Deciphering food labels
Food labels cause confusion for shoppers who are trying to make health-conscious choices.
One of the confusions when shopping for meat and dairy is the description of the food and its percentage of fat. When you are shopping for milk, you find many varieties of milk, from whole to fat-free. There is some confusion between whole, 2%, 1% and fat-free milk, and you can identify which one you are buying by the different cap colors. The percentages reflect the amount of fat by weight in the milk and does not reflect the calories from fat.
For example, whole milk contains 3.25% fat by weight, which is less than most people think. One cup of whole milk provides 8 grams of fat and 150 calories, which means 48% of the calories come from fat.
Reduced-fat milk is labeled 2% based on the definition that 2% of the weight comes from fat. One cup of 2% milk contains 5 grams of fat and 120 calories, so 38% of those calories come from fat.
Low-fat milk has only 1% of the weight from fat. One cup of 1% milk provides 2.5 grams of fat and 100 calories, which computes to only 22.5% of these calories from fat.
Fat-free milk, also known as skim, contains no milk fat and provides 80 calories in one cup. There is a misconception that skim milk is “watered down” milk. This is not true, however the flavor will be different from whole milk and other milks because of the difference in fat content.
Regardless of the amount of fat in these milks, each has basically the same nine essential nutrients, most notably 300 mg calcium and 8 grams of high-quality protein per cup. Understanding the differences can help you select the most suitable type of milk for you and your family.
The same type of labeling is used with meat identifying them by percentage of fat by weight. When shopping for ground beef, it may be confusing when you read 93/7, 90/10, 85/15 or 70/30 on the label. What this means it that 93% is lean meat and 7 percent is fat, or 70% is lean meat and 30% is fat by weight. Translating that into calories from fat, ground beef that is 93/7 has 42% calories from fat and beef that is labeled 70/30 has 81% calories from fat.
When selecting other beef sources, look for the words “loin” or “round” which identify leaner cuts. All meat is nutritious since it is an excellent source of protein and provides B-vitamins, iron and zinc to our diet. Choose meats depending on how you plan to use them in your meals. Selecting meats that are leaner and limiting portion sizes to 4 ounces will provide less fat, saturated fats and calories to your diet.
Understanding food labels can help consumers make healthier choices when grocery shopping.
Lisa McCoy is a family and consumer-sciences educator with University of Maryland Extension in Washington County.