By Jennifer Ryan Sodexo Dietetic Intern

 A food and nutrition expert who met the minimum academic and professional requirements to qualify for the credential “RD”  Majority of RDs work in treatment and prevention of disease. They work in:  Hospitals  Grocery stores  Nursing homes  Community and public health settings  Research  Colleges/schools

 w9Fo w9Fo  Why do you think food companies make these misleading claims on food labels?

 Learning tricks at the grocery store  Be able to recognize misleading food labels  Name the parts of a whole grain  Learn to read food labels  Learn proposed updates for nutrition facts labels

 While providing us with the food we need, we must also remember.. They are also a business!

 For cereal aisle  Lower shelves: sugar breakfast cereals at children’s eye level  Middle shelves: cereals that both adults and children are likely to choose  Top shelves: “healthier” cereals are at adult eye level

 Impulse buys  As we wait in line, we are more tempted to buy candy bars, magazines, sodas

 Most frequently purchased products are at the back of the store  Milk  Eggs  Butter  Bread  Why?

 Food advertisements are all around us  Their goal?  Persuade us to buy that product Nutella   Questionable statement: "And Nutella's made with simple, quality ingredients, like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa.”

 12 grams fat  21 grams sugar  First ingredients: sugar, and palm oil

 BIX8 BIX8  “Zing” words: Calories and whole grains  But look deeper…

10 grams sugar 1 gram fiber 1 st ingredient: Whole grain corn 2 nd ingredient: SUGAR 1 gram sugar 3 grams fiber 1 st ingredient: Whole grain oats 2 nd ingredient: Corn starch

Misleadin g

 Even if the label says this does not mean it is mainly whole grains  Do not go by color!  Only way to know for sure?  Reading the ingredients

 “100% Whole Wheat”  First ingredient: whole wheat flour  2 grams fiber per serving  “Wheat”  First ingredient: unbleached enriched flour  Less than 1 gram fiber per serving

 Whole grains- contain the entire grain kernel  Refined grains- “milled” –process that removes bran and germ Finer texture Longer shelf life

 Trans fats are created by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid  Products that say "no trans fat" can actually contain less than 0.5 grams per serving  Look for “partially hydrogenated oils”  Inexpensive  Shelf life

 “0 grams trans fat”  Ingredients: hydrogenated vegetable oils

 Ingredients:  Pear concentrate  Corn syrup  Dried corn syrup  Sugar  Wait.. where’s the strawberry?

 Ingredients: whole grain corn, corn meal, sugar, canola oil, vegetable and fruit juice color, natural flavor

 Lightly sweetened is NOT defined by the FDA  11 grams of sugar  1 st ingredient: Whole grain wheat  2 nd ingredient: sugar

 Food manufacturers can be tricky with serving sizes  To make a product look low in fat or calories, they may list information based on a tiny, unrealistic serving size

Fruit snacks ~3.5 servings per bag Monster energy drink  ~2 servings per can

 “Fat free cooking canola oil”  Total fat: 0 grams  Serving size: 1/3 second spray!

 Becoming aware of these misleading tactics will help empower us as consumers  Learning to read food labels puts us in charge of what we are eating and buying

 Refer to handout  Look at the serving size  Ask yourself.. Is that how much I am going to consume?  Review the ingredients  Ask yourself.. Can I pronounce these ingredients? How many ingredients are there?

 A quick guide to understanding % daily value (%DV)  5% or less is “low”  20% or more is “high”  Which nutrients should be low?  Which nutrients should be high?

 The FDA is proposing to update the Nutrition Facts Label  Changes are based on new nutrition and public health research  Goal: Make it easier for consumers to make informed decisions about what they eat

 Require “Added sugars”  Experts recommend consuming fewer calories from added sugar because they can decrease the intake of nutrient-rich foods while increasing calorie intake  “Calories from fat” are removed  Research shows the type of fat is more important than the amount of fat  Require the amount of certain vitamins and minerals

 Shift the “percent daily value” to the left  It would come first to show it’s importance  Make the calories and serving sizes more prominent  To emphasize current health concerns  Changing the serving size requirements  To better reflect how people eat and drink today  Foods and drinks typically consumed in one sitting would be labeled as a single serving per container

Know what your eating Choose what your eating And Don’t Be Fooled.