Easy ways to cut down the additives in our diet.
We all know intuitively which foods are healthy and which ones might not be that good for us. Nevertheless, selecting healthy foods in the shops might be a confusing task, especially with many of them being processed and packaged in some way. It is unrealistic to think that we can avoid processed food. Nevertheless, if we learn to understand the food labels, it enables us to make better choices about what we eat and our health. Often without any additional cost. It is time to understand food labels and shop smarter.
If we, as an example, go to buy a jar of peanut butter, we can select one in a glass container with no added sugar or emulsifier (100% peanut butter). We can also select one in a plastic cup with added sugar and emulsifier. Both might cost the same, but the first is a much healthier option for us (less microplastics, no added sugar, and no emulsifier).
Another example of a food that can easily confuse us is a bag of frozen pies. Pies are already sweet naturally due to their carbohydrate content. Nevertheless for instance in the USA, quite frequently a sugar or a sugar substitute is added for additional sweetness. In this case check for sugar or sugar substitutes. The brands want to make food sweet as we consumers are more likely going to reach for it due to its taste. Here a bag of peas that we presume is healthy might not be as great for us if we don’t do our label check.
It is time to look beyond colorful packaging and look under the hood of the foods that we buy.
Raw is best, but many foods processed in some way are fine as long as we pay attention to additives.
Ideally we want to buy as many foods in their raw form (apple, lettuce, egg). This way we limit the amount of processed foods that we put in our shopping basket. But of course, it is not realistic that we eliminate such foods. Nevertheless we can choose better quality and less processing. The food labels play a crucial role. They can either help us or trick us into buying wrong products.
Why should we be feeding big companies profits on lesser-quality foods when we can choose better-quality products instead?
Food labels can be quite complex. Many of us might find them confusing. And food producers like them this way. Even with the government guidelines, there is plenty of space left to confuse us, highlight or hide certain information.
Nevertheless, equipped with a bit of knowledge, we can be one step ahead in this game. Let’s leave the junk in the shop. Instead, it’s time to get better-quality products that are not only tasty but also genuinely good for our health. After reading this article, you should be able to do just that!
Why are highly processed foods everywhere?
There are many reasons why it is sometimes so challenging to avoid highly processed foods. Let’s look at this from the perspective of a food producer. Highly processed foods are great profit makers for various reasons. Such foods might not be good for our health, but they generate the most money. And money talks.
- They are cheap to produce as they are made of substances derived from foods such as starches, fats, hydrogenated fats, and sugars. Additionally, they are filled with cheap ingredients such as extra sugar, salt, artificial colors, flavors, and stabilizers (to maintain certain textures and consistency).
- They have longer shelf life which minimizes waste. This is achieved using artificial preservatives that prevent spoilage by not allowing growth of bacteria or mold).
- Processed foods are produced in a highly automated manner reducing the labor cost.
- They are mostly produced by large companies that can negotiate better input prices.
- They frequently utilize ingredients such as soy or corn which are often subsidized.
- These foods are packaged in a way that minimizes transport cost (for instance square shape and plastic packaging that does not deteriorate)
Don’t be fooled by the claims on the front of the packaging
Food packaging often contains claims that are misleading or downright untrue. All this is done to get you to buy their product. Don’t even waste your time reading them; all you need to check is the ingredients list on the back.
Here are some claims you can frequently come across:
Multigrain
Multigrain does not mean whole grain, only means that there is more than one grain and these are most likely refined, otherwise it would be marked as whole grain.
No sugar added
No sugar added does not mean that the product does not contain sugar. It might contain naturally occurring sugar. There is nothing wrong about naturally occurring sugar, but we need to take it into account when we look at our daily sugar consumption.
Low calorie
Low calorie only means that the product has less calories than the original product of the same brand. It does not actually mean that another brands are any more calorific.
Low fat
Low fat will make the product less tasty for most consumers and so would be less likely to sell. Hence it is offset by added sugar in order to ensure the product tastes good. Typical example is a strawberry yoghurt. It can be branded as low fat and trick us into thinking it is a good option if we are trying to lose a bit of weight but loaded with sugar instead.
Low carb
Low carb is like low fat in reverse. Many see low-carb diets as healthy, so food producers reduce the carbohydrates present in the product and replace them with fat in order to keep the taste good. Again, one is substituted with the other.
Zero trans fat
In the US, products can be labeled as zero trans fat if they contain less than 0.5g of trans fat per serving. With serving sizes being notoriously very small, we might consume a lot of trans fat from such products without actually realizing it. Trans fat clogs up our arteries and is one of the most unhealthy things we can consume.
European guidelines on trans fat are stricter, nevertheless trans fat can be still present. It will also be quite hard to spot. You need to go in the ingredients list and loo for partially hydrogenated oils which are commonly source of trans fat. If you want to know more about trans fat, have a look at article covering just this.
Made with whole grains
Made with whole grains can mean very little. Most of the product can be made of processed grains where most of the healthy part of the grain is removed. Only a minimal amount of the product can be made of whole grain, still the product can state that it was made with whole grains.
Fruit flavored
Fruit flavored does not mean it contains any fruit! A typical example can again be a strawberry-flavored yogurt. Upon further inspection of the ingredients list, we might find out that it does not actually contain any strawberry, but artificial colors and flavors instead.
Fortified/Enriched
Fortified/enriched means that some nutrients were added. This is common practice for cereal or milk. Still it does not guarantee that the product is healthy. Why? It can be loaded with sugar for instance.
High in protein
If we see a claim that a product is high in protein we need to check the list of ingredients. Typical example of such product would be bread. Does the protein come from natural ingredients such as beans or pies or has the producer just added protein powder to the product? This is important as protein powders are often highly processed and contain many ingredients we would rather not have in our diet.
All of the above claims hold little to no informational value when it comes down to making smart choices when purchasing food. Nevertheless, they significantly influence our purchasing decisions. Based on a survey of 838 shoppers focusing on how food labels and nutrition information impact our shopping, only 9.3% of consumers claimed that they utilize nutrition information on the packaging. (1)
Nutri-Score
Nevertheless, there is one good piece of information that is sometimes displayed on the front of packaging, and that is nutritional value displayed as a traffic light. If we are pressed for time, we can grab the foods that are marked as green or yellow. Foods that are marked as orange red are to be consumed only as an occasional treat.
But in order to understand if the product is good for us or not, let’s go straight to the back of the packaging, where we find a detailed list of ingredients!
Understand food labels and shop smarter
Rule of thumb: the longer the ingredient list, the less healthy the food. Normal food should have only a few ingredients. As soon as the list is getting lengthy, it most likely contains additives which make the product cheaper for the producer but of an inferior quality for a consumer.
Sugar
Producers get crafty in order to hide sugar. Some foods contain a significant amount of it. Over the years, producers have developed smart ways of concealing the amounts as much as possible. Counting the sugar per serving (which is often unrealistically small) is one way. Many of us might overlook this and think that the entire container is one serving. The best practice is always to look at calories per 100g/100ml.
Another way of confusing us is naming sugar in various ways, many of which we would not have even heard of. Hence, you may find foods with not just one sugar name, but a wide variety of them. Examples of such include barley malt, molasses, malt powder, maltodextrin, fruit juice concentrate, ethyl maltol, and rice bran syrup, among many others.
When you go shopping, pay attention to amount of sugar and added sugar per 100g/100ml and choose the lower sugar option among the products available.
Salt
Now that we know that food producers use various fancy names to hide sugar content as much as possible in the product (if an ingredient is split based on a name, it goes lower down in the ingredients list), it won’t come as a surprise that similar things happen with salt.
Here are some names that you can come across and they all mean salt:
- Disodium guanylate (GMP), Disodium inosinate (IMP), Himalayan pink salt, Kosher salt, Monosodium glutamate (MSG), Rock salt, Sea salt, Sodium bicarbonate, Sodium nitrate, Sodium citrate, Sodium chloride, Sodium diacetate, Sodium erythorbate, Sodium glutamate, Sodium lactate, Sodium lauryl sulfate, Sodium metabisulfite, Sodium phosphate, Trisodium phosphate (Source American Heart Association (2))
There are a few ways to reduce the amount of salt we get in shop purchased products.
- In case of frozen meats, we avoid the ones that have been injected with salt. This is visible on a food label, where such foods have in the ingredients list something like following: saline, sodium solution or broth. If possible, fresh meat is a better option as it normally does not contain added salt.
- If we buy canned foods, we choose the ones that have ‘no salt added’
- We check labels for various dressings and sauces as they can contain a lot of salt. We choose the lower salt options available. This is especially important for foods that are more likely to have a high amount of salt present. Such examples are pizza, soups, omelets and meals made with eggs, frozen meat, prepared pasta/burrito/taco meals.
Saturated fat and trans fat
Saturated fat is a normal part of food. Still too much of it is linked to various health issues and potentially increased speed of aging. Trans fat is normally occurring in some animal products in very small amounts. Though the most we see in the shop is a man-made trans fat. Such is very unhealthy and should be avoided whenever possible. The best way to choose is to look at a few similar products and choose the one with lower saturated fat and no partially or fully hydrogenated oil.
Just like with sugar, also with saturated fat see the value per 100g/100ml. Choose an option with a lower saturated fat.
Let’s stay in touch!
Is there anything on the food packaging that you have come across and you find confusing? Let us know on our Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn. Would you like to know more about trans fats? Click here! Or check join me for a workout!
DISCLAIMER: This article and any associated social media are created for entertainment and informational purposes only. They do not constitute medical advice or professional services specific to you or your medical condition.
Resources:
(1) J Educ Health Promot, Raksha Goyal and Neeta Deshmukh, v.7; 2018, PMC5903167, J 2018; 7: 56., Published online 2018 Apr 3. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_35_17, PMCID: PMC5903167, PMID: 29693037, downloaded from the web 07/10/2024,Food label reading: Read before you eat – PMC (nih.gov), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5903167/
(2) American Heart Association, 21 ingredients (that mean sodium) to watch on the label, 21 ingredients (that mean sodium) to watch on the label – Sodium Breakup (heart.org), downloaded from the web 07/10/2024, https://sodiumbreakup.heart.org/21_ingredients_that_mean_sodium_to_watch_on_the_label#:~:text=Today,%20we%20explore%20the%20ways%20sodium%20can%20be%20sneaky%20and
