All processed food products have them. They don’t tell us everything we need to know, but they are better than nothing. For starters, they do not provide the totality of the nutrition based on a standard baseline, just a snapshot for a “serving size.” That means one set of facts can’t always be directly compared to another set of facts. Of course, that’s not the way it works when it comes to whole foods. Just the same though, Nutrition Facts (NF) are revealing.

The NF label usually provides the percent per serving of the following: Total Fat, Saturated Fat, Trans Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Total Carbohydrate, Dietary Fiber, Total Sugars, Added Sugars, Protein, Vitamin D, Calcium, Iron, and Potassium.

In my opinion, when it comes to Total Fat, Saturated Fat, and Cholesterol I’m more concerned about the composition of the fat rather than just any fat. That’s where the Ingredients list is actually more helpful. Animal Fats are healthier than vegetable fats.

Everyone should pay attention to the quantities of Sodium, Total Carbohydrate, Dietary Fiber, Total Sugars, Added Sugars, Protein, and Potassium. Foods high in Sodium, Total Carbohydrate, Dietary Fiber, Total Sugars, Added Sugars, and Potassium can be concerns for many people. So that information is important.

If the NF label gets a nod, then it’s imperative that I look at the ingredients. Here’s where many consumers draw strict lines in the sand. In the headline image is a typical Ingredients listing. They are required to be listed in descending order by weight, starting with the heaviest ingredient first. This makes sure consumers understand what is actually in the product.

In the example above, the ingredients are for Chef Boyardee Mini Beef Ravioli and Meatballs in a 15-ounce can. Can you tell me what are the first three ingredients? They are Tomatoes (tomato puree and water) followed by water, then Meatballs (pork, dark chicken, mechanically separated beef, water, crackermeal, [enriched wheat flour {bleached white flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid}. That’s how the first three ingredients (Tomatoes, Water, and Meatballs) are described. Then the list goes on and on.

Now the rest of the Ingredients is where it really gets interesting.

Imagine yourself in a High School Chemistry class. You are given an assignment to make up a compound. Before you are a dozen jars of chemicals. The directions tell you to use your Pipettes and mix the chemicals (so many drops at a time) in a test tube. If all goes well, it will become whatever. In some cases, one drop too many of a certain chemical and it fizzes over the top and you get an F.

Now look at the list of chemicals that have been dribbled into the can of Beef Ravioli and Meatballs. Some of the chemicals listed for the Beef Ravioli and Meatballs require a background in food science in order to know what it does. That kind of research is a little difficult to do with a cell phone in a grocery store. But some stand out as popular chemicals that cross my red lines.

Of course just how dangerous a chemical is has a lot to do with the dose. So if you binge on some of them, it won’t be good. But a dab now and then certainty won’t kill you. For some people a little exposure causes discomfort and you probably know who you are.

For all the reasons above are why eating whole foods is a safer approach. Some of the safest foods to eat are minimally-processed Grass-Fed Meats (Beef, Lamb, Goat, Buffalo), Omega-3 Chicken, Omega-3 Pork, and Wild-Caught Seafood from Slanker Ranch.

How to Make Ingredient Labels: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide by Staff Writer from State Food Safety
https://www.statefoodsafety.com/how-to-make-ingredient-labels

How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label from FDA
https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/how-understand-and-use-nutrition-facts-label