Understanding Food Labels

Sometimes, looking at the list of ingredients is like reading another language. Ingredients that end in “ol” or “ose” are typically names for types of sugar, such as sorbitol or glucose; malts, nectars, and syrups may also refer to sugar, like high fructose corn syrup or barley malt. Salts can also be listed as sodium benzoate, disodium/monosodium glutamate (you may have heard of MSG) or sodium nitrate. Be sure to look out for salt; its taste isn’t always as prominent as we think — the American Heart Association lists the “Salty Six” as bread, cold cuts, pizza, poultry, soup and sandwiches. Something else to watch out for is partially hydrogenated oil, which is another name for trans fats. The ingredients on the back are listed in order of their prominence in the food; the more it’s in there, the closer to the top of the list it goes. In many cases, the shorter the ingredient list, the better.