The truth behind the FDA food labeling guidelines!

I understand that in today's world, we all are wellness savvy, health conscience and very well educated consumers who are not afraid to ask questions and make the right choices! We all want full disclosure and demand only the best from the products manufacturers especially when it comes to the food. We want our family to consume nothing but healthy, no trans. fat, cholesterol free and low sugared stuff. We read the food labels carefully and a few of us can even tell what some of these ambiguous labels really mean? But is that enough? Or these guidelines which these food manufacturers use to label are so loose that so much misinformation can just slide right under the radar? 
With millions of food products on the shelves all over the Country, all FDA really can do is trust these manufacturers to be truthful and consciences enough to put the right things on these labels. FDA can merely dictate what goes on the labels and how it has to be displayed for the consumers but real testing of all of the products out there is impractical and impossible! 

I would take an assumption that most of the manufacturers are truthful and have no intentions to fool us and even then they have so many loopholes that I am not even sure what to say here? Here are some of common 'misrepresentation' or 'misinformation' which is legally allowed under federal laws! 
Lets try to unravel some of these mysteries....Most are self explanatory but I have added some of my comments in red on the following food labels guidelines! Remember these terms are Gov. mandated and refer to each serving size.

• Free or without means an amount that is nutritionally "trivial".
  As of January 1, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules on labeling allow foods with less than 0.5 grams of trans fats per serving to claim "zero" grams of trans fats on their labels. That means that consumers who consume three or four servings of these foods in a day will have eaten an extra gram or two of trans fats without realizing it!
  
• Low or little means low enough to allow frequent consumption without exceeding the "Daily Value" for the nutrient. 
• Most contains at least 10% more of the "Daily Value" for the nutrient than the reference food it resembles. I believe this is true, so if you are calorie hawk....beware.
• High, rich in or excellent source means it contains at least 20% "Daily Value" for the nutrient. Only 20% more doesn't mean we got a lot of what we wanted.
• Good source is between 10 to 19% of the "Daily Value" for the nutrient. This is still not that ambiguous.
• Light or Lite is a nutritionally altered product that contains one-third fewer calories or half of the fat of the reference food. I am personally not a fan of light foods!
• Lite can also mean that 50% of the fat ( compared to regular food) when the food derives 50% or more of its calories from fat. 
• It also can mean that the sodium content of a low-calorie, low-fat food has been reduced by 50%.
• Calorie free is fewer than five calories. This won't impact too much but it all adds up quickly if we are not watching!
• Low calorie is 40 calories or less. So read and calculate your calorie intake again because in a high calorie food, lower/lite version would not be that low in calories.
• Reduced or fewer calories means the product has at least 25% less calories. 
• Sugar free means less than 0.5 grams. This can be an issue if you are diabetic. We may keep thinking "sugar free" in our minds but we can exceed our daily quota in no time.
• Reduced sugar is at only 25% less sugar. A real concern for diabetic people.
• High fiber is 5 or more grams of fiber. We need a lot of fiber in our daily diets and in my opinion lack of fiber is one big health concern!
• Good source of fiber is 2.5 to 4.9 grams of fiber.
• More or added fiber means at least 2.5 grams more fiber.
• Fat free is less than 0.5 grams of fat. Portion control!!
• Saturated fat free is less than 0.5 grams of saturated fat and the level of trans fatty acids does not exceed 1% of total fat.
• Low fat contains 3 grams or less.
• Reduced or less fat is at least 25% less. This is again important as we are talking about fat!
• Low saturated fat is 1 gram or less and not more than 15% of calories.
• Reduced or less saturated fat is at least 25% less.
• Cholesterol free means less than 2 mg of cholesterol and 2 grams or less of saturated fat. Naturally present cholesterol is something which just can't be avoided sometimes like in eggs and shrimp.
• Low in cholesterol is 20 mg or less of cholesterol and 2 grams or less saturated fat.
• Reduced or less cholesterol means it is 25% less cholesterol and 2 grams or less of saturated fat.
• Sodium free is less than 5 mg. This is important as extra Sodium is the single biggest reason of weight gain, in my opinion.
• Low sodium means less than 140 mg or less.
• Very low sodium is 35 mg or less. Very low sodium has still has so much sodium.
• Reduced sodium is at least 25% less.
• Light in sodium contains at least 50% less.
• Lean means the product has less than 10 grams of fat, less than 4 grams of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg of cholesterol per serving and per 100 grams.
• Extra lean is less than 5 grams of fat, less than 2 grams of saturated fat, and less than 95 mg of cholesterol per serving and per 100 grams. So even extra lean does not give us a green signal to keep munching our favorite fatty snack all day long!

So the bottom line is that we need to watch what are eating but don't dwell too much on the labels. Labels should be used to educate ourselves and know what's in the box but they can't be over read or under read and be allowed to mislead us in making wrong choices and create unhealthy eating habits. My point here is that we need to know the real info. on the labels  and just because the front of the box says "low, lite, lean, reduced, fewer" does not mean that we become carefree and are free to over indulge!

~Dr V

Reference: http://www.eat-well-to-be-well.com/food-labels.htm