It is well known that food labels are a tough part of living a healthy lifestyle. We have taught you about what to look for on the label, but it is also important to understand certain words that have been used as marketing enhancers to make certain “healthy foods” more desirable.
Some of the more common advertisements on boxes of cereal or canned foods include “enriched” or “cholesterol free”. Enriched means synthetic vitamins and minerals have been added to replace those that have been removed during the manufacturing process.
When the label says cholesterol free, sugar free, or fat free, it means there is still some in the product just not as much as there normally is. In addition to that, this also means that just because these things are advertised doesn’t mean the food will still be a healthy choice.
Not all label statements are bad, When a label says “good source” or “excellent source of “ that product contains between 19% – 20% of the recommended daily value from that product
Secret: For a meat product to be labeled “lean” it must contain less than 10 g of total fat, 4.5 g or less of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg of cholesterol per serving.