NUTRITIONAL LABELS ... A TRUE MYSTERY!

You know it's important to read nutritional labels, but you don't know how to do it?

Well, today Im going to teach you how to read them correctly and how to identify if we should buy a certain food or not, so take note !!

To begin, it is necessary to mention that there is a resolution that regulates the way in which the food industries must report the nutritional information of each food. Based on this we can identify if a food is well labeled or not, if it is fraudulent or not, among other things.

As a first step we are going to talk about the portions. When a label refers to a "portion or portion size" it refers to the amount of food that is consumed on an occasion or portion of habitual consumption. This portion does not refer to a suitable portion for your age, sex, height, among other factors that determine an appropriate portion, it is simply a reference.

On the other hand, the same package can contain several portions. In other words, if the portion is 20 grams and the package has 100 grams, it means that 5 portions come in total.

The most important thing about the portion is that the nutritional information is reported based on that portion, what does it mean?…. That the calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients reported on the label are what a serving provides me (in this case 20 g).

NUTRIENTS REPORTED

Energy

The unit of measurement is the Kilocalories (kcal) or kilojoules (kj). Calories should always be decimal-free so they should be approximated to the nearest whole number.

Total reported calories should be the sum of the calories from fats, carbohydrates and protein. Taking into account that 1 gram of protein and carbohydrates provide 4 kcal and 1 gram of fat provides 9 kcal.

Macronutrients

Protein, total fat (saturated fat), carbohydrates (fiber) should be expressed in grams per serving of the food and in percentage of the reference value (% DV).

These grams must also be reported WITHOUT decimal. (So ​​if you see any product with decimals on the nutritional label ... Be wary !!)

Regarding fats, when a declaration of nutritional properties is made regarding the amount or type of fatty acids, the amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, trans and cholesterol must be indicated immediately after the declaration of total fat content.

When making a declaration of nutritional properties regarding dietary fiber, the amount of its soluble and insoluble fractions should be indicated.

Trans Fats and Sugars

These should be expressed in grams per serving of food.

The declaration of trans fat is not mandatory for foods that contain less than 0.5 g of total fat per serving, except in the case where nutritional properties declarations are made about the content of total fat, fatty acids or cholesterol.

The declaration of sugars is not mandatory for foods that contain less than 1 g of sugar per serving, except in the case that any declaration or reference is made about artificial sweeteners, sugars or polyols on the label.

Micronutrients

Amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium should be expressed as the nearest whole number to unity as percentages of the daily value (% DV) per serving of the food.

If any of these vitamins and minerals are not declared, an expression such as: "contains less than 2% of ..." or "Not a significant source of ..." followed by vitamins and minerals that are not declared.

Cholesterol and Sodium

Cholesterol and sodium should be expressed in milligrams per serving of food and as a percentage of the daily reference value (% DV). Both nutrients should be expressed from 5 to 5 mg.

Ingredients

The ingredients in any packaged product will always appear from highest to lowest depending on the proportion in which it is found in the food. Ideally, to maintain proper health, avoid products containing more than 3 or 5 ingredients at all costs.

As a curious fact, I comment that this resolution prohibits nutritional labels or labels to indicate, suggest or imply that the food is useful, adequate or effective to alleviate, treat or cure any disease or physiological disorder. It also prohibits claims from properties that cannot be verified.

How to read a nutritional label?

1. In the first section you will always find the serving size and the servings per container. All of the information below equals just one serving of food. It is normal for multiple foods or drinks to contain more than one serving per package.

2. This is the total calories that a serving provides, if you consume two servings you must double the total calories.

Likewise, the calories that are contributed by the fats that the food contains are shown.

Try to consume foods that do not provide more than 120 kcal per serving and always check what is the main source of these calories (fats, carbohydrates or protein). .

3. You must limit the consumption of fats, especially if they are saturated, trans or cholesterol, the more of these a food has, the more harmful it will be for your health.

The same goes for SUGAR, the more grams of sugars you have, the more harmful it will be. While the more dietary fiber contains a much BETTER food !!.

Sodium is another nutrient that we must monitor, daily consumption should not exceed 2000 mg per day (5 g of salt / day) and if you suffer from high blood pressure it should not exceed 1500 mg / day.

On the other hand, we have PROTEIN, we must be very careful with this nutrient and be well advised by a qualified nutritionist since the excess or deficit of this nutrient can be very dangerous.

4. The % daily value is the amount of nutrients in a portion of food expressed as a percentage. These values ​​are based on a 2000 kcal / day diet for a healthy adult.

When any nutrient is at 5% or less it means that it is a low contribution and if it contributes 20% or more it means a high contribution.

5. In this section we will see the contribution of certain vitamins or nutrients expressed in% of daily value. The consumption of these must be high (including dietary fiber) this in order to improve health and prevent certain diseases.

References

Peñaloza, L. (2011) Resolution Number 333 of 2011. Ministry of Social Protection. Recovered from: https://www.invima.gov.co/images/stories/resoluciones/Res_333_de_feb_2011_Rotulado_nutricional.pdf. s