Do you read food labels and does it affect your food choices?

[prolesunited]

I do and it amazes me how much fat and calories are crammed into things.

Frozen foods seem to be the worst. I don't eat too much processed food because I can make a lot of things from scratch with a heck of a lot less fat and salt. I mainly buy frozen stuff for my husband because I work nights, although I do make double meals a lot and freeze half.

Anyway, I was at the store today and trying to select a Bertolli frozen dinner in a bag. (It was on sale and I had a coupon.) There were a variety of pasta choices, some with beef and others were chicken or seafood. I don't eat meat but he does and they didn't appear to be cardboard-flavored food.

THEN, I looked at the label, for most of the entrees, one serving had about 42 grams of fat and more than halt of that saturated. And the sodium was like 60% of the RDA. Who buys this stuff and eats this way?

So, what do you think about food labels?

[Random_Australian]

1. Yes, I read labels and it informs my choices. I love chemistry,

so I can understand some of the things they say.

But here in Aust, I mostly have fresh veg, which has no additives. Even our sausages are ok-ly good.

Thinking about it, it sort of informs my choices. I don't have enough money to actually BUY anything that I spot that is awesomely good, but at least I know it is there. It's a great antidote to greasy food too - I just don't want it.


:)

[Zookeeper]

2. Yes, I read food labels and have for years....

I'm not sure why, but, I learned about basic nutrition, on my own, at a fairly young age. (Maybe it was the subscription to "Prevention Magazine" my Grandmother gave me when I was a teen.)

Without being obsessive, I'm aware of what kind of nutrients are in food and what we need on a daily basis. Pretty much all processed food has way more fat, salt and sugar than nutrients.

I've decided that frozen veggies are OK, though, especially for those of us who live in the north. They probably have more vitamins left in them than "fresh" veggies that have been stored in a warehouse, trucked across country and then left on a supermarket shelf.

The cheapo "Budget Gourmet" meals (which cost about $1.00) are the one processed thing I started buying as a snack for my teenaged son. It's still better than chips or cookies.

[Redstone]

9. Nothing wrong with frozen vegetables. Thanks to Mr Birdseye, they have most of their

nutrients intact. Unlike canned vegetables, which are mushy and full of salt.

Redstone

[AshevilleGuy]

3. Oh yeah - I check for animal products, sodium, caffeine,

MSG, too many chemicals in general, fat, calories, you name it.

[kath]

4. I've been doing a lot of checking for trans fat lately,

including reading the fine print to see if any partially hydrogenated oils are in there (since, with the bullshit labeling law, a tiny "serving" can contain .499 grams of trans fat and still be labeled as "zero" grams of trans fat per serving.)

[GoneOffShore]

32. Don't be so afraid of the transfat thing EXCEPT

in 'food product'.

Naturally occuring transfat in butter is not that bad for you, unless you eat a pound of butter at a time.

[MonkeyFunk]

5. Yes, i do

It's very enlightening.

[crim son]

6. I look if I have a question.

Sometimes I choose to remain uninformed. :(

[u4ic]

7. Absolutely

I'm gluten, dairy and yeast free, so I have to read labels.

I rarely eat processed foods, anyway... but when I do, I'm mindful of the ingredients, as well as calories, fat/trans fats, sodium, etc.

[Redstone]

8. Yes, I do, and yes, it does. But we never buy frozen prepared foods. (Not a judgement;

if you or anyone else wants to buy that stuff, you'll get no criticism from me. We are fortunate that Mrs R has the time to cook every night, and I certainly understand that many other people don't have that time.)

You hit on two of the big problems: The best way to make a prepared food taste good is to load it with fat and salt. So that's what the manufacturers do.

So yes, it's good to read the labels.

Redstone

[LeftyMom]

10. I pretty much have to, the vegan thing and all.

[pitohui]

11. yes i do

i don't want to waste my limited food dollar on low calorie food when i need energy

[Redstone]

12. Want to have a heart attack, right there in the middle of the store? Read the label of

"Armour Potted Meat Food Product." I quote: "Mechanically Separated Chicken, Beef Tripe, Partially Defatted Cooked Beef Fatty Tissue, Beef Hearts, Water, Partially Defatted Cooked Pork Fatty Tissue, Salt. Less than 2 percent: Mustard, Natural Flavorings, Dried Garlic, Dextrose, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite."

In other words: Chicken scraps, cow guts, The Stuff You Cut Off a Steak, more cow guts, The Stuff You Cut Off a Pork Chop, a lot of salt to kill the taste of the guts and fats, a TINY bit of other stuff to kill the taste of the guts and fats, some sugar to help kill the taste of the guts and fats, and a couple of preservatives to keep the guts and fats, from going rancid.

Yum!

Redstone

[Kutjara]

14. Lol! I read the labels of "white label" foods just for the comedy value.

You know you're not getting the best stuff when the first ingredient begins with either the words "mechanically" or "rendered." Fish products seem to be the worst, since they always seem to to include, as a major ingredient, stuff that is best translated as "seabed sweepings."

[GoneOffShore]

22. Tripe is great, if you prepare it properly

So is beef heart.

We've just gotten used to buying our meat packaged and not seeing the "nasty bits" which are usually really delicious, once you know how to cook them.

[dropkickpa]

29. Oh yeah

Americans don't eat entrails or sweetmeats, and we are missing out! We are just spoiled witht he whole chicken breast only, sirloin etc. You can't have good sausage without at least a little bit of the yucky parts (I HATE artificial casing sausage and dogs).

[GoneOffShore]

34. Ever had really good pig's feet?

Had them in France last year. Wonderful.

[dropkickpa]

35. I've had

both home pickled and a cooked dish with them. A friend's grandmother makes them, and she knows to bust out the trotters when we come to visit!

[GoneOffShore]

36. How does she do them?

Wrap them up and braise them first and them bread them and fry?

[dropkickpa]

39. They are breaded and fried,

not sure what else she does, she usually has them just about ready when we get there, so all I do is eat and enjoy. I should ask her next time we're over there for her recipe, I bet Dropkid would like them, she'll eat anything that's breaded!


*edited to add - This recipe seems like it would impart a similar taste to what she makes http://www.porkpeople.com/cgi-local/recipenew.cgi?func=PrintResults&recnum=158

[Gormy Cuss]

25. I made the mistake of reading the ingredient list on a Mexican chorizo package

Someone was very precise in listing the "parts" used and it read somewhat like your translation. "Pig ears,lips, stomach... " That sausage went back on the shelf.



on edit: to answer the OP's question, I read labels and make choices based on the listing and the nutritional chart.

[dropkickpa]

30. I bet it was the best sausage ever! n/t

[Gormy Cuss]

42. Probably, but...

"Parts" sounds more palatable. I've eaten French andouille and know which parts are used but the package didn't lay it out in gory detail.:o

[yy4me]

31. Good Grief, I would not give that to a dog. UGG

[Kutjara]

13. I try to avoid a few things, like...

...high fructose corn syrup and (gasp!) asparteme, so I read labels for that reason. I never realized how much of that stuff is in everything we eat, even supposedly "healthy" foods.

[GoneOffShore]

21. You want a real scare?

Read Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

He starts with corn, which is in just about everything we eat and touch today, thanks to commodification and the people at Monsanto and ADM, and believe it or not the military-industrial complex. He moves on to beef, fed on corn.

I'm only part way through the book, but it's well worth reading.

The only thing I can suggest is to find a local farmers market, buy organic veg, grass fed beef, free range chickens and pastured pork and lamb. It's expensive, but in actual fact you'll eat less because it tastes better.

As Pollan said recently, "Eat food. Not too much. Plants mostly." He also said you shouldn't eat anything that your great-great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. So that would be Goyurt, HFCS, and anything with multiple chemical names and ingredients.

[Karenca]

24. I read it -- definitely worth reading. Also, I recommend

Fast Food Nation.

[Nicole]

15. Always.

I rarely buy processed foods. I'm fortunate enough to have the time to cook from scratch. When did HFCS become a food group? :banghead:

[grasswire]

16. yep

And it's pretty hard to avoid unwelcome ingredients in today's average American diet. My household includes two teenagers, one an athlete and the other an extremely picky eater who has sugar sensitivity. Lordy, I try (as the main cook and shopper) to meet their needs while serving food that has some integrity. We would like to go more local and organic, but I still have to find things they will actually eat. I read most labels. I try to avoid high fructose corn syrup in everything -- it's even in whole wheat bagels! I avoid most processed food. Our usual dinners are casseroles, tacos, pasta, salmon patties, meat balls or meat loaf, falafel and tabbouli, stir fry, roasted chicken. Always with a salad of some kind, and something grainy like polenta or quinoa or brown rice or bulgar or a loaf of good bread. We rarely have a real dessert on hand. Fruit at the dinner table, perhaps some cookies or pudding hiding somewhere for the athlete but away from the kid with the sugar problem.

I'm grateful for labels! We're so much better off with that info.

[SoCalDemGrrl]

17. Yes- stay away from high fructose corn syrup!

[RebelOne]

18. I read labels because I am a vegetarian and check to

see if any foods contain animal products.

[Chan790]

20. So do I.

and to check for the dreaded HFCS. The FDA really needs to ban that crap. It is crap too.

[Karenca]

19. No, because I don't any processed foods . .. nt

[unpossibles]

23. yup. My wife and I are Neargans (nearly vegan... lol, although she is more near than I am)

and you'd be shocked at what some of the strange sounding things really are. I won't tell you unless you ask though - not into the whole gross-out thing.

Anyway, I prefer to make things as much from scratch as I can. I do sometimes buy those yummy faux ribs and fries for a backup dinner for when i am too tired/busy to cook though.

If you want a further shock, look up the nutritional info for fast food. Subway is not too bad depending on what you get, but chipotle... holy crap. SO MUCH SODIUM!

[ThomCat]

26. Of course. You can't be Vegan without reading lables.

[ironflange]

27. You think the fat and calories are bad?

Wait till you have to start watching your sodium!

They've only required nutrition labels in Canada for a couple of years, but it's sure been a big help. I was diag'ed with diabetes about a year and a half ago, so I'm watching my carbs. The blood pressure has been creeping up lately so I'm watching the salt now, and the amount you see is mind-boggling. No more frozen crap for me, I'll do it myself and package it up.

[prolesunited]

45. We both have high blood pressure

so sodium is a concern. That's one of the reasons I limit processed food. You can do a lot with herbs and spices and leave the salt out. Now, when I eat something that has a fairly high sodium level, it doesn't even taste good to me.

[BarenakedLady]

28. Yup as a vegetarian it is a necessity. (n/t)

[dropkickpa]

33. Yes. Have to watch for artificial sweetners

I hate them all, and a few cause bad problems for me.

I actually have to read the labels on any and all lip balm type things because I am allergic to lanolin and just about all of them have it in there, I even have trouble at natural food stores, but I found Badger brand which works great!

[Dora]

37. Yes. High Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated Fats are not welcome. n/t

[1gobluedem]

38. Yes

I look for trans-fats, high sodium, and high fructose corn syrup and try to avoid all three.

[slj0101]

40. Yes, especially since the SO and I just started Weight Watchers.

[MissMillie]

41. I don't buy a lot of processed foods

So I don't feel very guilty at the bag of Bertoli that I eat every other month (and it takes 2 meals to finish it).

[prolesunited]

44. No, you shouldn't if its an occasional treat

But I'm sure some eat this crap on a regular basis. It would be interesting to see how much fat, calories and salt some eat on a regular basis.

[Rabrrrrrr]

43. I buy very little that comes with a label, and yes, I do read it.

Nothing with corn syrup, high fructose or not.

Nothing with a list of chemicals - natural, or I don' buy the shit.

[tandot]

46. I read food labels AND ingredient lists.

They can list ZERO Trans fats if the food has 0.5 grams or less per serving. They still have to list it in the ingredient list, though.

If you eat a lot of processed food, each having a little bit of trans fats, it can add up.

I avoid foods high in fats, sugars, and sodium. I don't buy anything that has trans fats or high fructose corn syrup in it.

[Alexander]

47. Yes, because I'm a vegetarian and I care about my health.

I always check for meats, meat products, gelatin, beef broth, etc. I immediately put it back on the shelf if it has any of these.

I also like to look for protein content (preferably high), trans fats, HFCS, Sat fats, and to see what vitamins and minerals the food item may have.