You Can Have Your Chips and Eat Healthy, Too : Part 2

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

(Page 2 of 3)

Although it seems counterintuitive, keeping track of portion size may be especially important when a food is low- or no-fat. Two recent studies indicated that people who know a food is low in fat tend to either eat more of it, or to eat more throughout the day to compensate.

"Fat-free is not calorie-free," warns Diekman. "For some reason, people seem to think they can eat as much as they want of a food that is low in fat or fat-free." She points out that if you cut out every ounce of fat from your diet, but consume three times the calories, you will gain weight.

Kulakow agrees, and points out that fat-free or low-fat versions of snack foods often contain high amounts of added sugars or sodium to compensate for the loss of flavor that occurs when fat is removed. So she cautions consumers to examine the amounts of these nutrients on fat-free and low-fat products, and to pay close attention to the calories in a single serving to avoid concluding that fat-free is synonymous with low in calories.

Some Valuable Information

If you zero in on the Amount Per Serving section of the Nutrition Facts panel, you'll be able to tell at a glance whether a snack food is high in calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. "The top part of the food label makes it easy to compare chip A to chip B," says Diekman.

The first line lists the number of calories in the food, and the number of calories from fat. For instance, when choosing a dip, the number of calories from fat is a clue that salsa is much lower in fat than sour cream-and-onion. If you need to watch your sodium intake, you can also compare the sodium content of a serving of baked tortilla chips and baked potato chips before deciding which one to toss into your shopping cart.

In addition to listing the amounts of fat and other nutrients by weight, the Nutrition Facts panel also gives this information as a percentage of the Daily Value. The %Daily Value is based in part on the government's Dietary Guidelines and is meant to show how a serving of a food fits in with current recommendations for a healthful diet. "Many people only look at the number of grams of fat in an individual food, but have no sense of how it fits into the daily diet. The %Daily Value quickly lets you know this as well as whether a food is high or low in a nutrient, such as fat," says Kulakow.

Thus, the %Daily Value enables consumers to go beyond making individual food choices to determine how a particular food affects the overall diet. "For example, if you want a low- or fat-free snack, pretzels are a great choice. But if you eat two servings, you can get as much as 54 percent of the recommended daily sodium intake. Although you're avoiding fat, you're getting a double whammy of salt," Kulakow explains.

Diekman comments, "If you've tried baked tortilla chips and find that you don't like them, you may decide instead to limit the amount of fat you get by dipping your fried tortilla chips into salsa instead of guacamole. The %Daily Value portion of the food label allows you to make choices that meet your dietary needs while still eating the foods you enjoy."

At the bottom of the Nutrition Facts panel, you'll see that %Daily Values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Even if you eat more or less than 2,000 calories, the %Daily Value can serve as a useful reference to determine whether a food is high or low in a particular nutrient. "People know they should limit the amount of fat in their diets, but they don't always remember the recommendation to keep fat below 30 percent of caloric intake for the day or, if they do remember, don't know how to calculate the amount of fat they should eat in a day to stay within this limit. With the %Daily Value, however, the label does the math for you," Kulakow says.

The %Daily Value can also help you distinguish between two similar products, particularly when it involves a comparative nutritional claim, such as reduced fat. "You don't need to know the precise definition of 'low' or 'reduced.' Just look at the %Daily Value and see which is higher or lower in the nutrient you are interested in," Kulakow advises.

"You don't have to go to extremes — cutting out all snack foods from your diet or eating only products that are fat-free," she says. "The new food label helps you to eat what you like and still meet nutritional recommendations if you balance your food choices. The key is to use the label to help you make informed choices that fit into your total daily diet. That way education, not deprivation, can help you achieve your dietary goals."

Smart and Easy

Today, it's easier than ever to find a version of your favorite brand or type of snack food that is lower in fat or sodium — or both — than the "regular" version. With a bit of comparison shopping, you'll find snack foods you can enjoy even if you are on a restricted diet because of high blood pressure or another medical problem. These are some of the descriptors to look for on the front of the package:

• fat-free: less than 0.5 grams (g) of fat per serving
• low-fat: 3 g or less per serving (if the serving size is 30 g or less or 2 tablespoons or less, no more than 3 g of fat per 50 g of the food)
• light: one-third fewer calories or half the fat of the "regular" version
• low-sodium: 140 milligrams (mg) or less per serving (if the serving size is 30 g or less or 2 tablespoons or less, no more than 140 mg of sodium per 50 g of the food)
• lightly salted: at least 50 percent less sodium per serving than the "regular" version
• reduced: when describing fat, sodium or calorie content, the food must have at least 25 percent less of these nutrients than the "regular" version.

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.