I am super excited to share this video with you today. Reading ingredient labels is one of the most important steps you can take when it comes to cutting out highly processed foods. And that’s because reading the ingredients is the number one way to know what’s in your food.
Honestly, food marketers make it no easy task though. They distract us with misleading claims on the front of the package and often use terminology that makes the product sound better than it really is. So watch along while I walk you through eight real life packaged food examples and explain how to decipher each of their ingredient labels!
Additional Food Label Resources:
- Understanding Grains (Whole, Multigrain, Wheat, Etc.)
- Gluten-Free, Multi-Grain, and Organic Junk Food
- 5 Ingredient Rule Explained
- Misleading Packaged Food Products: Roundup 1 and Roundup 2
- “Sugar Free” Does Not Equal Healthy (and more startling facts about artificial sweeteners)
- 7 Reasons I Hate Artificial Food Dyes
How to Make a Perfect Green Smoothie
Thank you so much for all of the helpful information you share on your blog! I was wondering what you thought of Trader Joe’s Inner Peas. Would you consider those a good snack option?
Hi there. While the ingredient list is short, which is great, it has both refined oil and a preservative. This makes it unlikely to come home in Lisa’s shopping cart. :)
Thanks so much for sharing this information. Food labels are so misleading it seems unfathomable that they are allowed to do this. I just purchased your book as i have developed a real passion to live a healthy life for myself and my family. I just discovered your website it’s so wonderful thanks for your sharing your knowledge!!
Hi Lisa! My name is April and I’m a teacher in Ellicott City, MD. I teach a class called Future of Foods which strives to teach kids how to make healthier food choices (among other things).
Last week, the lesson was about reading nutrition and ingredient labels and we watched your video. The kids really enjoyed you and the tips you shared so I wanted to thank you for making this video. You made my job easier and reached about 120 kids! :-)
Is there any one place to find bad ingredients on food labels? I had one last year that disappeared this year. You could search A to Z and it said what was ok or not.
Hi. Here is one that might help: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/about-our-products/quality-standards/food-ingredient.
thanks for sharing this video. I have been switching to organic over the last few months and was introduced to your website through a friend. I am guilty of assuming that anything organic is good for you. Ugh, so much to learn still!! I cannot get my family to switch over to whole wheat pasta to save my life, so I have been buying organic regular pasta. Same with organic yogurt – they won’t touch it with a 10 foot pole!!! Baby steps.
This was a great video, but showing a good option after each highly processed option would be really helpful to people who are new to label reading.
Hi. Love your blog. I hear the word organic thrown around alot these days. Can you explain what that term means. Thanks
Hi Joann. It means food that is grown/raised without the use of harmful pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics. This will help in detail: http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-the-usda-organic-label-means/.
Good Lord, there is no telling what all I have been eating!!. I thought that doing a pantry audit was good. SHRIEK!! I need to trash it all… I am assuming that you start off slow. Like with the crackers. If you find the correct ones..Meaning all organic then thats the ones you keep buying? What about cookies, cupcakes, cakes, pies. Do you make any?
Hi Victoria. Yes, it takes some time to figure out all the details that work best for you. You do not have to trash everything at once (though many do). You could consider doing the mini pledges https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/original-100-day-pledge/ which can ease you in one change at a time. And yes, Lisa makes a bit of everything. Just peruse the recipe index: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-resources/recipe-index/. :)
Great Video. Thank you! Just got the book and will start reading today!
Loved your video, and since finding your site I have slowly changed what we buy. The only thing is I would love to see a video with some alternative choices for things like crackers. As of right now we don’t buy any crackers because I was overwhelmed trying to find a alternative my kids would eat.
I found a cracker I love at Whole Foods. It is their brand, looks just like a Triscuit, but only contains whole wheat and I believe salt. Much blander that Triscuits, but with a chunk of cheese they taste great!
Hello Sandy. Lisa buys whole wheat matzo crackers and sometimes the Crunchmaster brand. ~Amy
Thanks for the info! Super helpful. However, you didn’t elaborate on what the 5 whole ingredient thing is… Can you explain that part a little more? Thanks!
Hi Jane. We use the 5 ingredient rule as a marker to help people when choosing foods that are least processed. The more ingredients, typically, the more processed…especially if those are ingredients that you wouldn’t see in a whole/real foods pantry. There are, obviously, exceptions but 5 ingredients is the yard stick we use. :)
Great video! I hope you have more videos in the future!
I have absolutely loved you blog! The recipes are easy to follow and it makes me so happy that my family of six is trying to eat “real food”. I am looking for some advice though. Somethings my kids just won’t give up. Especially when it comes to yogurt. My daughters love fruit or granola with yogurt. I have started buying plain, whole yogurt and flavoring it myself. But my kids absolutely hate it! I have to admit, I put a lot of vanilla flavor in and I was still on the fence! Any suggestions?
Thanks!
All yogurt is not created equal. We buy to a locally made organic yogurt that tastes so much better than the ones we’ve purchased in the super market. I have bought branded yogurt in a pinch and my kids definitely noticed the difference. We do put honey and berries and sometimes granola in the yogurt. I wouldn’t bother with vanilla. Vanilla requires sugar to taste good.
Try adding honey or maple syrup to sweeten it, then add fruit/granola. I also just add some of my homemade freezer jam (which I still made with sugar this last batch, but plan to use Lisa’s recipe next time).
Your blog is so helpful and informative. Thank you for helping demystify some of the tricky language used on food labels!
Thank you. This was helpful. Could you do one that shows more of what you found to be good, like the blue box of Annie’s Mac and cheese? That would save this mom of 4 some time with reading labels! 😀
Hi! Love your blog. I was in the supermarket the other day and I found these: Utz Multigrain Tortillas, advertised as “All Natural, Gluten free, No preservatives, and
No Trans Fat.”
Ingredient list: Ingredients: Whole Grain Corn Flour, Corn Oil, Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Flax Seeds, Oat Fiber, Evaporated Cane Juice, Toasted Sesame Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Quinoa, Soy Protein Isolate, Sea Salt
Seems fairly okay (especially for a convenience item) even if it doesn’t follow the “five ingredient rule.”
What do you think? What exactly is Evaporated Cane Juice? And what is Soy Protein Isolate? I see these ingredients on labels for a lot of “health food items.” And was curious as to what they are? Do you know?
Hi DeAnne. Neither are ingredients we would have in our pantry and would avoid them in foods. Evaporated cane juice is sugar and soy protein isolate is a very processed form of soy (condensed to mostly protein) that no longer resembles the plant. :) ~Amy
Just wanted to say I love your site and your advice on reading labels. I learned to read labels years ago when Sugar Busters first came out. I lived the whole “low fat” phase of the late 80’s and early 90’s. I have witnessed so many inconsistencies in dietary advice that it has been confusing at times. Thankfully, I believe, we as consumers are wising up to the games food manufacturers make when labeling food. That being said, herein lies my problem. I live in a “poor” state. The nearest “city” is an hour away. (Refer to this news article as to why Whole Foods won’t build here: http://www.ktbs.com/story/22468139/why-whole-foods-market-has-not-opened-a-store-in-shreveport-bossier) . The nearest Whole Foods is about 6 hours away. Shopping at Sunshine Health foods is a budget buster and lacks variety. The stores here carry very little organic anything. We are limited in our food choices regardless of our knowledge of or willingness to follow a whole foods diet. For now, organic isn’t really an option, and I feel others may simply give up if they can’t follow the plan perfectly. So it’s baby steps for us! I hope those who have full access to organic realize its not an option for everyone and also how fortunate they are.
So helpful and thank you so much. You do a wonderful job at explaining things. :)
Somebody told me once (I apologize if it was you Lisa:)) taht the easiest way to avoid processed foods at the grocery store is to ‘shop the edges’. Most stores have produce, eggs, milk, meat, etc. around the perimeter of the store and the processed stuff in the middle aisles. It’s not foolproof but it works fairly well depending on where you shop.
Very good info. Reading labels is sad because you realize that the things you have been consuming for years is not really food after all. I’ve been trying to go real food for a couple of months now. Challenging finding real food where I live.