WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY

What's up with Wednesday is that I went to the beach, so this post is coming a little late.....  :)  Sorry about that. But.... I'm really thankful to my food scientist friend Liisa for once again coming up with a great topic about Food Labels.

You can't believe everything you read or see. Just because something says it's low fat, low sugar or "Lite" it doesn't necessarily mean it is, or that it's good for you. Don't be fooled by these tricky labels. Take a minute to read the labels to see what the actual nutritional value is.

Read this article written by Liisa, especially for YOU!!!  
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No sugar added’, ‘Trivial source of fat’, ‘Low in cholesterol’.   We read claims like this daily on our food labels – how do we make sense of it all? 

http://www.myfooddiary.com/Resources/label_claims.asp#calories    Here’s a link that defines what standards a food must meet to make a certain label claim.   If you spend a few minutes reviewing this list, you will notice that some claims such as ‘fat free’, ‘calorie free’, and ‘low in sodium’ are rigidly defined by quantity per serving of the nutrient being referenced.

Contrary to the clearly defined claims on this list are words such as ‘lite’ or ‘reduced’.  These terms are somewhat discretionary, being made against a ‘full fat/salt/sugar reference product’.  If you’re comparing a lite salad dressing, it may still contain 5-7 g fat (at 9 kcal per gram) in a 2 T serving. 

Also keep in mind that everything you take out of a food formula to make a claim must be replaced with something else.  Think about baking a cake from scratch with half of the sugar - you will not have the same eating quality as the full sugar recipe.  Your batter may not be the right consistency; the cake may not rise properly, and likely not be the desired flavor and texture.  The sugar you remove needs to be replaced with some other ‘solids’ to control moisture, provide sweetness and structure.  At home we can use fruit purees or blends of tabletop sweetener blends (truvia, splenda).

It’s the same idea for an industrial formula – removing fat often involves replacing with carbohydrates.  Removing sugar can involve replacing with a different carbohydrate source or with fat.  It’s all a balancing act to make sure the final product is stable, safe and good tasting. 

The next time you review a nutrition facts panel, be sure to look at all the nutrients and the serving size.