Food Labels Due Tuesday March 19th by 11:59 PM to the D2L Dropbox Choose two different food labels that you can either find around your home, or copy information from in the store. Do not choose food labels that contain more than 2 zeroes in the nutrition information. Once you have your labels, answer the following questions: 1. Identify the two products, serving size for each, 'servings per container' for each, and amount per serving for the following components: calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, and sodium--all per serving. 1. Honey Nut Cheerios Serving size ¾ cup (28g) Servings per container 19 Calories per serving 150 Grams of fat per serving 1.5g Grams of protein per serving 7g Grams of carbohydrates per serving 11g Grams of fiber per serving 0g Grams of sugar per serving 0g mg of sodium per serving 160mg Digiorno Pizza Serving size 141g Servings per container 6 Calories per serving 330 Grams of fat per serving 13g Grams of protein per serving 16g Grams of carbohydrates per serving 37g Grams of fiber per serving 1g Grams of sugar per serving 5g mg of sodium per serving 820mg 2. 2. (2pts) Which label do you think is the healthiest? Give specific reasons why you think this. The honey nut cheerios is the healthiest of the 2 in my opinion. It contains far less grams of fat per serving at 1.5g and 0 grams of sugar per serving. The pizza has a much larger serving size and produces 13g of protein per serving but if you were to consume the same serving size of the honey nut cheerios you would consume roughly 35g of protein. The pizza also contains a high level of sodium and although it has fiber and the cheerios do not, the 0g of sugar and higher level of protein outweighs the fiber consumption in this case. 3. (6pts) Calculate the % of total calories from each of the macronutrients(carbohydrate, protein, fat) for both your foods (labels). Show your work. Item Total Calories % total calories Honey Nut Cheerios Fat- 1.5g Carbs- 11g Protein- 7g Fat- 14cal Carbs- 44cal Protein- 28cal Total calories: 86cal Fat- 16% Carbs- 51% Protein- 33% Digiorno Pizza Fat- 13g Carbs- 37g Protein- 16g Fat-117cal Carbs- 148cal Protein-64cal Total calories: 329cal Fat- 36% Carbs- 45% Protein- 19% 4. (3pts) List the first 3 ingredients from each labels ingredient list. Did any of these ingredients surprise you? Why or why not? The first three ingredients in Honey Nut Cheerios is whole grain oats, sugar, and oat bran. This surprises and confuses me because sugar is listed as an ingredient but the nutrition facts state 0g of sugar per serving. The first three ingredients in the Digiorno Pizza is Enriched wheat flour(wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, and low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese(part skim milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes) This surprised me that the “enriched wheat flour” they use contained so many vitamins in it that are associated with niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and folic acid. 5. (3pts) What does it mean by Daily Value (DV) on the food label? For each of your labels what is the % DV of fat listed on the label? If your lablels do not have any fat then tell us the DV for carbohydrate. Show your work to explain how the manufacturer calculated the %DV for fat for your foods. You will find the Daily Value % underneath the food label on these products. Daily values are based off of a 2,000 calorie diet. The honey nut cheerios have a listed daily value of 2%.This is found by dividing: 2.5g of fat/65g of fat and multiplying by (100) although this food label shows 2% my math came out to 3.8% The Digiorno Pizza has a listed daily value of 20%. This is found by dividing: 13g of fat/65g of fat and multiplying by (100) and you come out with 20% My math matched this food label. 6. (6pts) The posting of nutrition information on menus and menu boards in restaurants and eateries is now mandatory. Read this article. Summarize the information that is presented in this article. How do you feel about this topic? Do you feel that nutrition information in restaurants should be mandatory? Have you noticed nutrition information posted at places where you eat out like Starbucks or other resturants you eat at? How do you think the general public will react to having this information readily available? Answer every one of these questions to get full points. Please compose your answers to these questions in a paragraph of at least 250 words. After reading the article “Restaurant menu label rules go into effect” by Maggie Fox it has begun to open my eyes to the world of nutrition and how many people dismiss it on a daily basis. The enactment put into place by the Federal Drug Administration forces all restaurants with 20 or more locations to post the calorie counts and other nutritional information on their menus. This helps American’s focus on a healthier diet even if in a miniscule way. People are becoming more conscious of the calories they intake such as the example of Cortinas at Chipotle or Allen at Panera bread. With 70% of Americans either obese or overweight this is an enormous issue in our country that needs to be addressed more thoroughly. I personally think that we should put this restriction on not only restaurant chains but all restaurants. As a culture we are accustomed to convenience and being forced to provide the convenience to customers of what they are putting into their bodies is a good first step to a healthier country. I have noticed more and more places showing nutritional information such as fast food restaurants like McDonalds. I believe this does make a difference in what most (not all) people order and how they think about what their putting in their body. The average American has at least the minimal knowledge of caloric intake to know that the more calories you eat, the more fat associated(in most cases) and it causes consumers to second guess what they may have ordered before and perhaps choose something with less calories. With this information at their disposal I think the general public will react positively and it will lead to a healthier America. 7. (3pts) Has your behavior changed as a result of this restaurant nutrition information policy? Are you more or less likely to eat your typical restaurant entree now that you have investigated this nutrition information by completing this assignment? Explain why or why not. My personal behavior has changed since I have seen the restaurant nutrition information policy come into effect. Rather than just ordering what “sounds good” I take into account that the Big Mac I may have ordered before turns out almost has an entire day’s worth of calories in it and I will strive to choose an option with a lower amount of calories. I am less likely after completing this assignment to eat what would be typically my choice at a restaurant. This assignment has helped me understand the importance of food labels and looking at the caloric intake I am putting into my body. As a US Marine it is important to keep my body at peak physical performance. As Marines we typically work out 5 days a week to stay in shape and often times ignore the fuel that we need to sustain that and sustain the bodies we have worked so hard to harden. After this assignment I will pay closer attention to what I put in my body.
