The Importance of Reading Food Labels

It never ceases to surprise me how people buy products without reading the labels. Then, when the person consumes the product, ill health besets them. All the individual needed to do was know what they were consuming.

Reading product labels will give you insight into what ingredients are in the product. If you are allergic to peanuts, the food label will tell you whether or not the food you are considering buying actually contains peanuts. Or, it will state whether the food was processed in a peanut processing manufacturing plant. (This means that the factory produces other products that contain peanuts and bits of the peanuts might have gotten into the food you are considering purchasing).

Food labels will tell you the amount of fat the product contains. It will breakdown the fat into saturated, unsaturated and trans fats. This is important if you are monitoring your fat content.

Other things you can learn from reading a food label: sugar content, calories per serving (take note of what is considered a serving size), cholesterol, sodium (salt), carbohydrates, fiber, protein and ingredients. Ingredients are listed from the most prominent to the least used. (The first ingredient listed will be what the product contains the most of).

Labels will let you know whether those “healthy” energy drinks contain caffeine or other energy-producing ingredients. If you cannot tolerate caffeine, don't buy an energy drink that contains caffeine. This needs to be mentioned since a newsworthy piece lately centered around a lady who was surprised she ended up in the emergency room after drinking an energy drink. The energy drink contained caffeine. She didn't read the label. She thought the drink was “all natural” and “healthy” as the advertising claim stated. Caffeine is all-natural.

It was not that long ago that food labels did not exist on our products. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) initiated a grass roots operation to protect us consumers. Food manufacturing are now required to list the ingredients in the products they sell in our marketplace. Be appreciative of the fact that they do. There is a ways to go with the information these labels state. For the time being, however, they have come a long way. USE THEM. You are responsible for your health, no one else.

Find interesting? Kindly share....