Last week I dedicate an afternoon to finding misleading food labels at my local grocery store. Only a half hour after arriving at the store I found myself checking out with a full cart. When I got home I realized that I had bought three different products that all beg the same question 'Where's the Fibre?' 

Food companies know that consumers are looking for whole grains to appear predominately within ingredient lists, and they are not shy about claiming their products are 'Made with Whole Grains' even when they may not boast the positive attributes that typically accompany whole grain ingredients.

When I see the words 'Whole grains' displayed on a food label I assume the product contains some fibre, and at the very least more fibre than it's non-whole grain counterpart. Because whole grains contain the bran, germ, and endosperm, versus refined grains that contain only the endosperm, they are higher in dietary fibre. For example, as per the Canadian Nutrient File, whole wheat flour contains 8.9 grams of dietary fibre per 100 grams, as compared to all purpose flour (refined wheat flour) that only contains 2.7 grams.* 

It is only natural to assume that a product that contains more whole wheat flour than refined wheat flour would contain more fibre, however, this is not always the case. 

I found the following two nutrition facts tables on a popular brand of crackers. One states "Original" on the front of it's package, and the other 'Made with Whole Grains'. The product containing whole grains lists the ingredient 'whole grain wheat flour' as the first ingredient (present in the greatest amount), however, both nutrition facts tables declare a fibre amount of one gram per serving  (not even enough fibre to make a 'Source of Fibre' claim):

*Canadian Nutrient File. Food Code 4500, Whole Wheat Flour & Food Code 6642, Unbleached Wheat Flour.

Written by: Allison Jorgens - "Read It with a Grain of Salt"  © 2012, Ontario, Canada

Empower Yourself!

With recent budget cuts announced for CFIA monitoring and enforcement of food labels in Canada, it has never been as important as it is now to protect yourself from misleading food labels. Read It with a Grain of Salt is a valuable resource that will help you navigate the complex world of Canadian food labels, including, hidden ingredients. 

Want to learn more? I love hosting interactive, discussion based workshops for consumers trying to make more healthful and informed choices. Click here for more information and to send a request today!


Written by: Allison Jorgens - "Read it with a Grain of Salt"  © 2012, Ontario, Canada

All nutrient content claims, including sodium claims, have prescribed wording that must be used when displayed on labels. The claim "Low in Sodium" can be displayed in a number of similar ways, however, "Sensible Sodium Level" is far from an option. 

To meet the requirements to make the claim "Low in Sodium" on an uncooked bacon product, the bacon must contain 140 mg or less of sodium per reference amount (in this case 54 grams]1 and per the serving size stated on the label (in this case 50 grams).2  This particular product contained 286.2 mg per reference amount, and 265 mg per serving size which translates to two times more sodium than a product that would qualify to make the claim "Low in Sodium". 

Empower Yourself!

Try not to rely on claims that may or may not be meaningful to make purchasing decisions. Use the information displayed on the nutrition facts table to make an educated decision as to whether or not a product meets your personal criteria for healthful.

Let's put this into context...

• A product that declares 50 per cent of the daily value for sodium per serving should actually declare it as 80 per cent if the per cent daily value was based on a recommended intake of 1,500 mg per day rather than the reference standard of 2,400 mg per day.
• A product that declares 50 per cent of the daily value for sodium per serving should actually declare it as 120 per cent if the per cent daily value was based on a recommended intake of 1,000 mg per day rather than the reference standard of 2,400 mg per day.

Talk to your healthcare provider about how much sodium you should be consuming daily and adjust the per cent daily value on the nutrition facts table accordingly. 

* Health Canada. “Sodium: Questions and Answers: What is the recommended intake?” December 29, 2010, http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/sodium/qa-sodium-qr-eng.php

1 Department of Justice. Food and Drugs Act. "Food and Drug Regulations", Schedule M(87).
2 Department of Justice. Food and Drugs Act. "Food and Drug Regulations", Table Following B..01.513(32).

Written by: Allison Jorgens - "Read It with a Grain of Salt"  © 2012, Ontario, Canada

[1] Canadian Produce Marketing Association. PLU FAQ - Is the Use of PLU Labels a Canadian Regulatory Requirement? - http://www.cpma.ca/en/industry-resources/produce-codes-in-canada/plu-faq.aspx
[2] Organic Production Systems General Principles and Management Standards 1.4, “Prohibited Substances, Methods or Ingredients in Organic Production and Handling.” CAN/CGSB-32.310-2006, amended October 2008.
[3] Canadian Produce Marketing Association. Produce Coding and Identification in Canada. Fresh Facts: Produce Coding, version 1, November 12, 2010. 


Written by: Allison Jorgens - "Read it with a Grain of Salt"  © 2012, Ontario, Canada

"Made With" and "Contains" claims have long been considered meaningless on food labels, however, food companies continue to highlight superior ingredients using these claims, and consumers continue to eat them up.

Currently there are no requirements for the amount of an ingredient that must be present in a product when a "Made With" claim is displayed on a label. This means a product could contain 1% of the highlighted ingredient or 99% of the highlighted ingredient. In most circumstances it is virtually impossible to figure out how much of the highlighted ingredient is actually in the product, however, there are times that a little math on the back of a napkin can expose the truth.

Consider this example...

A package of Maple Creme Cookies I recently brought home claimed to be "Made with Pure Organic Maple Syrup". After reading the list of ingredients I was able to determine that the ingredient "organic maple syrup" was declared after the ingredient "sea salt". Ingredients are always declared in descending order by weight on food labels, and in the case of this specific product (and for arguments sake) let's assume the amount of sodium declared on the nutrition facts table would have been coming exclusively from the sea salt.

Let's do the Math...

1. The nutrition facts table declared a serving size of "2 cookies (46 g)", which means that one cookie weighed 23 grams.

2. The nutrition facts table declared a sodium amount of "50 mg", which means that one cookie contained 25 mg of sodium. 

3. To convert the sodium value into grams simply divide by 1000.  The sodium amount in grams for one cookie was equal to 0.025 grams. Although sea salt is not composed entirely of sodium, to simplify our calculations let's consider the weight of the ingredient sea salt to be equal to the amount of sodium in one cookie.  

4. Although the ingredient "organic maple syrup" was declared after the ingredient sodium, let's take a conservative approach and assume it was present in the product in the same amount of the ingredient "sea salt'. This would mean that one cookie contained an estimated total of 0.025 grams of organic maple syrup.

5. If you divide 0.025 grams by the total weight of one cookie (23 grams) you can determine that this product contained, what I believe would be a generous total of 0.11% organic maple syrup. 

Feeling shocked? If the ingredient highlighted in the "Made With" claim on this label was present in the product at 0.11%, imagine how misleading this claim may be on other prepackaged processed food labels.  

Empower Yourself!

1. Always check the list of ingredients and look for where the desired ingredients are listed. Remember that ingredients are always listed in descending order by weight. 

2. Always look for a per cent statement confirming the amount of the highlighted ingredient, such as "Made with 5% Pure Organic Maple Syrup". Keep in mind that it may be safe to assume that the amount of a highlighted ingredient may be lower than your desired level if a specific percentage is not declared on the label.

3. Be skeptical of claims starting with the words “Made With ...,” “Made From …,” and “Contains ...,” as most prepackaged processed foods can easily contain some desired ingredients, but they may also contain other less desirable ingredients, such as artificial, synthetic, and refined ingredients. 


Written by: Allison Jorgens - "Read it with a Grain of Salt"  © 2012, Ontario, Canada

The decision to buy foods that are organic vs conventional is top of mind for many parents. Prepackaged processed organic variations of our favourite products are popping up more and more on grocery store shelves and their hefty price tags are causing some parents to question whether they are worth the money. There are a number of advantages to buying organic, however, organic food labels can still mislead you into believing one product is superior to another.

Check out the blog post I wrote for the not-for-profit organization Life with a Baby. At the end of the day, whether you choose organic products or not, it is important to empower yourself with the information you need to make more healthful and informed choices!


Written by: Allison Jorgens - "Read it with a Grain of Salt"  © 2012 Ontario, Canada