How to Read a Food Label in 60 Seconds
Ignore the front of the package — that's marketing. Flip it over and read two things: the ingredient list and the added sugars. A short list of ingredients you recognize is almost always a good sign.
Read the ingredients first
They're listed by weight, so the first few make up most of what's in there. Do you recognize them? Could you buy them yourself? That's most of the decision, right there.
Check the added sugar
Look at the ‘added sugars’ line, and watch for sugar hiding under other names — syrup, cane juice, anything ending in ‘-ose.’ It adds up fast in places you wouldn't expect.
Don't be fooled by the front
‘Natural,’ ‘made with real fruit,’ ‘good source of’ — these are sales words, not facts. The truth is always on the back.
The rule of thumb that never fails: the fewer the ingredients, and the more of them you can actually pronounce, the better.