I find food labels too confusing. So I stay away from label reading! How? Basically, if we limit ourselves to whole grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, nuts & seeds, herbs & spices, then we don't have to read any food labels! :-)
What exactly does Nutella contain? An infopic explains.
Added Sugars go by hundreds of names!
How to identify if a processed food has whole grains or refined grains? Identifying Whole Grain Products by Whole Grain Council is insightful but daunting — I find it hard to remember all these different ways of referring to whole grains.
Is it possible that a product is advertised as "Fat Free" but 100% of calories are fat calories?
Many products sold in the market have surprising amounts of sodium!
Is it possible that a processed food is labeled as 0% trans fat but it actually has partially hydrogenated oils (in other words, it actually has trans fats) in small quantities?
I was surprised to learn that Dairy Free and Non-Dairy two mean different things! "Dairy-free" denotes the complete absence of all dairy ingredients, including lactose. On the other hand, "non-dairy" products may contain a milk derivative like casein and whey.
"Plant-Based" has become a marketing term. But what does it mean? Does plant-based mean 'vegan'? No.
Tofu is usually made from soybeans. A few days ago, I was surprised to find tofu with soy protein isolate as an ingredient. Isolated soy protein is discouraged by Whole Food Plant-Based doctors.
Dr Greger has tips on buying processed foods with high fiber and low sodium.
Phytonurient and antioxidant rich foods are key to good health. Neither is listed on US food labels.
Jeff Novick has entertaining and insightful videos that explain the art of parsing food labels.