• Serving: When the label on a product says it contains 100 calories per serving, just how much is a serving? The rule of thumb is when reading food labels, don’t take anything literally. Take the case of a fruit drink that contains 8.5 ounces, of which only 6 ounces constitute a serving. Or take a can of diet soft drink – one can is said to be equivalent to two servings. So to get the one calorie per serving that’s advertised on the label, you ought to drink only half a can.
• Expiry or expiration date: It’s the latest date that consumers can expect the product to remain fresh. As soon as a product gets out of the production line, it goes to the packaging section where its expiry date is stamped. In the Philippines, which follows the American system, the expiry date is listed as: the month first, then the day and finally, the year, hence Nov. 12, 2002. In other countries of Asia, which follow the British system, it’s the day first, then the month and then the year. You may also encounter the terms "Consume by...," "Best by...," or "Use by..." which are other words for expiry date. So that consumers don’t get confused, Nestle spells out the month on the expiry dates of its products. But fear not: Manufacturers usually give a grace period so a product can still be used even after its expiry date. For drugs, it’s usually six months after their expiration dates. For foodstuff (like maybe bread or chocolates), it’s one week to one month. Just make sure the product is still in good condition. Even cosmetics ought to have expiration dates printed on their labels.
• Daily value or recommended daily allowance (RDA): It’s the recommended daily amount of protein, vitamins and minerals that one should take.
• Fortified: It’s got added nutrients.
• Enriched: It’s got added nutrients to replace those lost in the processing.
• Fresh: It should never have been frozen, processed, heated or chemically preserved.
• Dietary supplement: It’s got enough added nutrients in one srving to provide 50 percent of the RDA of vitamins and minerals.
• From concentrate: Seen mostly on juice labels, it means that the water is removed before the product is shipped and it is replaced when the product reaches its packaging destination.
• High protein, high fiber, etc.: The product has at least 10 percent more of the nutrient’s RDA than similar products. There are no rules that dictate just how high in fiber a high-fiber product is.
• Low-calorie: For most health buffs, this one’s a magic word. It never fails to catch the eye – and sell the product fast. What it all means is that the product contains a maximum of 40 calories per serving.
• Low-fat: The product is lower in fat than the regular product but not necessarily low in fat.
• Reduced calories: The product has at least 40 fewer calories per serving than the regular product (some have 400 to 500 calories, which makes some reduced-calorie products high in calories).
• Reduced fat: It means fat has been reduced by more than 3 grams per serving.
• Reduced sodium: The sodium content has been reduced by 140 milligrams, which isn’t much. Better check the total amount of sodium in the product.
• Sodium-free: The product has less than 5 milligrams of sodium per serving.
• Light or lite: For sure, it does not refer to products that derive more than half of their calories from fat, except when the product is compared with another product that has at least 50 percent more fat than it does.
• Natural: The product contains no artificial ingredients and it’s gone through no more than minimal processing. But naturally, natural can mean different things to different people.
• Naturally sweetened: The product has been sweetened with fruit or juice, not with sugar.
• Unsweetened: The product does not contain added sugar.
• Partially hydrogenated: The product contains fat that’s 5 to 60 percent saturated.
By the way, hydrogenated vegetable protein is sometimes listed as "natural flavoring," even if it contains MSG (monosodium glutamate) that causes an allergic reaction in some people.
• No additives or preservatives: The product contains no ingredients added to it to enhance its nutritional quality, preserve its freshness or improve its texture, moisture, consistency, flavor or appearance.
To preserve the quality of packaged foods, authorities have approved some additives and preservatives, not all of which have been proven safe.
• No cholesterol, cholesterol-free: Self-explanatory, a food either contains cholesterol or not. But how come some vegetable oil manufacturers are now proclaiming that their products are cholesterol-free when vegetable oils shouldn’t contain cholesterol in the first place?
• No salt added, unsalted: It means no salt was added during the processing. It contains only the sodium that is naturally present in the food itself (and this may be high).
• No sugar added, sugar-free: It contains no table sugar but may contain other sweeteners like corn syrup or honey, which have little or no nutritional value but do contain calories, warn Dr. Joseph Rechtschaffen and Robert Carola in their book Minding Your Body.