Discussion Board Forum 1 Instructions

Thread:

Brief Description: Analyze a food product’s nutrition label and evaluate the nutrient density of the food product.

Details: From this list (Attached), select a food item to analyze and use the corresponding website. The first part of your thread will be a summary of the product information, nutrition facts, and nutrition claims. The second part of your thread will be an identification of placement using the MyPlate nutrition tool and an evaluation of the nutrient density of the product. Be sure to support your answers using the textbook.

Part 1:

1. Identify and record the name of the product, serving size, calories, total fat, total trans-fat, cholesterol, total carbohydrate, fiber, sugar, potassium, sodium, protein, vitamin A, C, calcium, and iron.
2. Include a web-link to the nutrition fact label so that your professor and classmates can link directly to the label and analyze the information.
3. Based on the reading in the textbook and related appendices, determine if any health-related terms, health claims, or nutrient content claims are being made by the manufacturer. These claims are located on the front of the product packaging. If any of these are made, provide the definition for each one made from your text. Verify if the claim is indeed true. Determine if the terms/claims made are misleading or helpful to consumers. Discuss and explain as needed.

Part 2:

1. Compare and contrast the nutrition label to the MyPlate nutrition tool (i.e. the “plate picture”). Use your textbook or the website: www.myplate.com. Which food group(s) would you place this product in? Also, does it contribute in a healthy way to the MyPlate recommendations (i.e. Dietary Guidelines that accompany MyPlate)? Or would it be difficult to fit in a healthy way? Explain your answer.
2. Identify the serving size from the actual label and state it in a clear manner (i.e. if it is crackers and the serving size is in ounces, determine approximately how many crackers this is). Discuss your perceptions of the serving size listed. Is this the amount you typically consume? What most people consume? Discuss personal satisfaction with the recommended serving size.
3. Discuss overall nutrient density for this food product. Give a rating for this food item such as low, moderate, or high in nutrient density. Provide support for this rating by discussing the specific nutrients (i.e. macronutrients and micronutrients) provided (or not provided) in this food item. Use corresponding labeling definitions from your textbook of “low”, “good”, and/or “high” as appropriate when discussing the various nutrients.
4. Based on your evaluation, discuss how this food item can be incorporated into one’s meal plan for the day. Could it work at either snack or meal time? Based on readings from the textbook, how often would you recommend consuming this item? Based on the food group(s) from MyPlate you determined for this item (Question #1, Part 2), what other foods item(s) would you add to improve the overall nutrient density of the snack or meal being consumed? If you feel the food item you selected should NOT be consumed on a regular basic, what replacement food items would you suggest and why?