Food Jargon Continued
A couple of weeks ago, we decoded three similar yet very different food terms.
To recap:
a food guide serving refers to the total amount of food recommended daily from each of the four food groups.
a food label serving is a specific amount of food that contains the quantity of nutrients listed on the Nutrition Facts
portions can be thought of as the amount of a specific food an individual eats.
Following this post, I had a couple of comments regarding reading food labels, so I thought I would touch on this while the topic is still fresh.
Ingredients are listed in descending order in quantity. For example, if “sugar” is the first ingredient, then it’s present in the greatest amount. As a side note, sugar likes to disguise itself in fancy names, but in general watch for names that end in “-ose.”
If vitamins or minerals are listed, they must be shown as a percentage of the total Recommended Daily Intake (RDI). But what do these percentages actually mean?
25% or greater – excellent source of a vitamin or mineral (except vitamin C, which would be 50% or greater)
15% or greater – good source of a vitamin or mineral
5% - just a source of a vitamin or mineral
Get less of these: fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium
Get more of these: carbohydrates, fiber, vitamin A and C, calcium, and iron.
In terms of fiber: a very high source of fiber has at least 6 grams of fiber/serving; a high source of fiber has at least 4 grams of fiber/serving; a source of fiber has at least 2 grams of fiber/serving.
Don’t be fooled! Bad fat likes to be called other names like shortening, hydrogenated fats and oils, or lard.
Happy eating!!
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Image courtesy of mayhem
