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6 of 11 · 3 min
How to read a label in 20 seconds
Serving size, sodium, and the word “phos.” That is the whole trick.
1. Serving size first
The numbers are for one serving, not the whole box. If you eat two servings, double everything. A “low sodium” soup that you finish is no longer low.
2. Sodium
Under 200 mg is friendly. 200–400 is a think-about-it. Over 400 in a snack is usually a skip. Keep a running idea of the day — breakfast plus lunch plus that “little” bag of chips can blow 2,000 mg before supper.
3. The ingredient list
Scan for salt, potassium chloride (that is a salt substitute), and any word with phos. You do not need to understand every chemical. Those three are enough.
Words that mean salt
Seasoned, enhanced, injected, broth, brine, smoked, cured, Cajun, blackened. At Brookshire’s meat case, ask for chicken that is not enhanced.
Try this
- Pick one item in your pantry tonight and read it with this checklist.
- Put anything with “phos” on a mental skip list.