EATING WITH YOUR MIND OPEN
Assignment #1: Food Label Activity
PURPOSE: This activity is intended to help students understand the information provided on food labels and use it to make decisions regarding their own diet and nutrition.
This part of the project (Assignment #1) is worth 50 points.
In 1990, the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act went into effect. The USDA and FDA designed the requirements so that consumers would have useful information about the food they eat. But how do you make sense of a food label?
According to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, all food labels must contain the following information:
· Common name of the product
· Name and address of the product’s manufacturer
· Net contents in terms of weight, measure or count
· Ingredient List
· Nutrition Information
This is an example, of the percentage of each nutrient in a sample product:
Grams
|
Calculation
|
Total Calories
|
% of Total Calories
| |
Calories
|
80
|
100%
| ||
Fat
|
4
|
4 x 9
|
36
|
45%
|
Protein
|
1
|
1 x 4
|
4
|
4%
|
Carbohydrate
|
10
|
10 x 4
|
40
|
50%
|
Make a list of food products you consume on a regular basis (daily or at least several times per week).
Oranges, Chicken, chips, candy, green vegetables, rice, crackers, clif bars, beans, bread, beef jerky, pretzels
Now, go onto the Internet and, using a search engine like Google, find the nutrition facts for two of the products you listed above. The surest way to find reliable data on a particular product is to type the exact product name and the phrase “nutrition facts.” For example, if I wanted to find information on Goldfish crackers, I would type “Pepperidge Farm Goldfish cracker nutrition facts.”
The company may have its own page for that product that includes nutritional data, or you might use another reputable site like the ones below:
Product #1
|
Product #2
| |
Name of Product
|
Rold Gold Pretzels
|
Clif Crunch bars
|
Manufacturer
|
Frito Lay Inc.
|
Clif Bar & Company
|
Serving Size
|
1 ounce (about 53 pretzels)
|
2 bars
|
Nutrition Information:
| ||
Total Calories
|
110
|
190
|
Total Fat, gm
|
0 grams
|
8 grams
|
Saturated Fat, gm
|
0 grams
|
1.5 grams
|
Trans Fat, gm
|
0 grams
|
0 grams
|
Cholesterol, mg
|
0 milligrams
|
0 milligrams
|
Sodium, mg
|
490 milligrams
|
105 milligrams
|
Total Carbohydrate (CHO), gm
|
23 milligrams
|
28 grams
|
Dietary Fiber, gm
|
1 gram
|
3 grams
|
Sugars, gm
|
1 gram
|
12 grams
|
Protein, gm
|
2 grams
|
3 grams
|
Vitamins/Minerals
(% of Daily Values)
|
Thiamine 8%
Niacin 6%
Iron 8%
Riboflavin 6%
Phosphorus 2%
Magnesium 2%
|
Calcium 2%
Iron 6%
|
Please answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. How many servings per container are there?
a. The pretzels can serve about 16 people per container
b. The bars can serve about 5 per container
2. Based on the servings on the label, do you feel that the serving size is realistic? Why or why not?
y are
a. No I do not think this is realistic because most people do not pay attention on how much they are eating
b. Yes, I think this is realistic because it is hard for a person to eat 4 bars in a short period of time
3. What health claims (if any) are listed on the label?
a. The pretzels claim that there is a wheat ingredient for allergies
b. The bars claim that is soy, traces of peanuts, and wheat
4. Choose 2 ingredients per label (that you do not recognize) and explain the function of each one of these ingredients. These ingredients can be colorings, additives, preservatives, etc. You will probably need to do some quick research to determine the function of that chemical in the food product.
-In the pretzels the ingredients I do not recognize are Thiamine mononitrate and Riboflavin
-In the bars the only ingredient I do not recognize is Organic Rye flakes
5. Based on your study of these food labels, would you continue to eat these food items? Why or why not?
After my study I would continue to eat these products because there is no unusual high numbers in sugars, carbohydrates, and calories.
Friday
|
Saturday
|
Sunday
| |
Exercise
(describe all physical activity here)
|
-About a half an hour walk
|
-Played with dog outside
|
-Went on a run with my sister
|
Time:
Meal:
(include quantities)
|
Breakfast -Milk, cereal, and coffee
|
Breakfast- Bacon and eggs
|
-Waffles
|
Time:
Snack:
(include quantities)
|
-No snack before lunch
|
-Chocolate covered raisins
|
-Chocolate covered raisins
|
Time:
Meal:
(include quantities)
|
Lunch- Clif bar, satsuma orange, and chips
|
Lunch- cheese and bread
|
Lunch- Lentil soup
|
Time:
Snack:
(include quantities)
|
-Cheese and crackers cookies
|
-No snack before dinner
|
-Satsuma orange
|
Time:
Meal:
(include quantities)
|
Dinner- Macaroni and cheese and chicken
|
Dinner- Cheeseburger and fries
|
Dinner- Orange chicken, chauman, and rice
|
Time:
Snack:
(include quantities)
|
-candy, latte from Starbucks, and tortilla chips
|
-Grapes
|
-Satsuma orange, popcorn
|
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