How to Read Low-Carb Nutrition Labels

Everyday supermarket shelves are filled with new convenience products that seem to be low-carb and keto friendly. With words like “only 2 net carbs” splashed across the front, it is easy to be fooled by marketing and cleverly worded packaging.

Here we break down what to look for when reading the back of a nutrition label by comparing the ingredients on some seemingly low-carb friendly products on the market.

Cauliflower Pizza Crusts

“If Cauliflower Can Be Pizza, You Can Be Whatever You Want to Be.”

Cauliflower is often used in low-carb replacement foods because it’s mild and will pick up the flavors of whatever it’s combined with. But like many products in the low-carb space, the packaging on these products can be incredibly misleading. Case in point, these two cauliflower pizza crusts, readily available in many markets. Take a look at a side-by-side comparison of the nutrition and ingredient labels of these.

The first one, CauliPower, has 28g of carbohydrates per serving and many ingredients that are not keto friendly. For instance, the second and third ingredients are brown rice flour and rice flour, then corn starch, tapioca starch and sunflower oil, and further down the list? Sugar.

This misleading wording on the front of the box says: “…made with real cauliflower as the first ingredient.” But with ingredients listed on the label based on the quantity within that product, CauliPower does not include on the front of the box that the next handful of ingredients, brown rice flower, rice flower, corn starch and tapioca starch are all exactly what they sound like – grains, sugar and starch. These carbohydrate sources can cause significant glycemic (blood sugar) responses and in return residual hunger and cravings. Sunflower oil, a seed oil commonly found in processed foods, can cause inflammation, and also increase blood sugar fluctuations. With those on a ketogenic diet looking to keep their total carbs to under 30g a day, just one third of this moderately-sized crust contains nearly a full-days allotment.

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