MIKE HEATLIE: ARTICLES: 4 Secret Lies you Must Know when Food Shopping

4 Secret Lies you Must Know when Food Shopping!

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4 Secret Lies you Must Know when Food Shopping!

By Mike Heatlie MSc
Article Word Count: 825

1. The amount of calories on food labels – all is not how it seems!
This is a big one! People must pay attention not so much as to the calories intheir food, but to the TOTAL calories in their food. So many food labels only state the amount per serving calories and this can easily deceive people. As an example I’ve seen people eat crisps, or chips as they’re known in the US, from a bag which weighs 5 oz (142g). The food label states: Calories 150 Calories from Fat 80
Now the problem lies in the fact that many people don’t know that the food label is stating the amount per serving, so an individual may think they ate a bag of chips which had 150 calories when in fact the TOTAL calories is a whopping 750!! With 400 calories from fat! 750 calories is for many about half of their total daily intake. If an individual were to be drinking a large soda or alcohol with their chips, then it’s not difficult to see why so many people are eating far more calories than they realize. What is considered a serving size? Well this can be a cause for concern. What you may think is a serving size isn’t what is actually termed a serving size. For example “cookies” are deemed bakery products and for a household serving it must be the amount of cookies closest to 30g which is only about 2 cookies. I’m sure you, like I do, know many people who could easily have two, three, four or even fives times this amount in one serving!

2. Fatfree
is bad for your health! I see so many foods, mostly all processed foods, trying to disguise themselves as healthy by stating fatfree, 95% fatfree,
or virtually fatfree. People then think great we’re not eating a lot of fat so let’s get stuck in! The problem here is that the food companies add more sugar usually or flour which is not good for your health. Fatfree also doesn’t mean less calories, in fact fatfree food
products can actually have more calories than products with fats. A good example is yogurt. Many yogurts are labeled fatfree but take a quick look at the sugar content and you’ll quickly see where the lovely taste comes from.

3. Only 100% natural sugars used – what’s the difference??
I hear people say about foods or drinks that they’re consuming, “But the sugars are natural sugars”. What’s the difference? For some reason people believe that some sugars are healthier than others. It really doesn’t matter what foods or fluids provide the sugar, sugar is sugar, and it will have the same affect on your body once consumed. Orange juice for example can be bad for you as it has a lot of sugar in it; however it is better for you than soda because it has plenty of other vitamins and minerals in it.

4. Low, light, lean. blah, blah, blah
Again this can be highly deceiving. Just because a food or drink is labeled light, low, or lean, doesn’t mean it is necessarily. As an example the term ‘light’ can have nothing to do with calories or fat. According to the US Food and Drug Administration and the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, the term “light” can be used to describe the color of a food or drink. When you’re drinking a "lite beer" it may be that the color or texture is lighter than other beers. The term ‘Free’ doesn’t mean it is completely free at all. If it’s “calorie free” it must be fewer than 5 calories per serving, or “fatfree” and “sugarfree” it must be 0.5 grams per serving. The same goes for the term “Low”.

Lowfat: 3 g or less per serving
Lowsaturated fat: 1 g or less per serving
Lowsodium: 140 mg or less per serving
Very low sodium: 35 mg or less per serving
Lowcholesterol: 20 mg or less and 2 g or less of saturated fat per serving
Lowcalorie: 40 calories or less per serving.
“Lean” refers to the fat content found in meats, seafood and poultry:
Lean: less than 10 g fat, 4.5 g or less saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving and per 100 g.
Extra lean: less than 5 g fat, less than 2 g saturated fat, and less than 95 mg cholesterol per serving and per 100 g.

There are a few other terms which can be rather ambiguous such as “good source” which means that one serving of a food contains 10 to 19% of the Daily Value for a particular nutrient. The problem is that if a food is labeled “a good source of calcium” it may still have a lot of sugar in it.

We need to get smart when food shopping as people are being deceived on a daily basis. If you’re not clear on food labeling or food safety, visit the FDA’s website or contact them at
FDA
General Inquiries: Call tollfree 1888INFOFDA (18884636332).
Food Safety Hotline: 18003324010 FDA's food label information on the Web: www.cfsan.fda.gov/label.html.

Mike Heatlie MSc is one of the leading Personal Trainers worldwide. Mike holds a Masters Degree in Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise and a 1st Class Honors Degree in Sport & Exercise Science. He has a ten year Personal Training relationship with US singer Gwen Stefani, and is the author of the epic ebook 'Lose 10 Years, 10 Pounds, in 5 Weeks!'