Convenience foods you buy in the supermarket are required to have labels that list the content of the product, nutrition information, and how the food is used. Get in the habit of reading labels. Just like comparing prices, you'll get used to looking for low-sodium products, those without trans fat, and those with high levels of vitamins and minerals for good nutrition.

Sodium and fat, especially trans fats, are probably the two ingredients you should be most concerned with when using prepared convenience foods and the two ingredients you can avoid when you make your own convenience foods.

Health claims are another important part of product labels. These claims have to be supported by research and peer-reviewed scientific evidence. The government monitors these claims. In fact, you may have heard about some manufacturers being told to remove claims on their products that weren't factual and accurate. These are the health claims currently allowed on product labels.

TABLE 1–2

HEALTH CLAIMS

At first glance, labels look complicated, but once you understand them, they're easy to interpret. With just a glance, look for five things: the number of servings in the package, the calorie count per serving, the number of fat grams per serving, the amount of sodium, and the trans fat content.