Don’t Be Fooled By Low-Fat Food Labels

Have you ever really looked at the fat content on your milk carton nutrition label?  How about the fat content on reduced-fat cookies or crackers?  And what really is the fat content on “light” soup? Heck, what does 2%, low-fat, reduced-calorie and “light” truly mean?

Low fat food labels can be confusing, and the terms are often used in order to market a product as being healthy. But in some cases, “healthy” is a relative term. Fortunately, we’re here to break it down for you.

For a product to use the term “low-fat” on its label and advertising, its total fat content must be 3 grams or less. Two-percent (2%) milk really isn’t low-fat because it has 5 grams of fat per serving – including 3 grams of the artery-clogging saturated fat! In fact, 35 percent of the calories in a serving of 2% milk come from fat. For a healthy diet, it’s best to use 2% milk only temporarily as you work your way down to 1% or, better yet, non-fat milk.

If your can of soup (or any other product) says “light” on the label, it may not be low-fat. “Light” just means the product has half the fat of the regular version.

The “reduced-fat” label means just that – reduced fat. Not low-fat. For a product to be labeled “reduced-fat” it must be 25% less fat than the regular version. There are some reduced-fat products that have 35% or even 60% less fat than the original, but the food companies proudly list this on the front of their packages as though this product could really save your life.

And did you know that reduced-calorie has the same fat content as reduced-fat? Surprise, it sure does.

Don’t be fooled by clever marketing on package labels.  Now that we’ve demystified, 2%, low-fat, “light” and reduced calories, you’ll be better able to choose the best food products to include in your healthy SuperFoodsRx diet.