Nutritional Claims You Shouldn't Fall For

"Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Being healthy is popular right now. And that's a good thing, right? Everywhere you look things claim to be low in this or good for that but what do these things really mean? What does it take for a company to make these claims and does it always make them the healthier choice?

Lightly Sweetened-The problem with this claim is there is no actual definition to what "lightly" actually is. Fitness Magazine targets SmartStart cereal as the perfect culprit to this false claim-"there is more sugar per cup than a full serving of oreo cookies"

Good Source of-You see this claim everywhere. Good source of fiber, good source of Calcium...good source of lies! In order to make this claim your product needs 10-19% of the daily value-meaning you need 5 to 10 servings of this stuff to meet the recommended amount.

Reduced Fat-This one has sucked me in time and time again. To make this claim it means you reduced the fat by 25% but products typically increase in sugar and sodium so you still have flavor. Not a nutritional benefit.

Multigrain-Don't confuse this with whole grains, multigrain simply means multiple grains. The only thing you can trust is the 100% whole grain claim!

Light-1/3 fewer calories than the original, well this can still be a lot of calories if you started with a highly caloric item!

Lightly breaded-Regardless of how light the breading is, this has still been cooked in oil and rolled in eggs and bread crumbs.

Natural-All you are doing is throwing away money. While they are more expensive, USDA has no set requirements for this claim. With the exception of meats, anyone can throw this label on.

Reduced Sodium-If something has a ton of sodium to begin, reducing the sodium is only making it slightly less than a lot. Rather, low sodium means there is only 140 g per mg.

Trans-fat Free-Don't trust the claim on the box, read the food label! To say it is trans-fat free your product has .49 g of trans fat, which doesn't sound like a lot right?! Considering we should have a daily intake of less than 2 g this is actually a significant amount. If ingredients include partially hydrogenated oil or shortening than it is not truly free of trans-fats.

My downfall is low-fat, what food claim convinces you to buy the product?

You can't always believe everything you read, know your foods!

Megan