Before things like fast foods and shelf-stable foods, consuming nutritious meals happened somewhat organically. Without processed foods, our "traditional" diets made healthy eating fairly simple. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of our modern diets.
To eat healthfully today, one must be both intentional and knowledgeable. It's a topic culinary professionals think about often, and one that ICE Culinary Chef-Instructors cover at length in our Health-Centered Culinary Arts program.
At both our New York campus and our Los Angeles campus, teaching not just how to cook healthy meals, but how to know which ingredients are healthy in the first place, takes center stage within the program's curriculum.
Why? Because even if we follow a Mediterranean, Nordic, Asian, or African pattern, we still consume processed foods in packages — everything from dairy and nut milks, to condiments, seasonings, cereals and sandwich breads — and buy “healthy,” ready-to-eat packaged meals and snacks designed for convenience.
With so many food options at our fingertips, how can you be sure you’re making smart choices? According to Celine Beitchman, Director of Nutrition at ICE, understanding three key aspects of a product’s nutritional information — specifically, how to read food labels — is a great place to begin.
Understanding Food Labels
Food labeling laws require that among many other things, all food sold in packages include three key elements:
- an ingredient list
- how much energy a serving will provide (i.e. calories)
- how much and how many necessary nutrients are included
"Keeping an eye on all three items will go a long way to changing what you eat and how you feel," says Chef Celine.
Ingredient Lists
This is, according to Chef Celine, one of the easiest places to start. All food sold in packages must list ingredients by weight. That means the first ingredient makes up the bulk of the food in the package.
In general, Chef Celine recommends adhering to these three basic guidelines:
- Choose foods with shorter ingredient lists that don’t begin with sugar.
- Look for ingredients that you recognize.
- Look up ingredients that you don’t know. (Long chemical names can be a more accurate way to describe a micronutrient that may be added to culinary oils to keep them from going rancid. A good example of this is like tocopherol, aka vitamin E.)
The Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. government oversees the side panel of ingredients listed on food labels.
Calories
Calories are a measure of how much of the food we eat can be turned into energy to keep the body functioning. Most healthy adults need somewhere between 1,800 and 2,500 calories daily — ideally spread across the day — as breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
With regard to food labels, Chef Celine highlights two important considerations around calories:
- The calorie value shown in bold on the Nutrition Facts Panel is based on a specific serving size.
- Look at the calories per serving and ask yourself is that a reasonable serving for me? Or would I need two or three times that amount to feel satisfied? Or would I eat less? As you look at calories, consider how a serving (or two or three) fits into your overall calorie day.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees the Nutrition Facts Panel where calories are listed.
Nutrients
Nutrients is a big term for substances found in foods that humans need to grow and stay alive.
On the Nutrition Facts Panel you might recognize the macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. You’ll also see sub-categories of macronutrients, like saturated fat and dietary fiber.
The Nutrition Facts Panel also lists specific micronutrients, including sodium, iron, and calcium, based on public health trends. These micronutrients are those that consumers need to either limit or get more of.
Two nutrients — dietary fiber and sodium — provide good starting points for learning how to read food labels. They’re also two nutrients that we are woefully under- and over-consuming, respectively.
The USDA oversees the Nutrition Facts Panel where nutrients are listed.
Dietary Fiber
Like most Americans you may fall short on your dietary fiber intake, eating only a third of what you need every day. (Healthy adults need about 28-35 grams of fiber daily.)
- Choose foods that have five grams of fiber per serving.
Sodium
Indicated in bold on the Nutrition Facts Panel, sodium is an essential nutrient that helps to preserve food and adds flavor. If you’re like most Americans, you’re likely getting a lot more sodium than you need. (On average, Americans consume more than four times the recommended amounts.)
To curb your sodium intake:
- Choose foods with less than 100 milligrams sodium per serving.
- Keep track of how many servings you actually eat (to keep your intake below 2300 milligrams a day).
See and Taste for Yourself
It can be hard to fight the pull of packaged food marketing and familiar brand names, but learning how to read food labels is a smart first step toward prioritizing your long-time health.
To get started — because understanding all the nuances of food labels requires some in-depth knowledge — follow the below method:
- Focus on one food label feature for a month. This feature could be ingredients, calories or nutrients. (For the latter, choose one nutrient to focus on each month — e.g., fiber, sodium, etc.)
- Pay attention to it when you’re purchasing the food product — then read the label again every time you eat it or use it in a recipe.
- Take note of how these foods taste and how you feel after eating them.
- The next month, focus on a different food label feature (or nutrient), following the same methodology.
Says Chef Celine: "As your food label knowledge grows, your tastes will, too."
