View Full Version : reading food labels - minerals and vitamins


spfdz
Fri, November 11th, 2005, 04:19 PM
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JeremyLikness
Fri, November 11th, 2005, 06:36 PM
If it lists the item and has 0%, it means there is none.

However, federal regulations only require a few items on the label. It's disappointing, because they must always report sodium, but don't have to report potassium ... even though the ratio of sodium to potassium is important. They only have to report like the first 4 vitamins and minerals, I believe ... the required ones are iron, calcium, and a few others. Anything else is totally optional.

I've found that reputable companies concerned with health will make the effort to list more than the bare minimum on their labels ... as an interesting experiment, compare manufacturers who list potassium on their labels and those who don't, and you might come to a surprising conclusion.

Then there's the ones that use the cheap synthetic sprays to get 100% DV of everything, they'll proudly display that to make you think you're getting something good.

Jeremy
If a product has a food label with DV's on it and no listing for minerals or vitamins, does that mean it just doesn't contain any? Or is there no regulation for implementing the amount of minerals and vitamin is in a product?