Be Food Label Saavy

What's the easiest way to tell if a food product is healthy?



Flip it over and look at the Nutrition Facts or the Food Label and the ingredient list. Remember you want to look at the servings first. Don't be mislead by smaller or larger than normal serving sizes. Then look for low-fat items (3 grams of fat or less per serving). Pay notice to the Daily Value %, remember anything that is 10% or higher you want to limit in sodium, total fat, sugar and cholesterol. As for fiber, the more of it, the better (10% or higher)! A great goal to strive for is 25-35 grams of fiber per day, but remember to drink water or you'll be sorry! A high fiber cereal with fruit (like FiberOne Raisin Bran) is a great breakfast to start your day.





The Food and Drug Adminsitration (FDA) has a great website with fantastic pictures of labels, available at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/foodlab.html. It even has quizzes to test your food label reading knowledge!