Dedicating time each week for a quality grocery shop is key for maximizing a healthy eating routine. Although it may seem like a drag to make a trip to the grocery store, knowing exactly what to look for and the basics of interpreting a nutrition label will help save both time and money while shopping.
F45 Nutritionist Kim Bowman notes that a grocery shop shouldn’t take more than 30 to 45 minutes, as long as you have an idea of what meals you’d like to prepare for the week. Additionally, understanding a nutrition label/panel is a major time saver at the grocery store, particularly with packaged foods. Food manufacturers often use marketing tactics to make a product appear healthy on the outside, even if it contains hidden ingredients like added sugar and trans fats.
When it comes to making decisions about food items, being able to quickly read a food panel/label ensures you’ll know exactly what ingredients are in various food items (and what to watch out for)! Check out these tips below for stress-free, time-efficient grocery shopping.
Food labels provide key nutrient information and can be a great tool to compare the quality of food items. By understanding how to effectively compare food items – from the number of calories to the amount of added sugar – we can make healthier choices and stay on track with our daily targets. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, food labels can be broken down into four components: 1) serving information, 2) calories, 3) nutrients, and 4) daily value (%).
Serving size information
The serving size is the typical amount of a specific food item that one would normally consume. It’s important to note that it is not a specific recommendation for the amount that one “should” eat but instead what he or she would “typically” eat. Additionally, all items on a food label are a reflection of the serving size and may need to be doubled or tripled depending on how much of that item is consumed. Food manufacturers can underestimate these typical portions, resulting in the serving size being lower than what you would regularly eat. For example, if the serving size for a dressing or marinade was 2 tablespoons but you used 4 tablespoons, you would then need to double all calories, sugars, and nutrients on the label.
Calories
The ‘calories’ on a nutrition label provide a measure of how much energy there is in one serving of the food item. These labels are generalized to a 2,000 calorie per day diet. However, daily caloric needs will largely vary depending on an individual’s total daily energy expenditure, which also takes into account age, gender, and activity level. Aside from calories, the label may also indicate ‘calories from fat,’ which highlights the total amount of energy we obtain solely from fat.
Nutrients
Now that we’ve looked at both the serving size and total calories, it’s all about breaking down the macronutrients and micronutrients. Understanding this section of a nutrition label will make you an expert at comparing. Why is it important to be able to analyze nutrients? Food manufacturers will often use deceptive marketing tactics to make their processed products with no nutritional value appear healthier. Granola bars, protein bars, and fruit juices for example may use terms such as “all-natural, “gluten-free”, or “antioxidant” to create a false sense of health. However, it’s not uncommon for ultra-processed foods to contain large amounts of added sugar or partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats) [3].
The key nutrients outlined on a nutrition label include:
- Total fat, saturated fat, trans fat
- Protein
- Carbohydrates, dietary fiber, sugar
- Cholesterol
- Sodium
- Vitamins and minerals; vitamin A, C, calcium, iron
What to include and what to avoid?
As highlighted by the FDA, the nutrients we should obtain more of include dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and potassium. Dietary fiber is not only essential for healthy digestion but it provides subsistence to our meals which keeps us feeling fuller for longer throughout the day. Additionally, high-fiber foods tend to have a lower glycemic index, which limits spikes in insulin that would normally occur with refined carbohydrates like white flour and white sugar. The FDA also recommends that we limit added sugars and excess sodium while avoiding trans fats and moderating our intake of saturated fat [5]. Industrial trans fats such as partially hydrogenated oils—including soybean oil and canola oil—have been linked to higher levels of inflammation within the body [1].
Total sugar vs added sugar
When considering sugar on a food label, it’s important to check both ‘total sugar’ and ‘added sugar.’ Total sugars are those naturally present in foods such as fruit (fructose), while added sugars are those that have been removed from their original source and added to foods or beverages during processing. Excess consumption of added sugar can make it difficult to meet daily nutrient needs while staying within our recommended daily caloric intake. There are about 61 different names for sugar listed on a food label including sucrose, dextrose, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltodextrin, and dehydrated cane juice. Based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, it is recommended that we limit our added sugar consumption to 10% of total calories [6].
% daily value
Lastly, the percentage Daily Value (%DV) on a nutrition label provides the percentage of the daily value for each nutrient in a serving of food. This is a critical part of a food label, as it indicates whether a food is high or low in a specific nutrient. The FDA indicates that less than 5%DV of a specific nutrient is considered ‘low’ while 20%DV or higher is considered ‘high’ []. The %DV is key for comparing similar food items so as long as the serving sizes are the same. Be sure to choose food items with a high %DV for dietary fiber while choosing low %DV for saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.
Aside from knowing what our daily caloric intake is, accurately reading food labels will allow us to stay on track with our health by being able to effectively differentiate food items. Just because an item’s packaging makes it appear healthy at the grocery store does not mean the nutritional value reflects this on the food label. You can be proactive with your health by understanding how to compare nutrient-dense items from those with little to no nutritional value.
Shopping smarter: 5 top tips
1. Have an idea of what meals you’re prepping for the week
Luckily, the Challenge Cook-at-Home Meal Plans include a weekly grocery list catered to meals for each week. The list is broken into produce, proteins, condiments, veggies, fruit, dairy/dairy-alternatives, and dry good categories, so you’ll know exactly what aisle to go to while shopping. Just be sure to make modifications to the shopping list according to your dietary preferences!
2. Make a weekly grocery list to replenish perishable items
Before heading to the store, it’s always a good idea to do an overhaul of your perishable food items and make a short list of items that you’ll need to prep meals for the following week. The dry goods and condiments noted in the Cook-At-Home shopping list don’t need to be stocked as often as perishable food items. A time-efficient weekly grocery shop means you’ll not only avoid having to do a complete grocery store restock when you realize you have absolutely no food at home, but will ensure you don’t double up on items that you already have on hand.
3. Avoid grocery shopping on an empty stomach
Let’s face it, all of the baked goods and sweet treats at the grocery store can often distract us from what we actually need to purchase. When we shop on an empty stomach, our hunger can get the best of us, making it difficult to concentrate and causing us to buy unnecessary, often unhealthy items (think candy and chips) that can really rack up our grocery bill! Having a healthy snack with protein and fibre prior to shopping will curb hunger and cut sugar cravings so we stay focused on purchasing quality food. Another tip: the majority of processed and packaged foods are typically found in the middle aisles, while the fresh produce and proteins are found on outer areas of the store (our go-to aisles).
4. Avoid added sugar
Food labels provide key nutrient information and can be a great tool with which to compare the quality of food items. However, these labels can be misleading, especially when it comes to differentiating total versus added sugar. While total sugars are those naturally present in foods such as fruit (fructose), added sugars are those that have been removed from their original source, heavily processed, and added to foods or beverages to boost flavour (unnaturally).
Excess consumption of added sugar has been linked to a number of chronic health conditions, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. The difficulty with nutrition labels is that the ‘total sugars’ section combines naturally occurring sugars and added sugars, making it tough to differentiate how much added sugar is actually in an item.
Additionally, while we often think of added sugar in baked goods and candy, it can also be hidden in savoury foods such as sauces, dressings, and bread. Therefore, when assessing nutrition labels, the key is to check the ingredient list. There are a variety of different names for added sugar, with the most common noted below:
- Sucrose
- Dextrose
- Cane Juice, Cane Syrup, Evaporated Cane Juice
- High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Sweeteners
- Malt Sugar or Malt Syrup
- Fruit Juice Concentrates
- Agave Nectar
- Molasses
5. Avoid shopping at peak hours
Sunday afternoons are typically the busiest time to hit the grocery store. To avoid long lines and over-picked produce, it’s best to plan your shop during off-hours, whether that’s early morning, evenings, or during the week. Once you find a time that works well with your schedule, aim to stay consistent and dedicate this time to your weekly routine. Not only will this maximize time-efficient shopping, but you’ll get into a habit of making a quick shop a priority, which means you won’t have to endure those long Sunday afternoon lines.
This article is based on the nutrition guidelines outlined by the FDA and refers to an estimated 2,000 calorie per day diet. For more information related to nutrition labels please visit the US Food and Drug Administration at https://www.fda.gov/
