The Smart Choice for People on a Diet: Read the Label

For years consumers and consumer advocates have been screaming for new and better disclosures of the ingredients in the foods we purchase. This particularly includes can goods and wrapped items in grocery stores. Are these items good for us or are they not? How can we tell? Consumers try to be buyers that are more aware and knowledgible of the food they consume. There are the children to think of these days. How many calories are we consuming? Is there too much cholesterol? Will it affect my salt intake? Is this product bad for my particular diet? How do I make sense of these labels?

Being aware of what you consume.

Dieticians across the nation want you to be aware of just how many calories are being ingested daily. Their concern has risen greatly over the years due to high and rising obesity rates coupled with bad eating habits and the lack of good exercise patterns. Key to any solution will be the information that consumers receive on the food packages regarding calorie content. thus the creation of the Smart Choices Program which will include thousands of products and add nutritional information on the front of packages.

Lofty goals with simple program

The Smart Choices Program was made public at the Dietetic Association's Food and Nutrition conference and Expo. It promotes the lofty goal of making the choice for for smarter food choices a simple process. This could in time help to improve the public health in this nation.

How the labels work

The labels being implemented will be simple and straightforward. Made of two parts, the first will include a green check mark indicating that the food item meets certain nutritional requirements in its category. This should mean that it is good for your consumption. The second part will include the amount of calories being consumed. There are 18 categories ranging from deserts, cereals,entrees, sandwiches and main dishes. The products within the categories must meet standards for total fat, saturated fat, sugar and sodium content. Passing these standards assures a green check on the label.

The American Heart Association along with retailers have been working on this program for two years. They hope that it will halp consumers to make wiser choices and perhaps aid in controlling obesity in America. This program doesn't take the fat out but it may help limit and redistribute the fat elsewhere. They will also be noting nutrients and food groups to encourage suck as fruits and whole grains. Time will tell if the Smart Choice Program will help to make more saavy consumers.