How to Read Labels to Spot Eight Deceptive Foods
Core Tip: 8 common "deceptive" foods, from which we can see their hidden tricks by reading their labels.
When shopping, don't just focus on the hype from the merchants. You should master some knowledge and buying tips, carefully read the food labels, and be fully aware of the food ingredients to buy products that are truly suitable for you. The editor has summarized 8 common "deceptive" foods for everyone, from which we can see their hidden tricks by reading their labels.
One, Fruit Juice Drink ≠ Fruit Juice
Fruit juice refers to pure fruit juice, which is freshly squeezed or 100% pure juice. However, the amount of juice added to most fruit juice drinks is around 10%, with some as low as 5%. With such a small amount of addition, there is basically no nutritional value. With insufficient juice, the fruit flavor is not rich enough, so artificial flavors are used to make it full of fruit fragrance, even more intense than fresh fruit. With the fruit flavor, there's no color, so some colorants are added. Now it looks beautiful. But if you take a bite, you'll find it tasteless and unpleasant to drink. So the merchant has to add various sweeteners and acid regulators to make it palatable, feeling great. But as for the nutrition here, I don't need to say much, everyone knows it's far from comparable to pure juice, let alone a substitute for fresh fruit.
Two, Lactic Acid Drink ≠ Yogurt
These two are actually relatively easy to distinguish. Lactic acid drinks will be marked on the product packaging, with the word "drink" written in small letters after the name. Looking at the ingredient list, you'll find the first item is water, the second is milk, followed by sugar, citric acid, thickeners, flavors, colorants, etc. Looking at the nutritional information, the protein content is usually ≥1%, while the standard for normal flavored yogurt is ≥2.3%, and for milk it's around ≥3.0%. This means that such lactic acid drinks have very low nutritional value, including many nutrients that milk should contain are also very low, and many other ingredients are added. For example, for a strawberry flavor, strawberry-flavored flavoring is used, and the color is mixed with something like carmine. Although this kind of drink is better than carbonated drinks, it is still not recommended to drink it often, especially for our babies, as it does not promote health in any way.
Three, Oatmeal ≠ Rolled Oats
Many people think oatmeal is rolled oats, but in fact, there are hidden tricks from the merchants here. Pure rolled oats are made from rolled oat grains and have a relatively complete shape. Some are quick-coating rolled oats, which are a bit fragmented but can still be seen in their original shape.
The porridge cooked from rolled oats is also highly viscous, which is brought by the healthy component of beta-glucan. The blood lipid-lowering, blood sugar-lowering, and high satiety effects of rolled oats are all caused by it. However, some "oatmeal" or "nutritious oatmeal" sold now are made from a mixture of multiple grains, such as wheat, rice, corn, barley, etc., where rolled oats only account for a small part, or may not contain rolled oats at all. Looking at the ingredient list, you will find that maltodextrin, sugar, milk powder (vegetable fat powder), flavors, etc., are also added. Adding sugar and dextrin will reduce the nutritional value and also increase the speed of blood sugar rise. Adding milk powder contains trans fatty acids, which is not good for cardiovascular health. Therefore, consumers must carefully read the ingredient list when purchasing. Only those with only rolled oats as the ingredient should be bought, especially for the elderly. This includes those claiming to be sugar-free, as they will also raise blood sugar; don't be fooled.
Four, Whole Wheat Bread ≠ Whole Wheat Food
Everyone knows that whole wheat bread is healthier because it is rich in fiber, helps the body clean up intestinal waste, slows down digestion and absorption, and helps prevent obesity. It's not difficult to find whole wheat bread in supermarkets or bakeries, but if you look at the ingredient list, you will find that real whole wheat bread is very rare, or even hard to find. Usually, the first item in the ingredient list is not whole wheat flour.
Real whole wheat bread is made from whole wheat flour that has not had the outer bran and germ removed. The color is slightly brownish, and you can see many small bran particles with the naked eye. The texture is also relatively coarse but has a fragrance. However, many merchants use white flour to make it more palatable for consumers, then add a small amount of caramel color to dye it brown, making it look a bit dark, but in essence, it is still white bread. So the nutritional value you want will be minimal. Therefore, you must see enough bran fragments to confirm it is whole wheat bread, although the texture is really a bit rough.
In addition to whole wheat bread, grain breads that contain miscellaneous grains, such as oat bread, rye bread, soybean flour bread, etc., can also help us provide a lot of dietary fiber.
Five, Japanese Tofu ≠ Tofu
When we eat tofu, besides the taste, one is to get its high-quality protein, and the other is to obtain a large amount of calcium. However, these two components are very low in Japanese tofu, although its texture is very tender and it has removed the slightly bitter taste of traditional tofu.
Our traditional tofu provides 138 mg of calcium, 63 mg of magnesium, and 12.2g of protein per 100g. The Japanese lactone tofu, on the other hand, contains 17 mg of calcium, 24 mg of magnesium, and 5.0g of protein per 100g, which is a big difference. This is because our traditional tofu is made with gypsum and brine, which is rich in calcium and magnesium. Lactone tofu is made with glucono-delta-lactone coagulant, which contains no calcium or magnesium. At the same time, in order to have a particularly tender texture, a lot of water-retaining ingredients are added, and the water content is too high, so its nutritional value is naturally very "diluted".
Six, Fruit Vinegar Drink ≠ Fruit Vinegar
Fruit vinegar and fruit vinegar drinks are also increasingly accepted by consumers. But people often easily confuse the concepts of fruit vinegar and fruit vinegar drinks.
Fruit vinegar is an acidic condiment made from fruits such as grapes and apples through microbial action and acetic acid fermentation. After fermentation, a certain proportion of water is added to make it drinkable. Its acetic acid content must be greater than 5%, and it has effects such as aiding digestion, promoting metabolism, and eliminating fatigue.
Fruit vinegar drinks, although also mainly made from fruits and fermented by microorganisms, are then mixed with added fruit juice, colorants, flavors, sweeteners, etc., to make an acetic acid-containing drink. Its acetic acid content is generally far less than 5%, and its nutritional effect is minimal.
Seven, Popcorn ≠ Corn
When we were children, we were worried about the lead content in popcorn. Although modern popcorn is lead-free, can it be the same as corn? In fact, the problem is even more serious now.
The ingredient list for a microwave popcorn sold in a supermarket: corn, white sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oil, shortening, food additives, flavors, sweeteners. You will find that hydrogenated vegetable oil and shortening are both not recommended, as they are major sources of trans fatty acids, which are bad for the cardiovascular system and can easily cause weight gain. Various flavors are made with artificial flavors. Friends who have bought street-made popcorn must have seen the production process: a large piece of fixed fat is put in first, which is the notorious margarine. You will also see taking out some colored powder from various bottles, which are flavors, such as cantaloupe flavor, orange flavor, etc. And the flavoring in popcorn contains a substance called diacetyl. Even if you are not a popcorn worker, eating flavored popcorn often may cause a disease called "popcorn lung." The symptoms of this disease are coughing and shortness of breath, which is very irritating to the human lungs.
Eight, Chocolate ≠ Dark Chocolate
In recent years, many reports have said that cocoa powder in chocolate contains healthy polyphenols, so people who already love chocolate have more reasons to buy it often. However, sugar and fat components will reduce this effect of cocoa powder. Chocolate and cocoa-flavored drinks without cocoa powder not only have no health benefits, but may even have the opposite effect.
The chocolate sold in our country now has a low cocoa content, with sugar as high as 50%, and the cocoa content is mostly insufficient. Only those with a content of 50% or more, even up to 90%, can be called real dark chocolate. But such chocolate has a strong bitter taste and a very light sweetness, or no sweetness at all. Most consumers who are used to treating chocolate as a snack or candy usually don't easily accept or like this taste.
Another thing is cocoa butter. It should be said to be the most expensive ingredient in chocolate. It has a wonderful texture, very smooth and fragrant. The higher the content, the more delicate the chocolate's texture. However, many on the market choose cocoa butter substitutes, which reduce costs a lot and can also be very smooth in texture. Unfortunately, cocoa butter substitutes not only have no nutritional value, but because they contain trans fatty acids, they are not good for your health.
So when you buy, you must read the ingredient list carefully before deciding whether to purchase.