When you decide to change your diet, your first instinct is going to be to switch to diet everything. You'll want to eat "healthy" stuff you see on TV and magazine ads. All these diet foods claiming to be high in fiber, high in protein and that say they're great sources of everything you need to be flawlessly healthy, are very tempting. Little do you know, these claims are evaluated and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and they all mean something specific. We're here to help you separate the "good" from the "better than."
The role of the FDA is to inspect every single thing that goes on the grocery store shelf to make sure it contains what it says it does and is healthy for us to eat. The goal of every food company and manufacturer when they package food and put it on the shelves is to make it attractive to the consumer so they will buy it. With this in mind, the FDA must make sure that attractive claims aren't blatant lies.
There are two different kinds of claims food companies are allowed to make on their labels, qualified and unqualified. These designations characterize the relationship between a substance and a disease or health-related condition. An unqualified health claim on the other hand, is more general and refers to how a substance affects health but doesn't reference a specific condition. It's the difference between the statements "this product fights osteoporosis" and "this product builds stronger bones."
When evaluating health claims, it is wise to take into account that they are all relative. It's sort of like the lesser of two evils. Clearly butterless popcorn is going to be "low in fat" when compared to buttery popcorn. According to the National Dairy Council, the term "excellent source of" a given nutrient may be used when a food contains at least 20% of the DV (daily value) of a nutrient per reference amount. A food can be described as a "good source of" any given nutrient when the claimed nutrient is present in the food between 10% and 19% of the DV per reference amount. So if a box of cereal claims to be an excellent source of fiber, it must contain at least 20% the recommended daily value of fiber.
Be cautious of "free" statements for they can be misleading. For instance, a food can be labeled "fat free" if is contains less than .5g of fat per serving size. Therefore, fat free foods can be considered free relative to higher fat foods. "Free" is basically used to describe foods that do not contain enough of a substance to be a health risk. In some cases, it is best to consult your physician for recommendations on intake of certain foods that will effect any health conditions you may have. Flip the box over and look at the actual nutrition facts. This will tell you how much of the nutrients are present in each serving, and you can judge for yourself if it's low or not.
All of this information, and further explanation can be viewed on the FDA website, in the Food Labeling Guide. Your health is worth more than a passing glance on a pretty blue statement on the front of a box. Always seek the best information, so you can provide the best for you and your family.
