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Solving The Food Label Mystery
By Jennifer Maciejewski

Since chiropractors and their patients typically opt for healthier foods, they know firsthand that finding them is not as easy as it appears. After all, food labels are confusing, and what may look healthy at first glance may be little more than junk. For instance, a product labeled as “made with whole grains” may actually contain more refined flour than whole wheat, and a refined food could carry an organic label if it was raised without pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.

Here, Today’s Chiropractic LifeStyle takes a closer look at the processes by which foods are labeled organic or whole and the benefits of each.

Whole Foods
Foods are considered “whole” if they are consumed in their natural state. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, finding whole foods is relatively easy—one simply needs to head to the produce section and pick up a banana or a bell pepper. And while processed foods, like applesauce and apple juice, offer some health benefits, they don’t pack the same nutritional punch as whole fruit.

“Nature provides foods in the whole state with all the fiber and nutrients intact,” says Paul A. Goldberg, M.P.H., D.C., D.A.C.B.N., who served as a professor of clinical nutrition and gastroenterology at Life University from 1980 to 2003. “We understand from epidemiological studies that when population groups utilize foods that are whole and intact, that the incidence and prevalence of degenerative diseases is much lower, including digestive disorders, cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other common ills the western world has fallen prey to.”

Whole grains are trickier to find. In order to be consumed, the grain typically must be processed in some way—it may be cracked, split or ground, though some, like oats, can be consumed whole. To make a refined grain, like a white flour, the kernel’s bran and germ are removed, leaving only the endosperm, and the processors add back some vitamins and minerals to enrich the grains. For a product to be considered a whole grain, the processed food must contain the same proportions of bran, germ and endosperm as the harvested kernel.

While the USDA currently has draft guidelines to address whole grain label statements, there are no formal policies in place to restrict food manufacturers from labeling foods in a misleading way, such as by claiming that a loaf of bread contains whole grains when it is predominantly made from refined flour.

To bring a level of legitimacy to whole grain claims, the Whole Grain Council, wholegrains-council.com, created a voluntary Whole Grain Stamp. Products bearing the “Whole Grain” label contain at least eight grams of whole grain per serving, while those with the “100% Whole Grain” label contain at least 16 grams of whole grain per serving. However, it is still important to check the nutrition facts on the package to make sure that the food offers acceptable levels of fiber, fat and sugar content.

Organic Foods
Unlike whole grains, the USDA does have formal guidelines in place to determine which foods can bear an “organic” label. Though all foods are technically organic since they are carbon-based, in the food industry, organic means that the foods are produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering or ionizing radiation. For meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products to be considered organic, the animals must not be given any antibiotics or growth hormones.

In order for a product to bear the “USDA Organic” seal, at least 95 percent of its ingredients must be considered organic. Products containing at least 70 percent organic ingredients can make organic claims on the front of the package, while those containing less than 70 percent can only make organic claims on the side label.

Although the long-term health effects are not known, it is certainly wise to opt for organic foods to minimize your intake of the residual pesticides left on produce or the antibiotics and hormones used to raise animals. But adopting an all-organic lifestyle is not cheap—the foods cost more than their conventionally grown counterparts.

Finding a Balance
“It is difficult and costly for most people to obtain all organic foods unless they are able to grow them themselves,” says Goldberg, whose practice in Marietta, Ga., focuses on the reversal of chronic degenerative diseases. “For my patients, I emphasize the use of whole foods, appropriate to their individual needs, in optimizing their opportunity to reverse chronic disease conditions.”

To get the healthiest bang for your buck, splurge on organic foods when it really matters. Known as the “dirty dozen,” apples, peaches, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes consistently have high pesticide levels in tests administered by the USDA and FDA, according to analysts at the Environmental Working Group, which offers consumers a free Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, available at foodnews.com.

It’s not as necessary to track down organically grown alternatives of produce that has been shown to be consistently clean over the years in USDA and FDA testing—pineapple, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli and papaya. But don’t skip out on the “dirty dozen” if you can’t find the organic alternative; just be sure to wash the fruits and vegetables well to reduce the pesticide levels. After all, the health benefits of consuming whole fruits and vegetables far outweigh the potential risks.

Food Label Lingo
Food companies are vying for your attention on supermarket shelves. Many will resort to often confusing labels to get into your grocery cart. “Multi-grain,” “All-Natural,” “Organic” and “100% Whole Wheat” all sound nutritious, but what do they really mean? Here’s a food label glossary to help you sort these labels out:

All Natural. All fresh meat qualifies as natural. Products labeled natural cannot contain any artificial flavor or flavoring, coloring ingredient, chemical preservative or any other artificial or synthetic ingredient; and the product and its ingredients are not more than minimally processed (ground, for example). All products claiming to be natural should be accompanied by a brief statement, which explains what is meant by the term natural.

Multi-grain. Products labeled mutli-grain are made from several types of grains, such as wheat, barley and millet, but these separate grains may not be whole grains.

Organic. The organic food label must meet certain legally regulated standards. For crops, it means they were grown without the use of conventional pesticides or artificial fertilizers, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives. For animals, it means they were reared without the routine use of antibiotics and growth hormones. Also, at all levels, organic food is produced without the use of genetically modified organisms.

Whole Grain. Whole grains or foods made from them contain all the essential parts and naturally-occurring nutrients of the entire grain seed. If the grain has been processed (e.g., cracked, crushed, rolled, extruded, and/or cooked), the food product should deliver approximately the same rich balance of nutrients that are found in the original grain seed. Products that are labeled “100% Whole Grain” must have at least 16 grams of whole grain per serving.

Whole Wheat. Products with the label “100% Whole Wheat” contain either whole wheat flour or durum whole wheat flour as their main ingredient.