Read the label ... and then be very skeptical

One more thing: You can skip the organic seafood. “It’s a waste of money,” says Lisa Lee Freeman, editor in chief of Shop Smart magazine. The term is meaningless because there are no government standards for organic seafood. That means fish can be labeled organic even if it contains mercury or some other chemical contaminant.

So how do you know what to buy? These three sites can help you choose seafood that tends to be toxin free and that is not overfished: Blue Ocean Institute, Seafood Watch and Oceans Alive.

By the way, you can trust the terms farm-raised and wild-caught. They are required on seafood and are regulated by the federal government.

They sound good, but mean little
If given the choice, wouldn’t you like to eat more natural foods? Natural just sounds better and seems more healthful. But don’t confuse the term natural with organic. They are not the same.

Natural is only loosely defined. Federal regulations allow food products to be labeled “natural” if they are minimally processed and do not contain any artificial ingredients or added color. For meat and poultry, the term natural has nothing to do with what the animals are fed or how they were raised.

Freeman says natural “gets slapped on all kinds of products.” For example, meat can be pumped up with broth and water and still be called natural. That’s why she considers the claim to be meaningless.

The definitions are even more nebulous for two other terms sometimes used on poultry products: “Free Range” and “Free Roaming.” To make these claims, the farmer is only required to give the birds a chance to go outside for a couple of minutes each day. It doesn’t matter if they actually go out when the barn door is open. The USDA has only defined the free range/free roaming claim for poultry, not eggs.

If it is important for you to know how animals are treated before slaughter, look for the “Certified Humane Raised & Handled” label. It certifies that the cow, pig, chicken or sheep was handled gently to minimize stress, had proper shelter, access to fresh water, sufficient space to live, and was able to engage in its natural behavior. For cows that means access to a pasture or exercise area for at least four hours a day.

The bottom line
It wasn’t so long ago that supermarket shoppers wanted food that was wholesome and good tasting. Today, we expect so much more. Labels can tell us how the food was produced and what ingredients are in the package. They can even point us, in some cases, to food that will improve our health. But labels can also mislead.

While some terms, such as organic, reduced calorie, low fat, fat-free and trans-fat free are regulated and defined by the federal government, many other terms are not.

You can always trust the Nutrition Facts Label to give you a true picture of what is inside the package. It has all the important information you need to know — the amount of fat, cholesterol, fiber, sugar, sodium, protein, vitamins, minerals, and calories per serving — to make smart choices at the grocery store.

More Information

• When it’s really worth spending extra on food

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