A Healthy Diet For Everyone:
Your Grocery Staples and Food Labels
Denise Gilmore, RD, CSR
Satellite Wellbound of Lafayette
Living With Kidney Disease conference
4/9/2016
Objective
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Reading Food Labels…
Why Bother?
Think of label reading
as a form of
dietary self-defense!
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Where Should I Start?
• Serving Size
• Servings per Container
• Calories
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Fat
Who said all fats
were bad?
• The type of fat is more
important than the amount
• Trans Fats – still bad!
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Sodium
Look at the mg, not the %!
 Less than 2000 mg/day
 Less than 600 mg/meal
 Less than 100 -200 mg/snack
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Potassium
Potassium listing is not required
on current label!
•
•
•
•
Low potassium: <100mg or <3%
Medium: 101-200mg or 3-6%
High: 201-300mg or 6-9%
Very High: >300mg or >9%
Look for potassium on the
ingredient list!
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Carbohydrate (CHO)
Includes carbs from milk, fruit, grains and sugar!
Total carbs in grams = 37
- fiber grams = 4
- sugar alcohols = NA
33 g net carbs
Calculate # carb servings:
33g net carbs ÷ 15 ≈ 2 carb servings
OR
Calculate approx. teaspoons of “sugar”:
Net carbs ÷ 4 = # tsp of sugar
33g net carb ÷ 4 = 8 ¼ tsp sugar
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Protein
How much do you need?
CKD ≈ 2 “palms”
Dialysis ≈ 3 “palms”
• 1 palm = approx. 3 oz
• 1 oz = 7 grams protein
Ask your dietitian!
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Mandatory Nutrients, %’s
*Vitamin A *Calcium
*Vitamin C *Iron
Where’s phosphorus?
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Phosphorus
Add a zero to the percentage
to get “mg” phos
30% = 300 mg phos
• Low: <50 mg or <5%
• Medium: 51-150 mg or 5-15%
• High: >150 mg or >15%
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Stay Away From Added Phosphorus!
Look at the ingredient list for phosphate
or words with “phos”
* Phosphoric Acid
* Monocalcium Phosphate
* Hexametaphosphate * Tricalcium Phosphate
It can easily add up to an additional
1000mg phosphorus per day!
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Be a Phosphorus Detective!
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% Daily Value (DV)
In theory,
• 5% DV or less is low
• 20% DV or more is high
Remember, the food label
was not designed for CKD.
More is not always
better!
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Nutrition Label Footnote
*Percent Daily Values based
on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Your Daily Values may be
higher or lower depending
on your calorie needs.
Full footnote may not be on the
package if the size of the label is
too small.
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Check Out the Ingredient List
 Ingredients are listed in order of quantity by weight.
 Stick with short ingredient lists.
 Be aware of hidden sodium: sodium chloride, sodium
benzoate, disodium or monosodium glutamate (MSG).
 Be aware of hidden potassium, especially in foods labeled
as low sodium.
 Be aware of hidden sugar: high fructose corn syrup,
corn syrup, agave nectar, barley malt syrup or cane juice.
 Know that ingredients may change without warning.
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Which is a Better Choice?
Canned Soup A
Canned Soup B
Per 1 cup (250 mL)
Per 1 cup (250 mL)
Nutrition Facts
Amount
Nutrition Facts
% Daily Value
Amount
% Daily Value
Calories 150
Calories 160
Fat 2.5 g
4%
Saturated 1 g
+ Trans 0 g
5%
Fat 11 g
17 %
Saturated 2 g
+ Trans 0 g
Cholesterol 5 mg
10 %
Sodium 1080 mg
45 %
Sodium 250 mg
10 %
Carbohydrate 13 g
4%
Carbohydrate 25 g
8%
Fiber 1 g
4%
Fiber 5 g
20 %
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sugars 2 g
Sugars 7 g
Protein 1 g
Protein 6 g
Vitamin A
0 % Vitamin C
0%
Vitamin A
Calcium
2 % Iron
4%
Calcium
15 % Vitamin C
2 % Iron
6%
10 %
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Which is a Better Choice?
Cereal A
Cereal B
Per 1/2 cup (30g)
Per 3/4 cup (30g)
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Amount
% Daily Value
Amount
% Daily Value
Calories 110
Calories 120
Fat 0 g
0%
Fat 1 g
2%
Saturated 0 g
+ Trans 0 g
0%
Saturated 0.2 g
+ Trans 0 g
1%
Cholesterol 0 mg
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 150 mg
6%
Sodium 170 mg
7%
Carbohydrate 27 g
9%
Carbohydrate 23 g
8%
Fiber 1 g
4%
Fiber 7 g
28 %
Sugars 10 g
Sugars 5 g
Protein 2 g
Protein 3 g
Vitamin A
0 % Vitamin C
Calcium
2 % Iron
0%
30 %
Vitamin A
0 % Vitamin C
Calcium
2 % Iron
0%
30 %
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The New Food Label
# servings:
larger &
bolder type
Serving sizes
updated
Calories:
larger type
% DV
moved
New: added
sugars
Change of required
nutrients: must
include potassium
and vitamin D
Actual amounts
listed
New footnote
to come
Grocery Staples
Refer to handout
Remember, portion sizes are important!
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Thank You!
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