Whenever I'm at the supermarket and a product catches my eye, I turn it over and read the ingredients. I do it almost without thinking now.
The front of a package is there to make you feel something. The back tells you what's inside. This post is about that other side of the box, and how a few small habits can help you understand what you're really bringing home.
What "natural" does and doesn't tell you
In many countries, "natural" on a food label has no strict legal definition. In the US, for example, the FDA has no formal definition of the word. That means it can appear on very different products, from a bag of plain nuts to a heavily processed snack. It's a marketing word first and an ingredient word second.
The same goes for other friendly words on the front: "wholesome", "farm fresh", "pure", "simple" and "artisan". They set a mood. They don't tell you what's inside. The only part of the package that's meant to be specific is the ingredient list.
Start with the back, not the front
Try turning the habit around. Look at the ingredient list first, and only then read the front. It takes a few seconds, and it changes what you notice.
- The order of ingredients. They're listed from the largest amount to the smallest, so the first three tell you most of what the product is made of.
- The length of the list. A short list is easier to understand. I look twice at anything with more than three ingredients, and I research the ones I don't know.
- Names you recognize. If you can picture most of the ingredients in a kitchen, that's a good sign.
I wrote about how ingredient lists are ordered, and what small amounts mean, in Reading Between the Lines of an Ingredient List. It's a good companion to this post.
Sugar has many names
Sugar often shows up under several names in one product. That splits it into smaller amounts and moves each one lower on the list. Look for words like syrup, nectar, concentrate, dextrose, maltose and "evaporated cane juice". If you see three or four of them, add them together in your mind and picture where the sugar would sit if it were listed as one item.
In my experience, hidden sugar is mostly a story of convenience products. Sugar is often used as a filler. I use very little of it myself, and when I do, it's agave syrup. My gut doesn't like sugar, so I avoid it whenever I can.
"Natural flavors" and "spices": the closed box
Some labels list "natural flavors" or "spices" as one single item. In the US, the FDA lets companies group flavors and spices under a collective name. So this can stand for a blend of many ingredients that the company doesn't have to list one by one. It doesn't mean anything is wrong. It means you can't see what's in it.
I'll be honest, I don't trust natural flavors. To me they work a bit like the word "fragrance" on a body product. If knowing exactly what's in your food matters to you, look for products that name their flavoring, such as "lemon oil", "garlic" or "smoked paprika". A named ingredient is a clear one.
Claims on the front and what to check on the back
- "No added sugar". Check whether the product is sweetened with something else, such as fruit concentrate.
- "Multigrain". This means more than one grain, not necessarily whole grain. Look for the word "whole" in the list.
- "Made with real fruit". Look at how far down the list the fruit appears.
- "Light" or "lite". Ask what it's lighter than, and what was added to make up the taste.
- "Free from". A product can be free from one thing and full of another.
Three questions to ask at the shelf
- Can I picture most of these ingredients in a kitchen?
- Are there items I can't explain, or ones that stand for a mystery blend?
- Does the front of the box match what the back actually says?
You don't need a yes to all three every time. The point is to notice, and to stay curious rather than stressed.
When the label isn't in your language, or your country
Living abroad adds a layer. In Panama, many labels are in Spanish. My Spanish is good, but there are always words I don't know, so I use a translator for those. I don't know the food regulations in Panama, so I read the list carefully.
Sometimes we get products from Europe, Germany or Switzerland, brands I already know. I learned the hard way that a brand you know from home can be made differently somewhere else. When I moved from Germany to the United States, I noticed that products from brands I knew had different ingredients than the same products at home. Since then I avoid many convenient products. I even found lactose in a ketchup I bought in Germany. So it's worth checking a list you think you already know.
A quick example
Say a box of crackers says "made with natural ingredients" on the front. You turn it over and read: wheat flour, vegetable oil, sugar, glucose syrup, salt, natural flavors, yeast. What can you learn in ten seconds?
The first ingredient is flour, so this is mostly a flour product. Sugar appears twice, once as sugar and once as glucose syrup, so there's more sweetness than the word "cracker" suggests. "Natural flavors" is a closed box. None of this makes the product good or bad. It just gives you a clearer picture than the front of the box did.
Now compare it with a second box that lists flour, olive oil, sea salt and rosemary. The list is shorter, every item is named, and you can picture all of it. You might still choose the first box for price or taste, and that's fine. The difference is that you're making the choice, not the packaging.
Where fresh food fits in
The simplest label of all is no label. I love cooking and I love fresh ingredients, so I go to the market once a week for my meat, and sometimes to the fish market for fish. Most of my other groceries come from the market too. I like buying local and chatting with the vendors. When I look for honey, I ask the sellers. I buy coconut oil, coconut cream and shredded coconut from a German vendor, and we speak German. He knows his products well, and they're the best coconut products I've found.
I often portion and freeze what I cook myself, so there's always something good at home. You don't have to give up packaged food. If you build more of your meals around simple foods, you'll have fewer lists to read and more freedom in what you cook.
Make it a small weekly habit
You don't have to read every label on every shopping trip. Choose one product a week, something you buy often, and read its full ingredient list at home. Ask yourself whether anything surprised you. Over a few weeks you'll start recognizing patterns, and you'll get faster at spotting the ones you want to look at more closely.
If a label leaves you with questions, that's useful information too. You can pick a different product next time, or keep the one you like and buy it with your eyes open. Both are good choices. What matters is that you're choosing on purpose.
Your next step
Next time you shop, pick one product you buy often, turn it over and read the first three ingredients. That's all. Take what fits. It's always a can and never a must.
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