Nutrition labels are designed to tell what is in a food product. They include lots of information, but if you can't read them properly they are not very helpful. This could be life-threatening if there are special dietary needs. Food nutrition labels are very informative, they help you decipher what product is better for your health and gives you insight into the unnecessary ingredients.
Food products like to make health claims to get people to buy their products. If they claim that it is healthier people may be more inclined to buy it because they want to be healthy. Today we will compare two different kinds of cereal. The first product is Honey Nut Cheerios. This product is known for its claims to lower cholesterol. The next product is Honey Bunches of Oats. This one does not have a health claim. The first thing to look at is what is considered a serving. One serving may be healthy but if you eat two is it still as healthy?
For both products have a serving size of one cup. Next, consider the calories per serving. The Cheerios have only 140 whereas the honey bunches of oats have 160 per serving. Everything that is under the calories line is the percentage that goes towards your daily value. There are many items on this list. Certain things have been put in bold; these are some of the more important things. They have been put in bold to help you notice and find them better. Trans fat and saturated fat are important things to consider when looking at food. Both items have the same amount of total fat in them. They each have 3%. next look at the cholesterol. Each cereal has no cholesterol. Both foods could claim to be heart-healthy and to lower cholesterol, but only one does. Cheerios use this as a part of branding. Next is sodium or salt. The Cheerios has a 9% of the DV and honey bunches of oats has only 8%. Sodium can be hard on the heart. Also if a person is on a low sodium diet they may want to have the honey bunches of oats instead of the Cheerios. Another important thing to look at is added sugars. The Cheerios has 12g total. Honey bunches of oat only has 9g of sugars.
It is also good to look at the ingredients list. If it is a really big list that means it has a lot of added stuff to it and may not be healthy. If compared to a product with few ingredients it may be healthier. Each box has about the same amount of ingredients. Another thing that has been added is vitamins and minerals. These help to make sure your body gets the right stuff. Without this, you could become sick.
Over all there is a lot going on in that little label. Each thing is on the label is important and should not be looked over. These label can tell you exactly what you need to know and helps you to make healthy decisions.
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