Whole30 Label Reading Lessons

Whole30

Feb 8

Written By

5 Tips To Make Your Whole30 Grocery Shopping Experience Easier

"Can I have…?”

That’s how a lot of your sentences start when you are just beginning your Whole30 journey. In order to answer that accurately you don’t need a PhD, but you do need some knowledge about how to read labels. We don’t want you buying products and realizing after the fact it contained a non-compatible ingredient.

You need to be curious and willing to investigate. Things you THINK would be safe and compatible may not be. My advice would be if you don’t want to get tripped up, look at the label on everything, and I mean everything! From your tuna fish to your supplements there could be sneaky ingredients that could derail your entire Whole30 experiment.

You wouldn’t think there might be soy in your Vitamin D but it could happen. Be a super sleuth!

It can be overwhelming when you’re trying to meal prep, make compatible meals, and shop accordingly. I know you’re thinking “but there is so much information on the products themselves what specifically do I need to look at?”

There are lots of health claims on the fronts of packages, that can be, well, interesting to say the least. Don’t be distracted by these. If you have some free time on your hands and wonder how certain terms can end up on the front of a box of sugar-filled cereal I suggest you go here - WARNING - it gets complicated. This covers terms like “natural”, “organic”, and “immunity boosting”, but that's a blog for another day.

We are just focusing on what you need to find compatible Whole30 products for now.In the old days we were looking at calories, grams of sugar, fat grams (remember that fad a long, long time ago?) and those pieces of information are found on the nutrition facts label.

Thanks to an overhaul in 2016 this section even includes added sugar now. But this is still not enough to uncover if your choice works for your Whole30. Keep reading for my tips for label reading success.

1. Know the Whole30 rules - It all starts here. If you have an understanding of what’s allowed and what’s not on the program it’s going to give you a nice solid base. That doesn’t mean you won’t be going to the phone to Google an ingredient you can’t pronounce and that looks like it shouldn’t be compatible. You also need to know that peanuts are a legume and which legumes are compatible (yes, there are some like green beans and peas that are allowed). Read the Whole30 Rules

2. Become an ingredient reader - So you’re going to bypass those nutrition facts we spoke about earlier and head straight for the ingredients. This is where you will likely find almost everything you need to know. Whole30 provides wonderful resources when it comes to common additives and sneaky sugars. Here’s something to keep in mind If you see an “ol” or an “ose” at the end of an ingredient good chance you will find it on the sneaky sugar list. I literally printed these out and used to bring them with me when I went grocery shopping when I first started doing Whole30. So many times something sounds like it shouldn’t be compatible and it is and vice versa so don’t assume. I’ve been doing Whole30 since 2017 and I STILL find ingredients I need to look up.

3. Allergy Warnings are key - Even with all I mentioned above there could STILL be a way you could get tripped up. You even need to know the ingredients of the ingredients. Bottomline FALCPA (The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act) requires that foods are labeled to identify the eight major food allergens. The eight major allergens are: milk, egg, fish, crustacean shell fish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts and soybeans. This will help you find a hidden non-compatible ingredient that may be found in your product. This can give you an assist so check this label too. Here’s an example below where the ingredients list looks ok but the allergy warning tells me there’s an ingredient within an ingredient that isn’t compatible.

4. Look for Whole30 Approved logos - Here’s a great way to alleviate some stress. Find the Whole30 Approved logo. This is a list of Whole30 Approved Brands all these companies and their practices. You can find anything from beverages to frozen meals to animal protein on this list. BUT, and there’s always a but, not ALL products from a company are compatible so you still have to look for the Whole30 approved logo and read ingredients for good practice.

5. Avoid all the hassle of label reading - Last but not least, make things yourself or buy single-ingredient foods - HINT that’s a lot of fruits, vegetables, fats, protein. There’s a tendency to spend so much time trying to recreate and buy store bought “noodles” that you could’ve just made them yourself with zucchini and a spiralizer. If you want to take less time asking “Can I have…” tip 4 and 5 on this list will really cut down the time and stress of label reading.