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Nutrition Labeling. INGREDIENTS: Whole wheat, wheat bran, sugar/glucose-fructose, salt, malt (corn flour, malted barley), vitamins (thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, d-calcium pantothenate), minerals (iron, zinc oxide). Nutrition information provided on food labels.
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INGREDIENTS:Whole wheat, wheat bran, sugar/glucose-fructose, salt, malt (corn flour, malted barley), vitamins (thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, d-calcium pantothenate), minerals (iron, zinc oxide). Nutrition information provided on food labels • Nutrition Facts • Ingredient List • Nutrition Claims • Health Claims “Good source of fibre” “A healthy diet…”
Nutrition Facts table Amount of food: Compare this to the amount you actually eat. When comparing items, look at the weight/volume of food (rather than quantity). Calories: How much energy you get from 1 serving. Percent Daily Value (% DV): Helps you see if a specific amount of food has a little or a lot of the nutrient.
Get more of these nutrients (high % DV): • Fibre • Vitamin A • Vitamin C • Calcium • Iron • Get less of these nutrients (low % DV): • Fat, Saturated fat, Trans fat • Cholesterol • Sugars • Sodium
How to Compare: 3 steps 1) Look at the amounts of food Cracker ACracker B Cracker A has 9 crackers (23g). Cracker B has 4 crackers (20g). Since both weights are similar, you can compare these Nutrition Facts.
Note: • You may still be able to compare products that don’t have similar amounts of food. • Ex. You could compare the % DVs of a bagel (90g) to the % DVs of 2 slices of bread (70g) because you would most likely eat either amount of food at one meal.
2) Read the % DVs Cracker ACracker B Looking at % DVs for saturated and trans fats, sodium and fibre:Cracker A has 13% DV for sat & trans fats, 12% DV for sodium and 4% DV for fibre.Cracker B has 2% DV for sat & trans fats, 4% DV for sodium and 12% DV for fibre.
3) Choose In this case, Cracker B would be a better choice if you are trying to eat less saturated and trans fats, less sodium and more fibre as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Ingredient List • Source of information for people with food allergies or health concerns or for people who avoid certain ingredients based on their beliefs. • Ingredients are always listed in descending order by weight with the item in the greatest amount listed first. This can help you choose between products.
Nutrition Claims • Highlights a feature of interest in the food, such as “Good source of vitamin C.”
When you want to decrease the amount of certain nutrients, look for:
When you want to increase the amount of certain nutrients, look for:
Health Claims • Is a disease risk reduction claim • Example: • “a healthy diet rich in vegetables and fruit may help reduce the risk of some types of cancer” • Federal government regulations specify the criteria a food must meet before a claim can be made, and the wording of the claim to ensure that they are consistent and not misleading.
To make a health claim about ...calcium, vitamin D and regular physical activity, and reduced risk of osteoporosis, the food • must be high (or very high) in calcium • may also be very high in vitamin D • cannot have more phosphorus than calcium • must be limited in alcohol] • must have more than 40 Calories if the food is not a vegetable or a fruit More information on Health Claims on Health Canada’s website: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/label-etiquet/nutrition/cons/claims-reclam/table2-eng.php
General Health Claims • Generally developed by third parties or corporations based on information that is closely regulated by the federal government. • While it is required that this information be truthful and not misleading, consumers should not rely solely on general health claims to make informed food choices.
By third party organizations: • By corporations:
Note: • Because health claims are optional and only highlight a few key nutrients or foods, it is still important to refer to the Nutrition Facts table to make food choices.
Canadian Nutrition Labeling Policy • Nutrition labeling became mandatory for most prepackaged foods on December 12, 2005.
The new revised regulations will strengthen the labelling requirements to: • Declare "hidden" food allergens, gluten sources, and sulphites so it will be labelled in the list of ingredients or in a statement that begins with "Contains:..” • The food allergen or gluten source will be written in commonly used words such as ("milk" or "wheat") • This will provide a clearer ingredient label so that consumers can better avoid foods with ingredient(s) which they are allergic or sensitive. • Effective: August 4, 2012
Resources 1) Health Canada website www.healthcanada.gc.ca/dailyvalue 2) Nutrition Labeling Education Centre (Dietitians of Canada & Canadian Diabetes Association) http://www.healthyeatingisinstore.ca/ 3) Eat Right Ontario http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/NutritionLabelling.aspx