Deciphering Nutrition Facts on Food Labels for Healthier Living

I was food shopping the other day and walked into the bakery section. Even though I own a cookie company, Laura's Wholesome Junk Food, and have plenty of my own cookies around the house, I like to try other sweets. I tell myself that this is "research" when the truth is I want to eat something sweet that someone else made.

My mom taught me to read labels and so it is impossible for me to buy something without reading the label. This day I was looking at muffins. A large dark chocolate muffin with chocolate chips caught my eye. I was hoping it would be sweetened with fruit juice or that it would at least be somewhat healthy ingredients. As I ought to have guessed, it was a flour, sugar and inexpensive oil with a bunch of additives I couldn't pronounce and certainly would not bake with. Then, I glanced at the next place I look, calories count: 240. Then, the third place I look is the serving size. This tells me how much of the muffin I eat to get the 240 calories. The serving size on this muffin read 1/3. That means that that one muffin was actually three servings and if I only wanted to get 240 calories that I had to break the muffin up into three exact pieces and only eat one of those? I have never done that, have you? I end up eating the whole thing unless I plan ahead and throw away part before even diving in.

I was brought up to read labels and went to medical school to learn about the human body and that 720 calories almost slipped by me. I sometimes forget to look at serving size. I wonder about the people who are intimidated by reading labels or are too busy to look at them. The will buy that muffin and eat it, maybe glancing at the 240 calories and feel okay about it, not knowing that they just ate three times that amount. I spent about 15 minutes reading various labels on baked goods and ended up not buying anything. I came home and ate one of my cookies and had a spoon of honey.

If the muffin came in a resealable baggie where I could close it back up and enjoy the same muffin three days in a row, then having three servings per package might make sense. Of, if they made three mini muffins in a resealable bag, that would work, too. We have a problem with people being heavier than is healthy for them and I feel that part of the problem is unhealthy ingredients combined with deceptive packaging that tricks people into eating more. An average person will eat that 720 calorie muffin and not know what they ate. While exercise is important for health and well being, I wonder how many hours are spent at the gym because of accidental over eating due to confusing food labels and packaging. I would like to hear feedback from readers on what you feel or think about food labeling or tell me any stories you have from reading labels. I also encourage you to find out the facts about your favorite foods and email them to me. If you have any questions about reading labels, I will do my best to answer them or refer you to someone who can. Please email your food label questions to [e-mail].

Laura Trice, M.D., is the CEO/Founder of Laura's Wholesome Junk Food.

Follow Laura Trice on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrLaura8

Comments

[nicothebaker]

Are your cookies available online? Where can I order them?

[thebakerone]

I love your cookies! Especially the Oatmeal Choc Chip and the Cole's Cashew Choc Chip Gluten-free.

[Laura Trice - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you all for your feedback. We have come to a place where wellness needs to be a #1 priority. Educating the public versus confusing them would make substantial changes in our country's health, general well being and healthcare costs. Dr. Laura

[violettefemme]

I think the purposefully misleading labeling vis a vis portion sizes goes hand in hand with the marketing geniuses who decided we should HAVE to buy the equivalent of 3 muffins at a time, even though we only want one.

The same guys who prodded the fast food chains into offering sodas that start with a "small" of close to a liter...

It's hurting our bodies and wallets equally--forced to buy big, forced to spend 3 times as much, and led to believe it's what is expected and normal. I use the word "forced" because the industry inn general offers us very few choices, but really what it is is mindless consumption stemming from a culture of BIG BIG BIG BUY BUY BUY WANT WANT WANT.

In these tough times, I am hoping this is one of the things that does change, and FAST. I'd be much more likely to support local business---like a bakery or cafe---if they offered portions with appropriate sizes, and prices that MATCH.

Home sizes are what people want, and I'm starting to think that the food establishments that pick up on this will do better than those that insist on force-feeding us huge portions and prices.

Great article!

[singermuse]

If I can't pronounce it, I usually don't buy it.
Eating food in as close to it's original form as possible will curtail the need for constant vigilance in label reading. But even "natural" foods can have hidden ingredients
Things that seem "safe" to me:
Dried Beans/Peas/Lentils
Whole grains/grain flours
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Fresh and dried herbs and spices
Olive Oil
Tea

[jennifer s]

Serving sizes are always strangely small, as are government serving sizes that are mentioned in the USDA food pyramid. The USDA considers 1/2 a cup of cooked pasta to be one serving. Picture that--that's about how much a toddler would eat. Most people are likely consuming 6-8 servings of pasta at a sitting.
-Jennifer Schonborn, Holistic Nutrition Counselor
http://www.jenniferschonborn.com

[violettefemme]

It's sickly funny, because a package of pasta puts a serving size at 2 ounces DRY.

Like it's a conspiracy or something.

I do understand that pasta is almost nothing but carbs/starch, and many people would have that as a side dish, to go with veggies and some protein (which is how the people of Italy usually have their pasta, as one SMALL part of a meal that is veggie HEAVY). But it does seem that commerical packaging should have to align with the USDA if they are going to have it on the package.

[Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald - Huffpost Blogger]

Dr. Laura,
First of all - your snacks rock!!!!

I couldn't agree with you more about the whole "portion size" thing. It seems like an intent to mislead. Most people will look at the calorie count and not really do the math to decipher the actual portion issue. I have seen this many times in my practice. Thanks for a great and educational article.