Why you have to read the nutrition label — a barbecue sauce comparison

I have repeatedly harped on the importance of reading food labels so you can stay on a low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet. And I’ve created an entire page of low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar products that I use regularly since my heart issues began in 2012.

With summer hear and all of us grilling outside again, reading labels becomes even more important for products you might not be using in winter, like barbecue sauce.

Take a look at these pictures of two brands — Localfolks low-salt, low-sugar barbecue sauce, and a store brand, Signature Select (an Albertson’s house brand). I use nothing by Localfolks now, but happened the get the Signature Select bottle free ina recent store give-away.

A serving of the Signature select, 37 grams, has 260 mgs of sodium and 12 grams of sugar, 14 grams of carbs if you count those as well.

The Localfolks measures one serving as an ounce, which is 28.34 grams, so about a third less. Still, it has only 30 mgs of sodium and 4 grams of sugar, five grams of carbs. Even adding a third to that gets you to only 40 mgs of sodium and about five and a third of sugar.

Salt and sugar hide in all processed foods, that’s wehy most Americans eat more than they should. Read those food labels, and happy grilling!

Beware any ‘healthy’ food claims

I’m always wary of any food, or food maker, that claims to have a health food. Such claims are regularly debunked,as in this post I wrote back in 2014. So I wasn’t surprised to come across this latest list of so-called healthy foods that can be anything but.

Know what you;re buying when you pick a yogurt to eat.
Know what you;re buying when you pick a yogurt to eat.

This list comes from Freshdailyhealth.com which republished a piece Rodale Organic Life had in 2015.Happily for me, of the five listed I only regularly eat one, flavored yogurts, and am very careful to read nutrition information before making my selection. Continue reading “Beware any ‘healthy’ food claims”

Activity-based food labeling? Wow what a concept

Reading food nutritional labeling is something I advocate religiously on this blog. Few people realize just how much salt, fat and sugar is in most items they pick up in a typical supermarket. Those who are aware are increasingly shopping at non-traditional supermarkets and food vendors, but I fear they’re not reading labels either, simply assuming what they buy at such stores in healthier. Big mistake.

I recently came across a fascinating concept out of England regarding labels — putting icons on labels to show how much of a given activity, say running, you’d need to do to burn off the calories in a given food item you buy. Continue reading “Activity-based food labeling? Wow what a concept”

How Much Salt Could be in Breadcrumbs? Too Much if You’re Not Careful

If you’re on a low-salt diet as I am, you need to scrutinize labels of every product you buy to eat or cook with, no matter how minor it seems. Even something as innocent sounding as breadcrumbs are loaded with salt.

I use breadcrumbs as filler for my lean turkey meatloafs. I also use egg whites to bind them together into the loaf, avoiding using whole eggs. It hadn’t occurred to me to read the salt content of the breadcrumbs until a coworker mentioned that she enjoyed panko breadcrumbs better than regular ones.

Read those bread crumb labels!
Read those bread crumb labels!

I saw some on my next shopping trip and compared labels for the panko vs. the Italian seasoned breadcrumbs I was buying. Both were store brand products. Continue reading “How Much Salt Could be in Breadcrumbs? Too Much if You’re Not Careful”

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