Reading Food Labels San Francisco CA

Nowadays, it's a challenge to walk into any grocery store without being bombarded by health claims on packaged foods, all advertising virtues like "low in fat," "high in fiber" or "organic." WomansDay.com spoke with Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, world-renowned author and professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University, to gain insight about health claims on food packaging. According to Nestle, when Congress passed the nutrition labeling law in 1990, food companies protested that if they had to reveal what was bad about their products on the label (such as listing the amount of saturated fat, sodium and sugar), they ought to be able to say what's good about them as well. Enter the food marketing terms "low-calorie," "fat-free" and "antioxidant-enriched." The FDA does have basic rules for food labeling, like regulating certain words that may imply the food product is something it's not, but these days there's so much jargon floating around, it's tough to know what it all means. To clear up the confusion and help make you a smarter food shopper, we've provided a list of popular packaging terms with clear definitions so your next trip to the grocery store can be a healthier one.

Low-Calorie

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For a food to be labeled as containing antioxidants, the FDA requires that the nutrients have an established Recommended Daily Intakes (RDI) as well as scientifically recognized antioxidant activity. In order to use the "high in antioxidants" labeling, a food has to contain 20% or more of the RDI per serving. For a "good source" claim, the food has to contain between 10% to 19% of the RDI per serving. Most products already contain antioxidants and manufacturers are simply beginning to call it out due to current food and health trends.

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