Beyond the Basics: Mastering Nutrition Labels

In this article:

• Mastering nutrition labels means you’re able to use their information to select foods that support your health and weight loss goals. 
• Some claims on food packages are not meaningful, while others, like health claims permitted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are specifically defined.
• A high sodium content per serving can indicate a more processed food, while higher fiber content may be in less processed foods. 
• It’s helpful to understand newer guidelines like dual column nutrition labels on some multi-serving packages and a requirement to show vitamin D and potassium contents.
• Lark is available 24/7 to guide you towards healthier choices to reach health and weight loss goals. 

If you’ve ever felt confused by nutrition labels or claims like "all-natural" or "veggie-powered," you aren't alone. Mastering the nutrition label is about more than going down a checklist. It’s about understanding what the information means. It’s almost like learning a new language: the code of food manufacturers. 

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Mastering nutrition labels can support your goals of weight management, improved health, and daily nourishment. If you need a refresher on the basics reading food labels, check our earlier introductions to food labels: Using Food Labels to Support a Healthy Weight and Your Complete Cheat Sheet for Using Food Labels to Help You Lose More Weight. Then keep reading for a deeper dive into what you should look for on nutrition facts panels and other parts of the food package, and how you can use this information to help reach your goals.

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https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-food-labeling-and-critical-foods/authorized-health-claims-meet-significant-scientific-agreement-ssa-standard

Manufacturers Tempt You with Front-of-Package Marketing

Food manufacturers make the front of food packages appealing so you want to buy their products. An obvious trick is showing a photo of the food looking ready to eat and delicious. A box of cereal, for example, might show a photo of cereal in a bowl with milk, slices of banana, and almonds. In small print may be a notice that this photo is a “serving suggestion only.”

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Other ploys to get your attention and try to convince you to purchase the food may be less obvious. For example, “health halo” messaging uses a healthy or healthy-sounding concept to make your brain think the food is healthy or that the health benefits outweigh the less healthy aspects. For example, a cookie may be labeled “organic,” but be high in calories and made with butter or hydrogenated oil, white sugar, and refined flour. 

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It’s also important to recognize that not all terms are regulated or meaningful. The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has strict requirements for many nutrient content claims, such as fat, saturated fat, and sodium. A food that’s “organic” or “gluten-free” also conforms to strict requirements. On the other hand, “natural” does not have a legal definition, according to the FDA. 

Health Claims Are Carefully Defined

It’s good news for consumers that the FDA strictly regulates health claims on food packages. The FDA publishes a list of authorized health claims for foods and how the food can meet the requirements. 

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Here are some categories of approved health claims. 

• Calcium and osteoporosis
• Calcium, vitamin D, and osteoporosis
• Dietary lipids and cancer
• Dietary saturated fat and cholesterol and risk of coronary heart disease
• Folate and neural tube defects
• Fruits and vegetables and cancer
• sodium and hypertension
• Soluble fiber and risk of coronary heart disease
• Soy protein and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)
• Plant sterol/stanol esters and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)

These claims are based on scientific evidence. Food packages can only display them if each serving of the food contains a certain amount of the named nutrient. 

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In addition, foods may only display a health claim for heart disease if they don’t exceed limits per serving for total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, or sodium.

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If you see a heart-health claim on a label, you can be sure it’s below limits for those nutrients. However, be sure to check for added sugars, since there’s no limit for added sugars that blocks a heart health claim!

Nutrition Facts Panels May Show Information for a Serving and for a Package

As if a nutrition facts panel weren’t already long enough, now it’s sometimes twice as extensive! Dual column labels show the same calorie and nutrient information, but they show it twice. One column shows the information per serving. The other column, right next to the first, shows the information for the entire package. 

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This is most common on packages of foods that people typically eat on the go or at one time. Chips, sports drinks, and bottles of soft drinks often have dual column labels. So do pints of ice cream, oversized cookies, frozen “personal” pizzas, and cans of soup.

Fiber Is a Special Type of Carbohydrate

Checking total carbohydrates can help you keep carbs and calories in check, but you can use fiber counts to go a step further in your quest to manage carbs, calories, and blood sugar. Sugar and starch are carbohydrates that your body turns into blood sugar. When you consume carbohydrates as sugar and starch, your blood sugar increases. 

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In contrast, dietary fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest properly. Choosing foods that are higher in fiber can have many benefits for health and weight management. 

• Less of an impact on blood sugar
• More filling
• Usually less processed and more nutritious

A quick guide to choosing higher-fiber foods is to look for at least 1 gram of fiber for every 5 grams of total carbohydrates. Vegetables, beans, whole grains, fruit, and nuts are foods with fiber. 

Sodium Can Be a Sign of Highly-Processed Food Products

Sodium can raise blood pressure and the risk of developing hypertension, and it can also be a sign of a lower-nutrient food. High-sodium foods tend to be salty and processed, with deli meats, bread, canned soup, frozen meals, condiments, and fast foods being major sources of sodium. Ingredients like salt, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and sodium nitrates can contribute sodium. 

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If you’re looking to reduce sodium, try to keep milligrams of sodium to no more than the number of calories per serving. So, if a food has 100 calories per serving, look for a version with less than 100 mg of sodium per serving. It’s also good to opt for less processed foods like vegetables, fruit, beans, and oatmeal. 

Potassium and Vitamin D Are Now Mandatory 

Potassium and vitamin D have replaced vitamins A and C as mandatory on nutrition facts panels. National surveys consistently show that Americans are low in potassium and vitamin D. Potassium is a critical mineral for heart health and lowering blood pressure. Vitamin D is essential for optimal calcium absorption and bone health, as well as for immune function. 

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Vitamins A and C are still essential vitamins. They’re antioxidants, essential for immune function, and critical for skin and heart health. However, most Americans get enough. That’s why they’re now optional on the nutrition facts panel.

The List of Ingredients Has a Wealth of Information

The list of ingredients can clue you in when nutrition facts panels don’t give the whole story. For example, the nutrition facts panel can show 0 grams of trans fat even if the product has 0.49 grams. You can check the list of ingredients to see if there are hydrogenated oils in the product. 

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It’s also helpful to know that the list of ingredients shows ingredients in order from highest weight to lowest weight in the food. If the list has sugar or refined grains first, it’s probably a refined product. On the other hand, a product whose list of ingredients shows a whole grain first is probably a nutrient-dense food. 

Getting the Most from Mastering Nutrition Facts Panels

Mastering nutrition labels isn’t about perfection. It’s about being informed. Food packages have a lot of information on them, and it’s all there to help you. Choose 1-2 facts to start checking. When you master those, move on to another nutrient or fact to look at. You’ll become a master at understanding what’s in your foods and how to choose the best ones to reach your goals. 

Lark Can Help

Healthy eating is easier when you master nutrition labels. Lark can help you choose healthier foods as you make small changes to improve heart health, lose weight, and manage or prevent chronic conditions. Your Lark coach is available 24/7 for encouragement, nutrition and physical activity coaching, and habit tracking. Lark can help you make healthy choices and establish habits that fit into your lifestyle so you can lose weight and keep it off with or without GLP-1 medications. 

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Click here to see if you may be eligible to join Lark today!

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