Your Guide to Reading Nutrition Labels as a Vegan

It is important to look at the nutrition labels on the food we consume regardless of what diet we are following. Nutrition labels help us gauge how healthy a certain food actually is. They tell us things like how much dietary fiber, added sugar, and protein is in a serving size. For vegans, it is particularly important to look at the label to make sure we are being our healthiest selves. Although we encourage everyone to eat more foods without  nutrition labels, like fresh fruits and vegetables, when you do come across one, here’s what to pay attention to:

Image from the Allergy Free Table

1. Ingredients
Although through the marketing of most foods it is made evident whether a certain product contains meat or not, dairy products aren’t always so obvious. Whether you are investigating to find out if a food is vegan or you’re just double- checking, all your questions will be answered in the ingredients list.  Often next to the nutrition label, the ingredients list includes all items used to make the final product that you’re seeing, decreasing in weight the farther down the list you go. At the bottom of all the ingredients is an allergen label that looks like the bolded text in the image to the left. ​If you're living a vegan lifestyle then it's important that milk and eggs are NOT listed under the ingredients. What’s surprising to most people making the transition to veganism, is that gelatin is an animal product. While gelatin won’t be listed under the allergen label, if it is in a product it will be included under the more lengthy ingredients list. Other than animal products, there are more ingredients to try to avoid. Additives like sodium nitrate, aspartame, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, xanthan gum, and trans fats are not natural and we encourage you to stay away from them. The list is endless but more often than not, if you can’t pronounce it then you most likely shouldn’t be eating it.

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Quick tip: When examining a nutrition label, if cholesterol is anything other than zero, it contains animal products. Cholesterol is not found in any plant-based products, it is only found in animal products or products derived from animals. Meaning unless you see a zero next to cholesterol, stay away. 

Image from the FDA

2. Serving size
​The thing that throws people off the most when analyzing what it is they are buying: serving sizes. Often misleading, serving sizes tell us a standard amount of food. However, this amount is not necessarily how much of that particular food we should be eating at a given time. The serving size is shown on top of the nutrition label, such as the one highlighted in the image to the right. It is important to remember that the information on the nutrition label is for a single serving size. So although the nutrition label may say there are four grams of added sugar, if you are having two cups of it and the serving size is only one cup, you are really consuming eight grams of sugar. 

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3. Nutrients
Last but not least, once you have determined that your product is in fact vegan, you can start looking at what nutrients it provides. High amounts of protein is definitely something to look out for on a nutrition label. Protein helps rebuild muscles, create hormones, and fuel your body, making it essential to any diet. Plant-based protein is especially healthy because it is less saturated and doesn’t raise cholesterol like animal protein does. The most common (and the tastiest) vegan protein sources are beans, legumes and various nuts and seeds, but there are so many more. To help aid digestion, fiber should be incorporated into every meal. High amounts of fiber help increase bowel movements, making for a healthy gut. Like protein, fiber is also found in legumes and beans, in addition to hearty greens. Finally, our main energy source, carbohydrates. Although carbs have a bad reputation, they keep us satisfied. The healthiest carbohydrates come naturally through plants. Starchy vegetables like various potatoes and squashes, in addition to grains and fruits,  are full of natural and unrefined carbohydrates.
Even though fresh foods are our favorites, packaged foods are inevitable. Learning how to shop for these foods the right way will be a game changer if you are on your journey to becoming a healthy vegan. So the next time you are grocery shopping, instead of getting overwhelmed by what is on the back of a box, simply ask yourself  “What would The Vegan Select do?”