The 3 Biggest Label Reading Mistakes

Reading food labels can be difficult. Learn the 3 biggest mistakes people make. Once you know what they are, you’ll never make these mistakes again.

We see food labels every day—maybe we don’t always read them, but we know they’re there. And we all know how to read them, right? Well, maybe not. According to a Neilsen survey released this year, 59% of us have difficulty reading food labels and experts say that most of us are making three very big mistakes. But never fear, once you know what they are, you’ll never make these mistakes again:

Mistake #1: We Read the Wrong Label
The simple truth is there’s often a big difference between what the packaging label implies and the facts on the nutrition label. With as much competition as there is for shelf space in our stores, packaged goods companies have become extremely competitive for the consumer’s attention. They’ve become quite effective at creating marketing language for packaging that drives customer purchases. For example, the knowledgeable label reader will be careful about claims of “reduced fat” or “low fat.” These statements make the product sound like a healthier choice. Often, however, reading the nutrition label reveals otherwise.

Why the confusion? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s product labeling rules require a product claiming “low fat” to contain 3 grams of fat or less per serving and fat content that is 30% or less of total calories. Once you look at the nutrition label, you’ll find the total calories and the serving size to determine whether “low fat” is actually healthy.

Also, a “reduced fat” claim means the product contains at least 25% less fat than the original version of the product. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that the product is low fat or that it is healthy, only that it has less fat than it used to.

Just remember, ignore the front of the package and focus on the nutrition label when making good-food choices.

Mistake #2: We Forget About the Serving Size
Take this simple example: On the front of a package, we see that a product is “For Fat Free Cooking” and “0g Trans Fat per serving.” But since we learned about marketing tricks (see MISTAKE #1 above), we quickly turn the product over to check the “real” label. And on the nutrition label, we see that sure enough “Total Fat 0g.” So, we can safely say that in this case, the marketers were accurate and there is no fat in this product, right? Not exactly. At the top of the label, take a look at the serving size: “About ⅓ second spray.” Have you ever used a product and stopped spraying after one third of one second? Almost certainly not, but that’s what it takes for the fat content in a product to fall below ½ gram per serving. Since the U. S. Food and Drug Administration allows a product manufacturer to round a number to zero if it is less than ½ gram per serving, the label can use the words “Fat Free”! Chances are, a lot of people have looked at labels like this and felt good about avoiding all fat—maybe they even gave an extra squirt or two; why not if it’s “fat free,” right? Now we know better and from now on, we’ll be realistic about our serving size when reading the nutrition label.

Mistake #3: We Fail to Read the List of Ingredients
It’s easy to read the big table on the nutrition label and completely miss the list of ingredients below it. The ingredients tell us what exactly is in the food we’re considering eating. Too often, we focus on what’s not in our food to the exclusion of what’s actually in it. When we do that, we miss some very important information. Here are a few shortcuts to keep in mind:

• Watch the length of the list of ingredients. Dr. Dexter Shurney, a physician and preventive medicine expert says, “If the product has less than 3 ingredients, buy it! It’s probably healthy. Three or fewer ingredients mean that the food is not highly processed.” That’s good advice because processed foods are less healthy.
• Watch for three categories of unhealthy ingredients. The ingredients are listed in quantity order from the most to the least. So, the first three or four ingredients are going to make up the bulk of the product. When you’re reviewing the ingredients, first look for ingredients that contain the words “hydrogenated” or “modified” oils, you should recognize those as trans fats. How much trans-fat is recommended in our daily diet? None! Second, when you see ingredients like corn syrup or molasses or barley malt, you should recognize those as added sweeteners; you should avoid added sweeteners. And third, always choose 100% whole grain over refined grains. In a list of ingredients, refined grains include names like plain wheat, bleached or unbleached, white, or even brown flour.

Now that you know, you won’t make these common mistakes again. And by the way, do your family and friends a favor and share what you have learned!