What Food Labels Really Mean

How much trust do you put in food labels? This infographic from HappyCleans gives you a detailed overview of what all the different labels you see at the store really mean.

One area that causes a lot of confusion is the word natural. Some people might pair the words organic and natural but they can mean very different things. A natural food label should mean that the food does contain artificial ingredients or preservatives. However, the FDA has no official definition for this healthy-sounding term and they are only guidelines. Organic you can trust more as these products must contain 95% organically produced ingredients.

Another area labels can be confusing is on eggs. For example, free-range does indicate that chickens were allowed access to the outside but it does not indicate how long they were outside or the frequency.

We are also open to manipulation when it comes to snack food. Labels such as reduced fat may encourage you to eat more of what can still be very unhealthy products even with reductions. Find out more in the infographic.