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Sep 01 2010

Make Wise Food Choices, Wherever You Go: Supermarket Smarts!

Here are some easy tips to help you make wise food choices in the grocery store!

Get ready!

• Make a list of what you need and stick to it! Check out grocery store flyers to get the most from your food dollar. While some Canadians make a grocery list and stick to it, many are tempted by impulse buying.

Get set!

• Shop on a ‘full stomach’; if you shop when you’re hungry, you’re more likely to buy food that tempts you ‘at the moment’.
• Take extra care when shopping with children. Many Canadians say they are influenced by children’s requests and end up buying more food and less healthy choices!

Shop! For wise food choices!

• Use the Nutrition Facts table on food labels to help you make wise food choices. Visit www.dietitians.ca for more helpful information.

Let’s take a tour around the grocery store to help you crack the code on food labels. Being wise at reading food labels can help you make wise food choices!


From the bakery

• Buns, bagels and other items available in bulk bins do not require food labels. Watch the portion size! One medium sized bun or bagel counts as two portions of grain products. Giant buns and bagels will be a lot more!

Produce

• Whole fresh fruits and vegetables do not require food labels. For the best nutrition, choose bright and bold coloured fruits and vegetables more often.

Fresh meat, fish and seafood

• Choose ‘lean ground’ (17% or less fat) or ‘extra-lean ground’ (10% or less fat) beef, poultry, lamb and pork more often than ‘regular’ ground, which contains more fat.

In the dairy case

• Choose milk products that are bursting with calcium!
• Choose lower fat milk products more often, such as skim, 1% or 2%, milk and yogurt!
• Choose ‘low fat’, ‘reduced in fat’ or ‘lower fat’ cheeses more often.
• The terms mf (milk fat) and bf (butter fat) refer to the fat content of the product.

In the cereal and grains aisle

• Look for cereals, breads, pasta and packaged grain products where whole grains appear near the top of the ingredient list. With whole grains, you’ll get the benefits of all the vitamins, minerals and fibre.
• Read the Nutrition Facts table and try a cereal that contains at least 2 g of fibre per serving, a ‘source of fibre’; women need 25 g of fibre each day and men need 38 g each day so choose wisely!
• Choose crackers that are ‘free of trans fats’ either by looking under the ‘fat’ section of the Nutrition Facts table or reading a claim on the package; read the ingredient list to be sure there are no ‘partially hydrogenated’ oils or shortenings.

In the frozen foods aisle

• Remember that fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables all have similar nutritional value.
• Choose frozen entrees ‘lower in sodium”, ‘reduced in sodium’ or ‘low in sodium’ to reduce the amount of salt you eat; Canadians should aim for less than 2400 mg of sodium per day. One serving (8 ounces) of a regular frozen entree may provide up to 1000 mg sodium per serving.

In the canned goods aisle

• Choose fruits with ‘no sugar added’ or ‘packed in its own juice’.
• Choose 100% fruit or vegetable juice.
• Opt for oils that are monounsaturated such as safflower and olive; or choose other oils where the label says ‘source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids’ such as canola and soybean.
• Choose canned tuna and salmon ‘packed in water’.

In the deli

• Ask the clerk how the food was prepared and if nutrition information is available. Foods packaged at the time of sale do not require a food label.

Use your Supermarket Smarts to make wise food choices for a healthy shopping trip!