• Look at the package on your table. Do not turn it over.
• Is this a healthy food? Yes or no, and one reason.
• Two minutes.

• A label detective reads the back first.
• The back has a box the government makes every company fill in the same way.
• It is called Nutrition Facts.
• Same order, same words, every package. Once you can read one, you can read all of them.

• Servings per container: how many servings are in the whole package.
• Serving size: the amount all the numbers describe. The government sets it, not the company.
• Calories: big and bold on purpose.
• Then the nutrients, then percent daily value down the right side.

• Get LESS of these: saturated fat, sodium, added sugars.
• Get MORE of these: dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron, potassium.
• Added sugars is new (2020). It separates the sugar in fruit or milk from the sugar the company put in.
• Total sugars minus added sugars is the sugar that was already there.

• % DV means: how much of a whole day's worth one serving gives you.
• Based on a 2,000 calorie day.
• It is NOT the percent of the food. It is the percent of your day.
• Sodium 9% DV means one serving uses up 9% of your sodium for the whole day.

• 5% DV or less is LOW.
• 20% DV or more is HIGH.
• Low is good for the get less list. High is good for the get more list.
• Try it: sodium ______% DV on our label. Low, in between, or high? Fiber ______%?

• The label describes ONE serving.
• This bag has ______ servings. [Sal: your poster label.]
• Eat the bag, multiply everything by ______.
• Calories: ______ x ______ = ______. Sodium: ______ x ______ = ______ mg.

• Five packages at your station. Serving size first, then everything else.
• Part 1: fill one row per package on the table.
• Part 2: answer the six hunt questions. Every answer has a package name AND a number.
• "It looks unhealthy" is not evidence. A number is.
• Fifteen minutes.

• At seven minutes, teams move one station to the right.
• Take your handout. Leave the packages.
• Finish the table with the new packages.

• One question per team. Read the answer and the evidence.
• Class: was the evidence a number?
• The class "most sodium per serving" and "most added sugars" go on the board and stay up until tomorrow.

• 3 parts of a Nutrition Facts label and what each one tells you.
• 2 numbers from a package you read today, with the package name.
• 1 question you still have about labels.
• Three volunteers read one line.
• * *

Day 2: Spot the trick

• A cereal box says "Made with whole grain."
• Does that mean it is healthy? Yes, no, or it depends.
• What would you need to see to be sure?
• One minute.

• A 20 ounce bottle. The label says 2.5 servings.
• Who drinks 40% of a bottle and puts it back?
• The numbers look small because the serving is small.
• Catch it with: servings per container. Then multiply.

• The FDA has never formally defined "natural" for most foods.
• So it can go on almost anything. It does not mean healthy, organic, or low in sugar.
• Catch it with: the ingredient list. What is actually in it?

• "Fat free" on candy. Candy never had fat. Look at added sugars.
• "Made with real fruit." How much? Where is fruit on the ingredient list?
• "Multigrain" means more than one grain. It does not mean whole grain. Look for "whole" as the first word of the first ingredient.
• Catch it with: the line the claim is not talking about.

• A green package. A leaf. The word "wellness" or "fit" or "smart."
• None of those is a fact.
• Your brain reads the color before it reads the label. Companies know that.
• Catch it with: ignore the front. Read the back.

• "No sugar added": nothing was put in, but the food may still be full of natural sugar. 100% juice is the classic case.
• "Sugar free": less than half a gram per serving.
• "Reduced sugar": at least 25% less than the regular version. Which can still be a lot.
• Catch it with: total sugars AND added sugars.

• Product A: 100% orange juice. Product B: an orange drink.
• Both say "excellent source of vitamin C."
• Fill the compare table. Circle the better choice. Name the trick on the front.
• Whole container: if you drank all of B, how many grams of added sugars?

• Product C: veggie straws. "Made with real vegetables. 30% less fat."
• Product D: potato chips. "Made with real potatoes."
• Which wins on calories? Fat? Sodium? Fiber? Protein? Vitamins?
• Is either one a health food?

• SunBurst Fruit Bites. "Made with REAL fruit. Fat free. Excellent source of vitamin C. The healthy snack for active kids."
• Here is the back of the box. [Show the label and the ingredient list from the handout.]
• Write a four-sentence critique: the claim, then three pieces of evidence from the label or ingredients that the claim hides.
• Frame: "The ad says ___, but the label shows ___."

• A medium apple: 95 calories, 4 g fiber, 0 g added sugars, 0 mg sodium.
• One pouch of Fruit Bites: 90 calories, 0 g fiber, 11 g added sugars.
• Same calories. Not the same food.
• Grade 8 stretch: design an honest label for a snack that could truthfully say "made with real fruit."

• Three critiques read aloud.
• Class: which piece of evidence was the strongest?
• Would the company let this critique run as a commercial? Why not?

• One product from today.
• The trick on its front.
• The one label line that catches it.
• One sentence. Three volunteers read.