What Top 3 Stats Do You Focus on When Reading Food Labels?

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Replies

  • zaxx1953
    zaxx1953 Posts: 389 Member
    Cals per realistic serving
    (i'm big, and I am not going to split that bag of multigrain crisps 14 ways).

    Fat/Protein/Carb ratios....

    Fiber if it's a carb heavy product.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Protein/Fat/Carbs/price ratio
    Additives
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    edited February 2015
    No matter if at mainentance, for me #1 is sodium. #2 is serving size. #3 any combination of protein/fat/calories depending on #1 & #2.

    (tho certain products I avoid altogether contain corn syrup only because usual competitor product have zero CS & I have a personal fettish to eating added CS)
  • fat2strongbeth
    fat2strongbeth Posts: 735 Member
    Ingredients, calories and serving size. I try not to eat processed foods, so if the ingredient list is long, I usually don't eat it.
  • MarziPanda95
    MarziPanda95 Posts: 1,326 Member
    Calories, protein, then fibre :smile:
  • dontjinxit
    dontjinxit Posts: 82 Member
    Pronounceable ingredients, calories, price.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    1. Calories
    2. Protein
    3. Serving size
  • michellesz
    michellesz Posts: 429 Member
    1. Calories - less is more
    2. Protein - because more is better
    3. fiber - more consumed = healthy digestion & room for more foods :D
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Calories per serving
    Protein
    Fiber

    I'm not maintaining yet, but ditto to this.
  • Jolinia
    Jolinia Posts: 846 Member
    I make sure my meat wasn't injected with anything whatsoever. If I have a little money, I prefer grassfed, antibiotic, and hormone free, too.
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    nxd10 wrote: »
    Calories PER SERVING
    sodium
    carbs
    In that order

    Lol (i know I'm eating it all)
    Calories PER ENTIRE package.
    Protein
    Trans fat

  • dandayatra
    dandayatra Posts: 53
    total fat
    sugars
    carbs
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    I dont generally buy this with labels, but ingredients, sugar and price when I do.
  • victorywithme
    victorywithme Posts: 73 Member
    Protein, sugar, and calories.
  • michellemybelll
    michellemybelll Posts: 2,228 Member
    pretty much just calories and serving size per package
  • michellemybelll
    michellemybelll Posts: 2,228 Member
    970Mikaela1 wrote: »
    nxd10 wrote: »
    Calories PER SERVING
    sodium
    carbs
    In that order

    Lol (i know I'm eating it all)
    Calories PER ENTIRE package.
    Protein
    Trans fat

    lol! right??
  • kborton1122
    kborton1122 Posts: 914 Member
    Calories, Sodium, Protein
  • Karababy51
    Karababy51 Posts: 124 Member
    Calories/Serving size
    Protein
    Fiber

    ... and sodium, but you only asked for three, so those are my top three. :)
  • Lissa_Kaye
    Lissa_Kaye Posts: 214 Member
    Ingredients
    Source
    calories
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    protein, fiber, sugar
  • mattnics
    mattnics Posts: 32 Member
    Protein, calories, sodium (my diary was blowing up with sodium thanks to lots of salsa and jerky so need to keep an eye on it now)
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    calories, protein, fibre
  • valskeete
    valskeete Posts: 53 Member
    Calories, carbs, serving size (and sodium <- less intake better food choices)
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
    Calories
    Protein
    Salt
  • chouflour
    chouflour Posts: 193 Member
    What I look at first depends on the type of food.

    Crispy dehydrated broccoli: fiber, serving size, calories per serving
    Plain yogurt: calories, fat, ingredients
    Flavored yogurt: carbs, ingredients, calories
    Marinated/prepared meats: Ingredients, protein/fat ratio
    Ice cream: carbs, fat, calories

  • sjohnson__1
    sjohnson__1 Posts: 405 Member
    Macro nutrients per serving (carbs, protein, fat), serving size, followed by fiber.
  • JasonH_DFW
    JasonH_DFW Posts: 63 Member
    RaspberryTickleChicken wrote: »
    Just out of curiosity, I was wondering what top three items do most long-term maintainers hone in on (with food labels) when trying new things or tweaking current food repertoire?

    In order of priority, I look for:
    • Total Calories from Fat (esp. Sat or Trans Fat)
    • Sugar
    • Carbs vs Net Carbs

    In order:
    Cals
    Net carbs
    Fiber
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    The Results:
    • Calories (70 Responses)
    • Protein (50 Responses)
    • Serving Size (23 Responses)
    • Sodium (18 Responses)
    • Carbs (17 Responses)
    • Fiber (16 Responses)
    • Fat (15 Responses)
    • Sugar (12 Responses)
    • Cost (7 Responses)

    My Amateur Analysis:
    • Calories was no surprise to be the most mentioned.
    • The # of respondents looking at protein & service size were a bit of a surprise but not totally unexpected.
    • I was happy to see that carbs was not the #1 which may indicate maintainers' broader understanding of the importance of carbs and the distancing from the concept of old that all carbs are the devil ;)


    DISCLAIMER:
    • Not scientific based on order of importance - these are just opinions of what maintainers look for
    • I only focused on the 1st three items listed in a post - so if there were a laundry list of items I picked the 1st three
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