The Tribune

By Camelta Barnes

When you are considering the purchase of a new appliance or new car, do you just pick one off the shelf or from the car lot and buy it? Most likely not.

Typically, consumers want to know what is the best appliance or vehicle to suit their needs. For example, if you were purchasing a blender you are likely to pick it up off the shelf, read the label and examine the features offered to see whether that particular product will benefit you and your family. Likewise, if you were purchasing a new car you may find yourself researching its safety features, reading the reviews, checking on the durability of the engine and other parts. In other words, you want to make sure you are getting the best value for your buck. Do you practice this same due diligence with the food you place in your body?

In a course of one year you will probably consume foods and beverages that come from literally hundreds of packages. For the Bahamas, these hundreds of packages translate to food and beverages packaged from around the world, as approximately 95 per cent of our food is imported. This alone is reason enough why we should be vigilant in reading food labels. Do you know what is in your food? How often do you stop to read your food labels? Do you find it confusing? Considering the increasing levels of non-communicable diseases and obesity, taking time to read the food label can help you make informed and healthy choices that are right for you and your family. The Healthy Bahamas Coalition wants to help you unravel the mysteries of the food label.

So what is a food label? It is all the information you find on the package of food and beverages, including the pictures, the name of the brand, the amount in the package, the health claims as well as the nutrition facts found on the side or back of the package. Manufactures spend billions of dollars designing and crafting the information found on these packages to influence your purchase towards their products. One way they do this is through the enticing looking pictures on the front of the labels as well as the health claims, also found on the front of the labels. But don't stop at the front of the label, be sure to turn your package around in search of the nutrition facts panel where you will find standard information such as serving size, number of calories, amount of fat sugar and sodium, included nutrients and a list of ingredients.

Though the nutrition facts panel provides valuable information, deciphering it while grocery shopping or at any other time actually, may seem a little overwhelming and time-consuming. But don't despair, here are three quick and easy steps to follow:

1. Serving size

The first place to start when looking at the nutrition facts panel is the serving size and the number of servings in the package. All the following information pertains to the serving size. For example if the serving size stated one cup and the amount of calories stated 90, this translates to 90 calories in a single serving of one cup consumed. So if you consume twice the serving size you consume twice the calories - 180 calories. But if you ate or drunk the whole package and the servings per package stated five you would have consumed five times the amount - 450 calories.

Likewise, for the amount of fat, if the information states nine grammes of fat and you consumed two servings, you will be consuming 18 grammes of fat. But if you consume the whole package of five servings, you would have consumed 45 grammes of fat in one sitting and that is way too much fat, considering the recommended daily fat intake is around 65 grammes depending on your total caloric intake. But the scary part, it is very easy to consume too much fat without even trying. One 1 ounce bag of chips contains 10 grammes of fat. Yes, the little one-ounce bag. You know, the one that is filled with air and barely a handful of chips, and sometimes one bag is not enough and you find yourself eating three one-ounce bags in one sitting, consuming 30 grammes of fat easily just from three small bags of chips.

2. Calories and calories from fat

Next, scan your calories and calories from fat. The calories measure how much energy you would receive from a single serving of a food. The calorie section of the label can help you manage your portions size and your weight. As a general rule for a single serving:

• 40 calories is low

• 100 calories is moderate

• 400 calories is high

Calories from fat in a single serving are also found on the label. Calories from fat are not additional calories, but are fat's contribution to the total number of calories in one serving of the food. The nutrition facts label lists the calories from fat because fat has more than twice the number of calories per gramme than carbohydrate or protein.

For example, if the nutrition facts label says 90 calories in a serving and 30 from fat, this means that out of the 90 calories per serving, 30 - or one-third - are coming from fat. The remaining 50 calories come from other nutrients such as carbohydrate, protein.

Per cent daily value (% DV) helps you to quickly decipher at a glance whether a food or beverage is a good or bad choice for you. It is usually the section of the nutrition facts labels that is overlooked. It is a guide to the nutrients in one serving of food. For example, if the label lists 15 per cent for calcium it means that one serving provides 15 per cent of the calcium you need each day.

So put the calculators away, follow this quick guide to % DV known as the "5 - 20" rule and you won't go wrong. 5% DV or less is low and 20% DV or more is high.

This means that 5% DV or less per serving would be considered low and a good thing for all nutrients that you want to limit such as fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, but not good for the nutrients you want more of such as fibre, calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C.

20% DV or more per serving would be considered high and a good thing for those nutrients you want to consume in greater amounts such as fibre, calcium, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C, but not good for the nutrients you want to limit in your diet such as fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium.

So there you go, read it before you eat it in three basic steps:

Step 1: Check serving size - Remember that one package may contain more than one serving.

Step 2: Scan for calories and calories from fat - Remember 100 calories per serving is moderate and 400 or more calories per serving is high.

Step 3: Zoom into % DV - Remember 5% DV or less per serving is low and 20% DV or more is high.

For more information, contact the Healthy Bahamas Coalition (HBC) at healthybahamascoalition@gmail.com or call 502-4862, 397-1020, 397-1029.

The HBC is an organisation that links through collaboration civil society with government, the private sector, academia and international partners.

• Camelta Barnes is a public health nutritionist and member of the Healthy Bahamas Coalition Nutrition subcommittee.