Lowdown on Labels

Do you find all the labels on food as confusing as I do?

Enjoy the following simple explanation for the foods you are purchasing for your family and yourself.

Less Reliable Labels

No Antibiotics Administered

    The "antibiotic-free" label has been banned by the USDA, however it is allowing the "No Antibiotics Administered" and "Raised without Antibiotics" to be used.  Keep in mind there is no system to verify these claims.

Free Range

    I was under the assumption that the animals were allowed to roam free with this label.  Here is the scoop, the USDA regulates this on poultry (not beef or eggs), but keep in mind that as little as five minutes of open-air access will qualify.

Fresh

    Ever wonder why your chicken is still frozen at the store when you buy it even though it states "Fresh" on the label?  That is because the USDA allows chicken that has been stored up to 8 degrees below freezing to still be labeled "fresh".

No Hormones Administered

     Once again, the USDA banned the "Hormone Free" label, but allows the "No Hormones Administered" without any verification of the claim. Here's the catch, The United States has banned the use of hormones in hogs and poultry, so pork and poultry products labeled "No Hormones Administered" aren't any different than those without any labels.

Natural

    You will find this on meat and chicken, but since there is no real definition or regulation of what "natural" means it actually holds no meaning.

Now for the Good News

USDA Organic

This means that the food can not be irradiated, grown or raised with synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, antibiotics, sewage sludge or genetically modified crops.  In addition, the animals must be fed 100 percent organic feed without animal byproducts or growth hormones.

What to Look For

Start looking for a new label, which is the ONQI.  This is possibly the most thorough of the current rating systems because it uses 30 nutrient factors to rate products.  This was developed by Yale Prevention Research Center and stands for Overall Nutrition Quality Index.

Another great label is for the Mediterranean Diet.  Items like whole grain pasta, hummus, olives and other ethnic whole foods that meet the health criteria for the Mediterranean diet will display a label of "Med Mark".

There are even more labels to decipher, but for now I do hope this has helped to educate and assist you when purchasing your next items at the grocery store.

Comments

[potenta]

If you consider your food labeling confusing...please come to Romania, where there are no food labeling, or they are false.

so...