Consumer Corner: checking out food labels

A potato is a potato and needs no label to tell you so. But what can a package of potato chips tell you about its contents? by law, its label must list the chip's ingredients-potatoes, fat, and salt- and its Nutrition Facts panel must also reveal details about their nutrient composition. If the oil is high in saturated fat or trans fat, the label will tell you so. In addition to required information, labels may make optional statements about the food. These claims are regulated by Health Canada.

picture took from culturally Authentic pictorial -potato chips.

This consumer corner introduces food labels and points out the accurate, tested, regulated, and therefore helpful information consumers need to make wise choices. It then turns the spotlight on claims whose purpose is to attract consumer dollars. Consumers must hone their label-reading skills and quire some told for digging out the truth from among the rubble. According to Health Canada, nutrition facts and claims on food labels include four claims.

• Biological role claims: A carefully worded, prescribed statement on a food that sets strict criteria  that outlines the role a nutrient may have on our biological system. For example, an acceptable claim for the "carbohydrate" in foods is that it "supplies energy".
• Health claims: claims linking food constituents with disease states; allowable on labels within the criteria established by Health Canada.
• Nutrient content descriptors: claims using approved wording to describe the nutrient values of foods, such as a claim that a food is " high " in desirable constituent or "low" in an undeniable one.
• Nutrition Facts:  on a food label, the pale of nutrition information required to appear on almost every packaged food. Grocers may also provide the information for fresh produce, meat, poultry, and seafoods.

The Nutrition Facts Panel:

Most food packages are required to display a nutrition Facts panel. When you read a Nutrition Facts panel, be swear that only the top portion of the panel conveys information specific to the food inside the package. The bottom portion is identical on every label- it stands as a reminder of the Daily Values.

• Serving size. Common household and metric measures to allow comparison of food within a food category. This amount of the food constitutes a single serving and the portion that contains the nutrient amounts listed. A serving of chips may be 10 chips, so if you eat 50 chips, you will have consumed five times the nutrient amount listed on the label.
• Serving per container.  Number of servings per box, can package, or other unit.
• Calories. Total food energy for serving.

Nutrient amounts and percentages of Daily Values. This section provides the core information for 13 food components: Total fat; cholesterol; Sodium; Total carbohydrate; protein; In addition, Vitamin A and C. Calcium and Iron. 

I hope this post can provide useful information for you guys !! Enjoy