Recommended Kitchen Tools and Label-Friendly Staples

The Food Label Decoder Workbook teaches you to read any pack, so nothing here is required. These are the few tools that make label math easy at home, and the staples that won the head-to-head comparisons in the workbook, with the label check that matters for each.

Tools

Measure your real portion once, and the serving-size traps stop working.

• Digital kitchen scale

  Weigh your usual bowl of cereal or pour of granola once; most people pour two to three times the label serving.

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• Measuring spoons

  Sauces, dressings and spreads use 1 or 2 tablespoons as the serving; a real spoon shows how far a pour is from it.

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• Glass jar with a lid

  Three parts oil to one part vinegar, shaken: the vinaigrette that beat the fat-free dressing in comparison 8.

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• Credit-card magnifier

  Ingredient lists are printed small. A wallet-size magnifier makes the first three ingredients readable in the aisle.

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Staples that win on the label

Each passed the workbook rubric in its category. Brands vary and recipes change, so check the label line named here before you buy.

• Plain rolled oats

  One ingredient, no added sugar, and about 4 g of fiber per 40 g serving. Check the ingredient list says only oats.

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• Unsweetened fortified soy milk

  About 8 g of protein a glass with no added sugar. Check: unsweetened, and calcium, vitamin D and B12 added.

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• Peanut butter, peanuts only

  Same calories as the regular kind without the added sugar, salt and palm oil. Check: the ingredient list is just peanuts (salt optional).

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• 100% whole-grain rye crispbread

  About 5 g of fiber per 30 g in comparison 9. Check: whole-grain rye is the first ingredient.

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• No-salt-added canned tomatoes

  The benchmark every jar of pasta sauce is compared against: tomatoes first, almost no sodium. Check the sodium line.

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• Reduced-sodium soy sauce

  About 40% less sodium than regular. Still about a quarter of the daily sodium value per tablespoon, so measure it.

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Prices and availability change on Amazon. This page is educational and is not medical advice; talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting a supplement.