Nowadays, I pretty much check the label of everything I eat. It’s become a way of life for somebody who used to chuck things in the supermarket trolley without a second glance. Yet, the more I study nutrition, the more I’m horrified by what’s on many food labels! With everything from sneaky undeclared added sugar to E numbers and beyond. While in some ways ignorance is bliss it’s really important to stay savvy when checking what’s on the packet you are packing up.
1. Check for allergens
Luckily, things got much easier in 2014 when it became a legal requirement to mark allergens to milk, gluten, soya (and several other well known allergens). However it is still important to check the label careful and be aware of the following:
-Labeling a product wheat free does not mean it’s gluten free.
-Labeling a product lactose free does not mean it’s milk or dairy free.
-Even if the product doesn’t contain the allergen, read the entire label as cross-contamination issues have to be included too (usually worded as ‘made in a factory that produces….’ ‘or ‘may contain’) If you are just a little sensitive, you may not need to take heed of such warnings. However, those with true allergies or coeliacs need to be super careful.
2. Watch out for the word ‘reformed’
This is a new word I keep seeing on food labels but the worst culprit has to be for meat. If your meat is reformed it means it’s been reconstituted from lots of scraps (basically the parts of the animals nobody wants) and made into a paste to then reform it into things like chicken roll and chicken nuggets. As well as the quality of the meat being questionable, it’s also a concern as lots of fillers are often added to make the meat stick together and to taste like it’s fresh. Expect things like sugar, syrup and salt to be added. It’s much better to stick to 100% non-reformed meat.
3. Sugar
My diet is not 100% sugar free but I have started to notice how sneaky food manufacturers are about sugar. Did you know how many other fancy words there are for sugar? Cane syrup, glucose, fructose, raw sugar, corn syrup, evaporated cane juice. Whether it’s ‘organic’ or ‘raw,’ they all essentially have the same meaning….
4. ‘Sugar free’
I just said sugar was the baddie so surely sugar free is practically angelic? Think again. Of course many healthy foods are naturally sugar free, such as veg, seeds and nuts. However, the ‘sugar free’ craze has done more harm than good. Sugar free products often include aspartame (a sweetener linked to a whole host of problems) or high fructose corn syrup (a modified food product made from corn and added to most junk foods)
5. The word ‘style’
Scary story:Greek yoghurt in its natural form used to be highly nutritious for those who can tolerate dairy. It was full of probiotics and calcium. However, to cultivate the yoghurt cost millions of pounds of specialist equipment which meant it was quite pricey. Because of this, UK manufacturers decided to cut corners. They took regular yoghurt, added a bunch of ‘thickeners’ (yes I don’t quite know what that word means even!) and voila it tasted as thick of original greek yoghurt. But because it bore no resemblance to greek yoghurt, the phrase ‘greek style’ was invented. Watch out for any phrases that include ‘style’ and indeed any food that has a high level of ‘modifiers’, ‘preservatives’ ‘thickeners’ and anything else that suggests it’s been messed with.
and one thing to not….
6. Calories
Taken from www.goodfoodeating.com
All calories are not created equal! If you are eating a healthy diet full of fresh, natural foods- the calories are irrelevant!
One thing I miss in China is really great, plain or greek, yoghurt. It all has sugar in here and a lot of the imported ones are “greek” style like you say. I miss a proper yoghurt!