| When it comes to the food we buy, we tend to trust the labels. But many are misleading… Remember, the food company’s goal is to sell products. Beware of these 3 common misleading food labels. ‘Fat Free’ Products are allowed to be labeled ‘fat free’ if they have LESS than 0.5 grams of fat per serving. Companies will produce a nutrition label where the serving size is extremely small to allow it to be labeled ‘fat free’, however the product 100% contains fat. A good example of this is PAM cooking spray. The serving size is ¼ of a second spray… 😂 This does NOT mean that cooking spray is bad. It’s just not 0 calories and fat free. ‘Sugar Free’ The same goes for ‘sugar free’ as above. Again, less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving. On top of that, foods labeled ‘sugar free’ can contain sugar alcohols which do not need to be labeled as sugar, but are still a carb and affect your blood sugar levels in a similar way. You’ll see products with zero sugar listed, but a high amount of sugar alcohols. ‘Low Carb’ Although it’s not allowed anymore, you may see products being marketed as ‘low carb’. There is NO guidance on what ‘low carb’ actually means though, so be careful when you see it. Now, companies are marketing their products as ‘Only 5 Net Carbs’. Net carbs are the total number of carbs in a product, minus fiber and sugar alcohols. It does NOT mean that there are less carbs, but less carbs that affect your blood sugar. If you are diabetic, this can matter. For weight loss, you are still consuming calories in the form of carbs. I hope this helps shine light on how some products are labeled. Be sure to ALWAYS check the nutrition fact label when buying products. If you’re still confused about it all…..we can help! Yours In Health, Brian |
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