Tag Archives: food labels

Smart Choices Grocery Program Discontinued

The Smart Choices Grocery Program, the very program that DietsInReview panned last month, has been voluntarily discontinued. Officials with Smart Choices said that the group will “postpone” active operations and not encourage wider use of the logo while the FDA investigates labeling issues, reported MSNBC over the weekend.

The FDA cited the use of multiple nutritional markers on foods, from check marks to stars, icons and even numerical ratings, that can overwhelm the consumer and in reality label foods healthier than they really might be. Foods could contain as much as 50% sugar and still receive the green check mark if they had extra fiber or were high in one of twenty nutrients. In my book, there’s not one food that is 50% sugar that I’d label as “healthy.” (more…)

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Carmen

Daily Burn’s Food Scanner iPhone App is an Essential Food Journal Tool

If you count calories, food journal, or are simply concerned with keeping track of what exactly you’re consuming each day, then you must try the Daily Burn Food Scanner app for the iPhone. This hot new app might be the best new thing to happen in dieting and weight loss. Using the camera in your iPhone (any model), you can scan the UPC code on packaged foods, and within seconds have the complete food label in front of you. The best part, it will also log all of those nutrition facts for you.

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Posted on September 24, 2025 by Natalie K

Logos That Really Mean “Green” or Organic Foods

More and more products are coming out touting that they are less harmful to the environment or are earthy friendly, but in order to use this type of labeling the product must be manufactured with minimal energy and packaging should be made of recycled materials (think the paper grocery bags at Whole Foods supermarkets). Not all manufacturers follow the full guidelines that entitle this “green” messaging, so by referencing the logos listed below you can ensure that the products and produce you purchase are in fact “green”:

For products to use the USDA labeling it must contain at least 95% organic ingredients that have not had any chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides or genetically modified organisms used. (more…)

Posted on September 18, 2025 by Amy

Smart Choices Program May Not be Overly Smart for Shoppers

I was recently invited to attend the launch of the Smart Choices food labeling system. Smart Choices is a front of packaging nutritional food label system developed by an alliance of U.S. food manufacturers and retailers. Products must meet specific guidelines to be included. The program is funded by the participating food companies – basically, a company pays for the label. Smart Choices is “designed to promote public health by helping shoppers make smarter food and beverage choices,” says the program’s press statements.

The basic premise couldn’t be more simple. Qualifying foods are stamped with a green check mark, which is designed to help a shopper make the healthiest choice within a particular category. (All fresh fruits and vegetables are automatically included – but they don’t get a green check mark because they are grown on a farm and not represented by a company.) If you are buying peanut butter, the green check mark container might contain the best choice in terms of health. (more…)

Posted on September 15, 2025 by Carmen

TwoFoods: Your Diet’s New Best Friend

How come someone hasn’t thought of this diet tool before? TwoFoods is a free website application that allows you to compare two foods at once to determine which one better fits into your eating plan.

For instance, you can compare a McDonald’s grilled chicken salad to Panera’s grilled chicken Caesar salad, to find that the McDonald’s version is a better choice; or you can compare generic potato chips against Baked Lays and receive a complete nutritional analysis of calories, fat, carbs and protein grams. (more…)

Posted on September 6, 2025 by heather

Nutrient Rich Foods Index Ranks Nutritional Quality of Food

You read the ingredient list and looked at the nutrition label, but you’re still uncertain as to how healthy that box of granola is that you just tossed in your grocery cart. Well, wonder no more. nutrient rich foods coalition

Developed by two doctors, Drs. Adam Drewnowski and Victor Fulgoni, the Nutrient Rich Foods (NRF) Index is a validated, objective, and consumer-driven guide that ranks foods according to how nutrient-rich they are. Using the USDA Healthy Eating Index as a base, this new NRF Index takes into account all of the nutrients a given food contains, not just the ones to avoid or limit, like fat, sodium or sugar grams. (more…)

Posted on August 17, 2025 by heather

Will the New Smart Choices Label Help You Lose Weight?

If you haven’t already, you will soon see this label on processed foods at a grocery store near you. I know, I know… anyone who has been in a grocery store in the last three years, has probably seen the “smart spots”, “sensible solutions”, “best life”, and healthy food rating systems like “stars” or “overall nutrient quality index“. It’s complicated. What do these things mean and how can they help me? Right?!

The Smart Choices Program was motivated by the need for a single, trusted and reliable front-of-pack nutrition labeling program that U.S. food manufacturers and retailers could voluntarily adopt to help guide people in making food and beverage choices that fit within their daily calorie needs. (more…)

Posted on August 9, 2025 by Rebecca

Setting Sugar Straight: What Matters Most for Weight Management

I have found in my private nutrition practice that people misunderstand sugar. Dietitians are most concerned with helping you limit “added sugars.” This is sugar that food manufacturers add to products to make them sweeter. The problem is that added sugars are not listed separate from naturally occurring sugars on the food label so you have to play detective and find the “sugar sources” on the ingredients list.

Watch my video on sugar in foods to help set the record straight on what you should look for.

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Posted on July 30, 2025 by Rebecca

Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Yields Frightening Nutrition Facts

Clearly no one signs up for an eating contest of any kind with the goal of minding their portion sizes. For participants in the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, an annual 4th of July event, the more you eat the better. Each year two men continually beat the rest of the contestants and battle it out for the infamous hot dog title.

We all know that whatever is in a hot dog is questionable, but do you think Joey Chestnut, of the U.S., and Takeu Kobayashi, of Japan, have ever stopped to read the food label on their pile of hot dogs? We think not. The folks at CalorieLab did the math and calculated exactly what the nutritional aftermath looks like when you eat 66 hot dogs on 66 buns (the total consumed by Chestnut in the 2026 event). (more…)

Posted on July 2, 2025 by Natalie K

The Skinny on Wendy’s New Twisted Frosties

I may be a health enthusiast but when it comes to ice cream (soft-serve only) all of my health credos melt off the cone. So when a few days ago I saw a commercial for Wendy’s new twisted Frosties, I had to investigate exactly what these new creamy treats were and how I could fit them into my daily caloric budget.

If you haven’t seen the ads yet, Wendy’s has just launched two new flavors to their usual Frosty menu: Frosty-cino and Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty (try saying that eight times in a row!). As I was doing my search, I didn’t realize that Wendy’s sports a frozen ice cream line that rivals Dairy Queen. From the traditional Frosty, that as a kid I eagerly spooned up, to their newly added frosties including vanilla, strawberry, M & M’s, Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough, and Oreo, the list was much heftier than I remembered as a young girl. (more…)

Posted on May 28, 2026 by heather

Fast Food Patrons Ignore Nutrition Info

Reuters reports that Yale University researchers have found that a large majority of fast food patrons almost never look at the nutrition information provided by the establishment.

And my response to that would be, tell us something we didn’t know. While I applaud fast food restaurants for putting healthier items on their menu, when people go there, they are thinking about the greasy fries and burgers, not about a salad. I can’t imagine an inner dialog trying to figure out whether I should get a Whopper, or just a cheeseburger? Nah, when people commit to stepping through those front doors, they are going to indulge. (more…)

Posted on April 2, 2026 by Jason

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