When you are reading Nutritional Facts information off of the back of a product it can be confusing sometimes. It can also be a little deceiving. Sometimes you may look at it and read the calories count or the amount of sugar or sodium and think to yourself, “Not bad”. The thing to looks at

Image © Blisstree Men's Health

before looking at anything below the calorie count is what the serving size is. If it’s a drink that’s over 8 oz. chances are there are 2 or more servings in the container. You may think you’re getting a modest amount of sugar in the drink but if it’s, let’s say 23 grams of sugar per serving and there are two servings in that drink, you’re about to suck down 46 grams of sugar. 46 grams of sugar is a little less than 4 tablespoons.

It’s very easy to be deceived by these numbers, especially if you’re not sure how to read the nutritional facts. Sometimes with small thinks such as snack cakes there are 2 or more servings per package. Same thing when you look at popcorn or potato chips. It may say that there is only a few grams of fat per serving but a serving may only be 9 chips or so.

Here is a great site with a searchable database of Nutritional facts about different foods: Nutri-facts.com .

I suppose we can call this baby steps. Though it is really a great big deal for all those living in NYC, we still have a long way to go to get all other areas on the band wagon.

Either way, we know that eating out at restaurants and fast food establishments attributes to obesity and type 2 diabetes, so providing nutritional content seems like a logical step in fighting diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) applauds today’s federal court ruling upholding a New York City regulation that requires chain restaurants to provide the calorie content of foods on their menus and menu boards. This ruling came in response to a challenge to the regulation filed by the New York State Restaurant Association. The ADA appeared as an amicus curiae along with other public interest organizations and professors supporting the regulation.

We are headed in the right direction!!