The healthy shopper dwells on reading food labels before buying, but do we really understand what we’re reading? We see words like organic, no additives and no chemicals added, but which products can you really trust?

Most of us know that organic means that the animals and plants are fed 100% organic feed without any growth hormones. Now, the products with the organic labels are verified by a third party (that is approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture), making it a certified organic item. So you can rest assured that the organic groceries you purchase are what they say. Organic shouldn’t be confused with labels that read “natural”. When a product is natural, it means that it has no preservatives or artificial coloring. This has nothing to do with how the animals/plants were brought up – pesticides and hormones could have been used. No third party checks the authenticity of these products.

Labels that say “no antibiotics administered” or “raised without antibiotics” means that the animals weren’t given antibiotics regularly. The antibiotics that are used for approximately 70 percent of the healthy animals on the market in the U.S. are for promoting animal growth (like steroids) and prevent disease. So why wouldn’t anyone be against this? Well, over the years these animals have become immune to the antibiotics, causing more outbreaks, such as e.coli and salmonella. The same goes for plants. No third party verifies the authenticity of these products.

If you’re looking for something more than just natural and organic, but healthier, consider getting “grass-fed” or “pasture-raised” animal meat. This means that the animal was only fed 100% grass; this gives you higher amounts of vitamins A and E, as well as omega 3 fatty acids. You will also find that these meats contain lower amounts of saturated fat. You should be careful because some companies place this on their label when they only gave the animal grass as a partial part of their diet. The USDA now requires that this label be only for companies that have 100% grass-fed animals (this won’t apply to milk or poultry).

It is important that you keep learning about the content on labels; in order to do so, you have to keep reading them!

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