What is the main thing you check labels for?

[Barbara L]

If you are like me you check nutrition labels for more than one thing, but what is the one thing you check for the most? For me it is sodium. I take two medicines for high blood pressure, and I have to watch my sodium levels, so that is the thing I look at first.

If two products are similar I will buy the one with the lower sodium level. I love Velveeta cheese now and then (even though it is high in sodium), but I found out that the store brand (Food Lion's tastes just as good) is much lower in sodium, so I buy that instead.

So, what is the first thing you look at?

Barbara

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Fat grams first, then sodium.

My lunch tomorrow...basically everything I am eating has 30 grams of fat and 950mg sodium. And no fresh veggies.

 

[LPBeier]

I look for many things at the same time because of all our health problems:
- Gluten (wheat, barley, rye, bran, etc.)
- Sugar (Dad is diabetic and I am finding sugar is causing some adverse reactions in me)
- MSG, caffeine, sulfates (cause me migraines)
- soy, lactose, casein
- sodium

Yeah, I know that basically only leaves one thing.....water

 

[Barbara L]

I look for many things at the same time because of all our health problems:
- Gluten (wheat, barley, rye, bran, etc.)
- Sugar (Dad is diabetic and I am finding sugar is causing some adverse reactions in me)
- MSG, caffeine, sulfates (cause me migraines)
- soy, lactose, casein

Yeah, I know that basically only leaves one thing.....water

I know what you mean! If I tried to follow the dietary guidelines for kidney stones, diabetes, and weight loss, I'm left with water! For instance, I am supposed to eat a lot of beans for diabetes, but no beans for kidney stones! I'm not going to drive myself nuts trying to follow all of them, so I basically eat to keep the diabetes in check.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I look for many things at the same time because of all our health problems:
- Gluten (wheat, barley, rye, bran, etc.)
- Sugar (Dad is diabetic and I am finding sugar is causing some adverse reactions in me)
- MSG, caffeine, sulfates (cause me migraines)
- soy, lactose, casein
- sodium

Yeah, I know that basically only leaves one thing.....water

You are forgetting cardboard!

 

[Barbara L]

You are forgetting cardboard!

Oh yeah -- fiber!

 

[LPBeier]

You are forgetting cardboard!

That's the square thin rice cakes I eat now instead of cookies. Eating them puts you off from eating ANYTHING - great diet trick!

 

[taxlady]

If I'm buying jam I look for pectin. If there is pectin, there has to be more fruit than sugar.

MSG
Soy
Sulfates or is it sulfites?
"Weird chemicals"
sugar in things that I don't think need sugar

And now I will be looking for "BPA free" on stuff in cans.

 

[DaveSoMD]

Sodium
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Chemicals
Fat

 

[jabbur]

I always check for sodium since DH and I both have high BP. I also check the fat/cholesterol content on some things for DH's high cholesterol. Mine is fine so I don't go real strict on the fats.

 

[Andy M.]

What I look for on a label depends on the product. I'm more concerned with the food ingredients than the non-food ingredients. e.g., a can of corned beef should have corned beef as it's first ingredient.

In fruit preserves, the fewer ingredients I see the better - the fruit on the label (listed first) then sugar, pectin and citric acid. That's the best. When I see several different sugars and other fruit juices etc, I pass.

 

[joesfolk]

For us it is carbs, do to health issues but I am amazed (I shouldn't be) by the things manufacturers will pu in food. I was shocked the first time I read a label on Lawry's Seasoned salt and noticed that the second ingredient in it was sugar! There is something just so wrong about putting sugar in salt.

 

[Alix]

I check for preservatives first, and for any aluminum derivatives. Then I check the fat content.

I have to be honest, I look at the label of everything I buy and some stuff isn't worth my hard earned cash.

 

[Katie H]

I view labels in much the same manner as Andy M. However, since we have a garden and can and/or freeze many of our fruits and veggies and I can a lot of tomato sauce, etc., this leaves little to review at the market. Those products are pretty much eliminated. I also make all our bread products, so I know what has gone into those as well. We consume very few carbonated beverages, which are, in our view, useless anyway. Our breakfast foods during the week would be deemed incredibly boring and tasteless to our children (oatmeal, shredded wheat, etc.). This leaves mostly produce, and protein foods (meat, fish, poultry, etc.). Dairy is simple enough for us as we drink milk and prefer good quality cheeses, which are surprisingly available at our local Kroger store.

When it comes to reading a label, if the ingredient is impossible to pronounce and has a multitude of syllables, it can't be good for us.

 

[Bigjim68]

I check for salt first, then for ingredients whose names I cannot pronounce. I don't like chemicals added to my food, and I can always add salt if necessary. It is harder to remove salt if there is too much.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

LOL! I guess most things, if they have more than 5 ingredients I don't even bother. I don't buy that many processed foods anymore, all of the things I do buy have already been vetted for ingredients.

I managed to clear 7 canned and boxed items from my pantry when I went on the fat restriction and really paid attention to the sodium.

 

[pacanis]

I don't read the labels on my food
No health problems, nothing I need to avoid (except eating too much), I'm just not a label watcher. Oh wait, I try to avoid labels that say "lite" or "reduced sodium"

Now dog food... that is a different story. Dog foods aren't regulated like the food we humans eat, so it is much more likely something is being added that shouldn't be in there or that may affect our dogs' health in certain cases.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I don't read the labels on my food
No health problems, nothing I need to avoid (except eating too much), I'm just not a label watcher. Oh wait, I try to avoid labels that say "lite" or "reduced sodium"

Now dog food... that is a different story. Dog foods aren't regulated like the food we humans eat, so it is much more likely something is being added that shouldn't be in there or that may affect our dogs' health in certain cases.

I perk up and really read labels when I do see the words "reduced sodium" or "lite." I want to see what they have added to make it "taste better" most often they have added more fat or carbs or...

I saw Hillshire Farms has a new Reduced Sodium line of their lunchmeats. Read the label, the only thing reduced WAS the sodium and no odd additives. My first instinct on tasting it was deciding it needed more salt. Now I've gotten used to it and it tastes great!

 

[LAJ]

checking labels

If you are like me you check nutrition labels for more than one thing, but what is the one thing you check for the most? For me it is sodium. I take two medicines for high blood pressure, and I have to watch my sodium levels, so that is the thing I look at first.

If two products are similar I will buy the one with the lower sodium level. I love Velveeta cheese now and then (even though it is high in sodium), but I found out that the store brand (Food Lion's tastes just as good) is much lower in sodium, so I buy that instead.

So, what is the first thing you look at?

Barbara

I check fat and sodium. But, origin of product is criticial in my shopping.

 

[pacanis]

...My first instinct on tasting it was deciding it needed more salt. Now I've gotten used to it and it tastes great!

Now that there is funny