Shenaya Barlow Food Label Assignment (No Color)

I chose 3 products at random from the cabinets located in my house. These 3 products were Instant Lunch Chicken Flavor by Maruchan, French Style Green Beans by Libby’s and Cream of Mushrooms Soup by Campbell’s. Actually taking the time to look at the food label has taught/showed me a lot. It taught me that just because something says “0 grams trans-fat” that doesn’t mean that it has absolutely no fat in it. I’ve also learned that food companies try to trick you into thinking their products are healthy by lowering the numbers they put in the Nutrition Facts. While that may be misleading it is indeed legal.

Serving sizes listed on food labels aren’t as realistic as you think. For example one of my products was French Style Green Beans by Libby’s. The serving size of the food label is 120g. That’s only for ½ cup. Many companies try to trick you into thinking that the serving size is lower than it actually is , that way you’d buy it and consider it “healthy”. The serving size of Maruchans’ Instant lunch Chicken Flavor is 64g per container. Which means it’s less fattening than French Style Green Beans by Libby’s whose serving size is 120mL for only ½ the cup. The difference in the serving sizes help to explain their nutritional values. All the claims on the label do not refer to the nutritional content. The ones that don’t refer to the nutritional content refer to where the food was made and how to get in contact with the manufacturers. I found it misleading that on the Maruchan Instant Lunch Chicken Flavor is states that there is 0 grams trans-fat, which makes it seem as though the food is fat free you would think? When in all actuality it has a percentage of 12g total fat which is 18% and 30% saturated fat. My calculations of the total amount of calories in these products support what the product claims.  The Instant Lunch clearly states 0 grams trans-fat but that doesn’t mean there’s no fat in it at all. The predominant ingredient in the Instant Lunch is Enriched Wheat Flour. In the French Style Greens Beans the predominant ingredient is Green Beans. Last but not least the predominant ingredient in Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup is water. Food labels list ingredients from greatest to least. The ingredients they used the most is the first one they put under ingredients and the one they use the least is last. All this just shows that you can’t believe everything you see or read. Because if you don’t read carefully you may want something under 300 calories for a 2,000 calorie diet and the label may say 290 but keep in mind if that counts for 1 serving size or ½ of the serving size. Out of all 3 of the ingredients I have chosen I would have to say that Maruchans Instant Lunch was the healthiest because it has iron which shows that it is high in its nutrition values while the other 2 products don’t.  I would also have to say that the most “unhealthiest” out of my 3 products would be The Cream Of Mushroom Soup by Campbells because it has no calcium, iron , Vitamin A or Vitamin C.