When 2% Equals 38%

One of the most important things you can do when you're trying to watch what you eat is to know how to read food labels. The most shocking example I can think of for this is 2% milk.

The common perception is that when you buy 2% milk in the store, it means the milk you are getting only has 2% fat in it. That's because the pretty pictures on the front look something like this:



What a savvy consumer needs to do, rather than be taken in by the marketing information on the front, is to turn the product around and read and interpret the information on the nutritional label.

Let's take a look at the actual label for 2% milk.


The percentages down the right side mean how much of your daily intake you're getting from one serving. Those percentages are based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet. If you are actually trying to lose weight, you probably need less than 2,000 calories per day, so that's the first thing to be aware of.

The key things to look for here are calories and fat from calories. The rest of it is simple math. Divide the "calories from fat" amount by total calories: 45 / 120 = 37.5%.

And there you have it. The total fat in 2% milk is actually 37.5% of its total calories. That formula works for any food product.

No, the milk board is not lying when they say that 2& milk is lower fat. It IS lower fat than whole milk.

But that fat content is much much higher than 1% or skim milk. Skim milk really IS fat free, as its label will attest. It has 80 calories, none of which come from fat.

You should have three servings of dairy (skim or low-fat) products (three cups) per day. Milk and dairy products provide an easy source of calcium. Obviously if you're lactose intolerant or something similar you need to seek another easy source of calcium. So get your dairy, but be wise about it. Read the label!