโ can have a maximum of 40
calories.
Some products are naturally rich in sugar.
Contd...
17. The fact that the manufacturer claims โno added sugarโ, doesnโt necessarily
make it healthy.
Fortified Vitamins and minerals include vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D,
calcium, iron and potassium, which are added to give a wholesome balanced
diet meal.
14 vitamins could be included in a product based on the end product.
Some of the uncommon labels might include, biotin, choline, niacin,
pantothenic acid, riboflavin and thiamin.
18. Other
Common
Labels
Products declared under these categories should not
contain any conventional pesticides, synthetic fertilizers,
and organic animal products should not contain
hormones or antibiotics.
Organic or natural food does not necessarily
have to be better than the conventional foods.
It depends on growing conditions, food storage and
nutritional composition.
ORGANIC/NATURAL/FRESH:
Contd...
19. Organic foods do contain the same or similar amount of carbohydrate, fat,
protein and calories.
Fruits and vegetables grown without chemicals or pesticides would be
ideal and may contain higher levels of antioxidants.
However, not everyone can afford it.
Normal produce still contains the same nutrients, so wash them well and
keep your budget to a minimum.
Multigrain or made with whole grains may contain more than one type
of grain and contain very little whole grains.
Contd...
20. The grains could also be refined for further processing.
Similarly, gluten-free indicates the absence of gluten in the product,
which could be concerning for some individuals.
Flavors are not generally obtained from actual fruits, such as the natural
strawberry flavour in a yoghurt.
Chemicals designed to taste like fruit are added to the product mix.
Contd...
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