Lesson: 1.11 Label Detective, Day 2
Print: Pages 1 to 4, one per student. A calculator is allowed.
Page 1: Five tricks and the line that catches each one
Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Period: ______
Directions: As we go through the five tricks on the screen, write what the trick is and which line on the Nutrition Facts label or ingredient list catches it.
| Trick | What it is | The line that catches it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The serving size game | ||
| 2. "Natural" | ||
| 3. True but beside the point ("fat free," "made with real fruit," "multigrain") | ||
| 4. The health halo (green package, a leaf, "wellness") | ||
| 5. "No sugar added" vs "sugar free" vs "reduced sugar" |
The fix is always the same: ______________________________________________
Page 2: Comparison 1, the juice aisle
Product A: 100% Orange Juice, 52 fl oz carton. Front says: "100% juice. No sugar added. Excellent source of vitamin C."
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings per container | about 6 |
| Serving size | 8 fl oz (240 mL) |
| Calories | 110 |
| Total Fat 0 g | 0% |
| Sodium 0 mg | 0% |
| Total Carbohydrate 26 g | 9% |
| Dietary Fiber 0 g | 0% |
| Total Sugars 22 g | |
| Includes 0 g Added Sugars | 0% |
| Protein 2 g | |
| Vitamin C 90 mg | 100% |
| Potassium 450 mg | 10% |
Ingredients: orange juice.
Product B: Sunny Orange Drink, 64 fl oz bottle. Front says: "Made with real juice. Excellent source of vitamin C. Only 10 calories per ounce."
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings per container | 8 |
| Serving size | 8 fl oz (240 mL) |
| Calories | 120 |
| Total Fat 0 g | 0% |
| Sodium 25 mg | 1% |
| Total Carbohydrate 31 g | 11% |
| Dietary Fiber 0 g | 0% |
| Total Sugars 30 g | |
| Includes 28 g Added Sugars | 56% |
| Protein 0 g | |
| Vitamin C 90 mg | 100% |
| Potassium 40 mg | 0% |
Ingredients: water, high fructose corn syrup, orange juice concentrate (10%), citric acid, natural flavor, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), yellow 6.
Compare one serving:
| Product A | Product B | Which is better on this line? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | |||
| Total sugars (g) | |||
| Added sugars (g and % DV) | |||
| Sodium (mg) | |||
| First ingredient |
Better choice (circle): A / B
The trick on Product B's front: ____________________________________________________
Whole container: if you drank all of Product B, added sugars = ______ servings x ______ g = ______ g. The daily value for added sugars is 50 g. That is ______ days' worth.
One sentence with two numbers as evidence: _________________________________________
Page 3: Comparison 2, the chip aisle
Product C: Crispy Veggie Straws, 7 oz bag. Front says: "Made with real vegetables. 30% less fat than regular potato chips. No artificial colors."
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings per container | 7 |
| Serving size | 1 oz (28 g, about 38 straws) |
| Calories | 130 |
| Total Fat 7 g | 9% |
| Saturated Fat 0.5 g | 3% |
| Sodium 220 mg | 10% |
| Total Carbohydrate 16 g | 6% |
| Dietary Fiber less than 1 g | 2% |
| Total Sugars 0 g | |
| Includes 0 g Added Sugars | 0% |
| Protein less than 1 g | |
| Vitamin A 0 mcg | 0% |
| Vitamin C 0 mg | 0% |
Ingredients: potato starch, potato flour, corn starch, sunflower oil, salt, spinach powder, tomato paste, turmeric, beet powder.
Product D: Classic Potato Chips, 8 oz bag. Front says: "Made with real potatoes."
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings per container | 8 |
| Serving size | 1 oz (28 g, about 15 chips) |
| Calories | 160 |
| Total Fat 10 g | 13% |
| Saturated Fat 1.5 g | 8% |
| Sodium 170 mg | 7% |
| Total Carbohydrate 15 g | 5% |
| Dietary Fiber 1 g | 4% |
| Total Sugars less than 1 g | |
| Includes 0 g Added Sugars | 0% |
| Protein 2 g | |
| Vitamin C 9 mg | 10% |
| Potassium 350 mg | 8% |
Ingredients: potatoes, vegetable oil (sunflower, corn, or canola), salt.
Compare one serving:
| Product C | Product D | Which is better on this line? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | |||
| Total fat (g) | |||
| Sodium (mg and % DV) | |||
| Fiber (g) | |||
| Protein (g) | |||
| Any vitamins? |
Better choice (circle): C / D / neither is a health food
The trick on Product C's front: ____________________________________________________
Whole bag: if you ate the whole bag of Product C, sodium = ______ x ______ = ______ mg. Whole bag of D: ______ x ______ = ______ mg.
One sentence with two numbers as evidence: _________________________________________
Page 4: Critique the ad
The ad (on the screen and here):
SunBurst Fruit Bites
Made with REAL fruit. Fat free. Excellent source of vitamin C.
The healthy snack for active kids. Toss a pouch in the lunchbox and feel good about it.
(Picture: a smiling kid on a soccer field holding a pouch; strawberries and oranges tumbling across the package.)
The label on the back of the box:
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings per container | 10 pouches |
| Serving size | 1 pouch (26 g) |
| Calories | 90 |
| Total Fat 0 g | 0% |
| Sodium 35 mg | 2% |
| Total Carbohydrate 21 g | 8% |
| Dietary Fiber 0 g | 0% |
| Total Sugars 12 g | |
| Includes 11 g Added Sugars | 22% |
| Protein 0 g | |
| Vitamin C 22 mg | 25% |
| Vitamin A 0 mcg | 0% |
Ingredients: corn syrup, sugar, modified corn starch, pear juice concentrate, citric acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), natural and artificial flavor, carnauba wax, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1.
For comparison, one medium apple: 95 calories, 25 g total carbohydrate, 4 g dietary fiber, 19 g total sugars, 0 g added sugars, 0 mg sodium, vitamin C 8 mg (10%).
Directions: Write a four-sentence critique. Sentence 1: what the ad claims. Sentences 2, 3, and 4: three pieces of evidence from the label or the ingredient list that the claim hides. Use a number or an ingredient in each one.
Sentence frame: "The ad says ___, but the label shows ___."
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________________________________
Grade 8 stretch: on the back of this page, design an honest Nutrition Facts label for a snack that could truthfully say "made with real fruit." Name the snack, list the first three ingredients, and fill in serving size, calories, total sugars, added sugars, and fiber.
Teacher key
Page 1.
- Serving size game: the company sets a small serving so the numbers look small; catch it with servings per container (a 20 oz bottle listed as 2.5 servings).
- "Natural": the FDA has never formally defined the word for most foods, so it can mean almost anything; catch it with the ingredient list.
- True but beside the point: "fat free" on candy (candy never had fat; look at added sugars); "made with real fruit" (look at where fruit is in the ingredient list and the added sugars line); "multigrain" (means more than one grain, not whole grain; look for "whole" as the first word of the first ingredient).
- Health halo: a color or a word, not a fact; catch it by ignoring the front and reading the back.
- "No sugar added" means no sugar was put in but the food may still have a lot of natural sugar (100% juice); "sugar free" means less than 0.5 g per serving; "reduced sugar" means at least 25% less than the regular version, which can still be a lot. Catch it with total sugars and added sugars.
The fix: turn it over and read the Nutrition Facts and the ingredient list.
Page 2, Comparison 1. Calories: A 110, B 120 (A). Total sugars: A 22 g, B 30 g (A). Added sugars: A 0 g (0%), B 28 g (56%) (A). Sodium: A 0 mg, B 25 mg (A). First ingredient: A orange juice, B water then high fructose corn syrup (A). Better choice: A. The trick: "made with real juice" (it is 10% juice), "excellent source of vitamin C" (added as ascorbic acid, not from fruit), "only 10 calories per ounce" (a made-up serving size to make the number look small). Whole container: 8 x 28 = 224 g added sugars, about 4.5 days' worth. Note for discussion: A still has 22 g of sugar per serving; juice is a "sometimes" drink and a serving is one cup, not the bottle.
Page 3, Comparison 2. Calories: C 130, D 160 (C). Total fat: C 7 g, D 10 g (C). Sodium: C 220 mg (10%), D 170 mg (7%) (D). Fiber: C less than 1 g, D 1 g (D, barely). Protein: C less than 1 g, D 2 g (D). Vitamins: C none, D vitamin C 10% and potassium 8% (D). Better choice: "neither is a health food" is the best answer; D wins more lines; C wins calories and fat. The trick: "made with real vegetables" (vegetable powders are the sixth to ninth ingredients, and the product has no vitamin A or C to show for it; the first three ingredients are starches), and "30% less fat" hides 30% more sodium. Whole bag: C 7 x 220 = 1,540 mg; D 8 x 170 = 1,360 mg.
Page 4, the critique. Sentence 1 states the claim (made with real fruit; healthy snack for active kids). Any three of these as evidence: the first two ingredients are corn syrup and sugar; the only fruit is pear juice concentrate, fourth on the list, and no strawberry or orange appears at all; 11 g added sugars is 22% of a day's worth in one pouch; 0 g fiber, while a real apple has 4 g; the vitamin C is ascorbic acid added by the company, not from fruit; "fat free" is true but the snack never had fat; the colors on the package come from red 40, yellow 5, and blue 1. Score: complete (claim plus three evidence sentences with a number or ingredient each), partial (claim plus one or two), missing.
Grade 8 stretch. Any snack whose first ingredient is a fruit (for example dried apple slices, a fruit and nut bar with dates first) with a label that shows 0 g added sugars and at least 2 g fiber. Check that the serving size is a real amount.
Scoring: complete, partial, or missing for daily work. The page 4 critique is Objective 3 and previews quiz item 12.