What’s in Your Food?
“Some people check food labels to help with weight loss. Some are simply looking to be healthier in order to live longer and feel better.”
Some people check food labels to help with weight loss. Some are simply looking to be healthier in order to live longer and feel better. And some have actual nutritional needs that must be addressed with every single food item they consume.The importance of providing food nutrition facts on food and beverages is well-known by the Food and Drug Administration. In fact, FDA outlines strict requirements for food labels. For consumers suffering with special dietary needs, proper food nutrition facts on labels can be more than a matter of counting calories or worrying if they’re getting enough calcium. It can be a matter of life and death.
Food allergen labeling is required on all items regulated by the FDA. The FDA regulates most foods. Eight foods are labeled as major allergens and those include milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans. With gluten allergies and sensitivities impacting more of the population, some consumers are on “gluten alert,” checking food labels for wheat, rye, and barley. These items can be disguised under other names when listed in nutrition analysis labels, including triticum vulgare (wheat) and secale cereale (rye).
For gluten-sensitive consumers, luckily some products now come with food labels that read “Gluten free.” This type of labeling is also done more frequently these days, with everyday products like cereal, oatmeal, and frozen dinners advertising food nutrition facts proudly on the front of the product.
Even if you don’t have an allergy or sensitivity to certain foods, reading food labels to know what is in the food you are eating can be an eye-opening experience. Just searching the food nutrition facts on the products you consume every day and noting your daily intake of the vitamins you need, can help pinpoint problems with energy or ability to concentrate. Monitoring food labels can also help prevent future problems.
Increasingly, more restaurants are putting menu nutrition analysis on menus and menu boards. While seeing the calorie content of the enchilada you love to order at your favorite Mexican restaurant can be an appetite-killer, these food nutrition facts can make a difference in your path to healthy living. If a restaurant doesn’t have food nutrition facts on menus, this information is readily accessible on most restaurant websites or, in cases where the website doesn’t have this information, on health and nutrition sites online.
For parents, choosing healthy foods for their children can mean scouring food labels almost constantly. Moms and Dads want to make sure their children are getting their daily requirements and by researching nutritional analysis on each product those children eat every day; parents can make sure their children are healthy. Food labels are especially important for parents of children with food allergies. Children can’t keep up with food nutrition facts, so a parent must check this information at the point of purchase. Nutritional analysis becomes more complicated when a family dines out, causing some families to make the choice to eat most meals at home, where nutritional analysis can be more easily controlled.
For shoppers, food labels generally contain all of the information you need to make wise healthy eating decisions for you and your family. But eating out can present all new challenges, leaving nutritional analysis up to your own research. Luckily, we live in a world of instant information, and food nutrition facts are available on almost every item you consume.
Contact On The Menu for Affordable Food Allergen Labeling, Ingredient Statements and Expert Nutrition Consultants to the Food Industry.
Author - Angela Powers
Tags - food nutrition facts, food labels, Gluten free
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