"How to Read Food Labels: Supermarket Nutrition Demystified"

Do you remember the days when you could just go into your supermarket and load your cart with food and other products, and head for the check-out with ease? Supermarket shopping use to be a no-fuss-no-muss ordeal, but today, there is more awareness and emphasis placed on the foods we consume and how it does influence our overall health and wellness. With so many people pursuing healthy lifestyles, which include healthy eating habits, there is more reading going on in the supermarket-reading of labels that is.

However, one glance at a nutrition label could send someone, especially a novice, into a panic frenzy. What does it all mean? There are all these numbers, hard to read words, percentages, and facts that you almost feel dumbfounded when trying to understand what it all means. This can often encourage someone, who was thinking about reading labels to make sure they are eating more healthful and quality foods, to forget the reading and just buy whatever they need.

But, reading food nutrition labels does not have to be intimidating. Once you take the guess work out of what it all means, reading a food label can be a quick and easy task that will require little extra time during your supermarket sweep. Learning to read and understand food labels will help you compare nutritional values, and encourage you to buy more quality products, which in the long run can even save you money. Quality or product and value for your money are indeed important factors when going to the supermarket, and demystifying the food label will help you do both.

So, what does it all mean? Your typical food label can be found on the back or side of the product, and will be a white panel with black text. The label will be separated into sections that cover: nutritional facts about the product, facts specific to the serving amount, information about the actual nutrients in the products, daily percent values, and a footnote area at the bottom of the label.

Let's take a closer look at each section:

The "Nutrition Facts" section will tell the consumer about information regarding the product serving. There will be specific information on what constitutes an actual serving size for the product; for example, a box of crackers may have a nutritional serving size of 10 crackers, and those 10 crackers will be equal to 40 grams. The serving size is generally based on how much the average person will eat of this product

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