Guides

Reference-quality guides to specific food categories, label reading, and packaged-food concepts. Written to be useful for human readers and citable by AI search engines.

• Jerky is a protein snack and a salt lick at the same time

  Real protein (7–16g a serving) with a sodium problem (240–600mg). Plain high-protein biltong earns the salt back at B-; the cheap emulsified snack sticks (Slim Jim, C-) give away the protein and add saturated fat. Protein up, sugar zero, sodium as low as the flavor allows.

• We graded the 'diet' frozen dinners. The label does less than you think.

  Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice grade a notch above the indulgent trays — on portion control, not magic. The gap is modest, an indulgent lasagna ties them, a veg meal beats them all, and a 'Healthy Choice' Power Bowl hides ~20g of sugar at C+. Read the label, not the brand.

• Almond milk is mostly water. The chocolate one is sugar water.

  A cup of almond milk has ~1–2g of protein — a fine low-calorie mixer, not a dairy-milk swap. The protein in the aisle is pea and soy (~8g); the chocolate almond milk is ~19g of sugar to 1g of protein. Match the milk to the job.

• Dried fruit: from health food to candy, in three steps

  Plain prunes earn a B; sweetened Craisins a C+ (29g sugar); 'yogurt' raisins a D — the coating is mostly palm oil and sugar, adding 4g of saturated fat a fruit naturally has none of. Same aisle, three different foods, separated entirely by what's added after drying.

• Canned soup is the saltiest thing in your pantry

  A single serving can carry 1,500mg of sodium — most of a day — and the can is often two servings. Sodium caps the whole category at B-; the bean-and-vegetable soups earn points back on fiber, the thin condensed ones don't. Check 'servings per container' and multiply.

• "Made with real fruit" — we checked your kid's fruit snacks

  The claim is true and meaningless: the 'real fruit' is juice concentrate with the fiber stripped out — sugar. Every fruit snack we grade has 0g fiber and lands at C. A gummy candy with a fruit picture, not a serving of fruit.

• We graded every Greek yogurt. They're all actually good.

  The rare aisle where the health halo is earned: every Greek and skyr yogurt we grade lands B (78) to A-, the most consistent category in the catalog. Straining concentrates protein and removes sugar, so even the flavored cups start strong. Plain wins; added sugar is the only watch-out.

• Wonder Bread vs Dave's Killer Bread: the gap is bigger than you think

  Same shelf, a full letter-grade apart: Dave's Killer Powerseed (B+ 82) vs Wonder Classic White (B- 72). Intact whole grain brings ~6g of fiber a slice; enriched refined flour brings ~2g. 'Enriched' adds back vitamins, not the fiber refining removed.

• The highest-graded protein powder is plant-based. Here's the catch.

  A plant all-in-one shake (Vega One, A 94) out-grades every whey isolate we test — but on the label (fiber, sugar, ingredients), not protein quality per gram, where whey is still the benchmark. A clean whey sits right behind it. 'Best on the label' and 'best for muscle' are different questions.

• Corn tortillas beat flour tortillas. It's not close.

  The cheapest, plainest tortilla is also the best-graded one: Guerrero corn (B+ 81) versus a standard Mission flour tortilla (C 63). Corn is corn, lime and water; flour adds fat, ~420mg of sodium, and dough conditioners — and the grade charges it for all three.

• Bologna is more fat than protein. It scored a C-.

  A slice of Oscar Mayer bologna is ~7g of fat to ~3g of protein — an emulsified-fat product, not a protein food — and it grades C- (58), near the floor of the deli case. Sliced turkey breast flips the ratio and jumps to a B. The fix is one shelf over.

• We graded the chip aisle. Only two bags beat a C.

  Fried potato and corn chips are the same food in different costumes, so Lay's, Ruffles and Doritos all cluster in the C's. The only two snacks above a B- changed the recipe: a protein chip (Quest B+ 80) and air-popped popcorn (SkinnyPop B+ 81).

• "Made with real cheese" — we checked Goldfish and Cheez-It

  Both boxes shout it, both grade a C: enriched flour is the first ingredient, and in Cheez-It there's more oil than cheese. The claim is true and a nutritional rounding error — refined carbs and sodium are the real story.

• We graded the organic version. It didn't change the grade.

  Organic certifies the farm, not the Nutrition Facts panel — so it isn't one of our six dimensions, and the organic SKU keeps tying or losing to a conventional peer. Good Culture Organic came last in cottage cheese; a no-name peanut butter beat 365 Organic.

• Frosted Flakes scored a C. So did Doritos.

  On one absolute scale, a few sugary breakfast cereals land in the same band as chips — Frosted Flakes (C 61) actually scores a hair below Doritos (C 63). The point isn't 'eat chips for breakfast'; it's that the cereal box gets held to the same yardstick.

• Sweet Baby Ray's is sweet sauce first, barbecue second

  America's best-selling BBQ sauce scores a C- — high-fructose corn syrup is the first ingredient and a 2-tablespoon serving carries 15 g of sugar (and nobody stops at 2 tablespoons). Delicious, but by the numbers it's a dessert glaze.

• A 99-cent can of black beans out-grades your 'superfood'

  Goya Black Beans score a B+ 84 — the single highest-graded item in a lineup of pricier, health-marketed snacks. Plant protein, a slug of fiber, almost no fat or sugar, under a dollar. The health halo is on the wrong products.

• A peanut butter you've never heard of beat Skippy, Jif, and Justin's

  The nut-butter report card's winner is Crazy Richard's Creamy Natural (Labelgrade A- 86) — its whole ingredient list is 'peanuts.' Skippy, which adds sugar and palm oil, came last. In nut butter, the shortest label wins.

• Your granola is dessert: we graded the "healthy" breakfast

  Granola wears a health halo, but most we graded land C+ to B- on 14–16 g of sugar in a tiny serving plus added oil. The whole-grain oat base is genuinely good; the sugar and the serving-size sleight of hand are the catch.

• Rao's is the internet's favorite pasta sauce. It didn't win our ranking.

  Rao's earns its no-added-sugar reputation (Labelgrade B- 71) — but Classico and Newman's edged it (B- 72), and the gap to a $4 jar is a single point. Sodium, not sugar, is what caps every jarred sauce at B-.

• Canned sardines out-grade your cheese, your yogurt, and your "protein" snacks

  A $2 tin of sardines (Wild Planet B+ 83) scores higher than the entire cheese aisle (we graded 13; none beat a B-) and most snack-aisle 'protein' products. Dense protein, omega-3s, and calcium from the soft bones — the best-value health food almost nobody buys.

• The highest-fiber foods, ranked (per serving + % DV)

  Most people get only about half the 28 g daily fiber target, so the gap is the story. Chia seeds (~10 g a serving), lentils, black beans, avocado and oats lead; a slice of bread is ~2 g. Ranked live from USDA data, with the net-carb tie-in.

• Is oatmeal good for you? (plain vs the sugary packets)

  Plain oats are one of the best breakfast carbs — beta-glucan fiber, real protein, slow-digesting. The catch is the format: flavored instant packets can carry 10–12 g of added sugar, which is a different food. Here's how to tell them apart.

• Is cottage cheese good for you? (yes, watch the sodium)

  One of the highest-protein, lowest-cost dairy foods — ~14 g protein per half cup — which is why it's having a moment. The one watch-out is sodium, which swings ~10× brand to brand (a no-salt-added tub beats the trendy organic one on our grade).

• Foods with more potassium than a banana (ranked)

  The banana's reputation is mostly marketing — a medium one (~422 mg) is middle-of-the-pack. A baked potato more than doubles it; sweet potato, broccoli, beans, avocado, salmon and greens all rival or beat it. Ranked by the milligrams per real serving, from USDA data.

• Is the sugar in fruit bad for you? (natural vs added)

  Whole fruit wraps its sugar in fiber, water and nutrients, so it digests slowly and is hard to overeat — which is exactly why labels and guidelines cap added sugar and never natural fruit sugar. Busts the 'a banana is 6 tablespoons of sugar' and 'fruit sugar = candy sugar' myths.

• The expensive ice cream scored worse. Here's the math.

  Counterintuitively, the super-premium pint graded lowest. Häagen-Dazs (C- 59) sits below Ben & Jerry's (C 63) and regular Breyers (C+ 65) — because 'super-premium' means more cream and less whipped-in air, which means more saturated fat and sugar per scoop. The price-to-grade line runs backwards.

• Is cheese healthy? We graded 13 (none cracked a B)

  Cheese is real protein and calcium, but on an absolute packaged-food scale it's capped by saturated fat and sodium — so on our 6-dimension Labelgrade, no cheese scored above a B-. Which formats score least-bad, and how to pick one.

• How much added sugar per day is too much?

  The FDA Daily Value is 50g; the American Heart Association says 25g (women) / 36g (men); the WHO says under 10% of calories. What counts as 'added' vs naturally-occurring, how fast sweetened 'protein' foods spend the budget, and how to read the added-sugar line.

• How much protein do I actually need per day?

  The US RDA is 0.8 g/kg/day — designed to prevent deficiency, not optimize muscle, recovery, or healthy aging. Current evidence supports 1.2–2.2 g/kg/day depending on activity and goals. Full breakdown by age, training status, and goal.

• Whey isolate vs whey concentrate vs casein

  Whey concentrate, whey isolate, casein, and milk protein concentrate are all dairy proteins, but they behave very differently. Full breakdown of digestion speed, lactose content, cost per gram of protein, and which fits which goal.

• Are protein bars actually healthy? An honest answer

  The protein bar category spans real-food snacks (RXBAR, Larabar) to engineered confections with isolated protein + sugar alcohols + artificial sweeteners. How to tell which is which and what to look for on the label.

• What "high in protein" actually means under FDA rules

  The FDA defines 'high in protein' as ≥20% of the Daily Value (10g) per serving, and 'good source of protein' as ≥10% DV (5g). What these claims mean, what they don't verify, and which products in our database actually meet them.

• Greek yogurt vs cottage cheese for high-protein diets

  Both are top-tier whole-food protein sources, but they differ meaningfully on sodium, lactose, taste, live cultures, and price. Side-by-side comparison + ranked picks from our database.

• What is Greek yogurt? Nutrition, protein & brands

  Complete guide to Greek yogurt. The straining process, protein density vs regular yogurt, lactose content, FDA labeling rules (Greek vs Greek-style), and how to use it in cooking. Covers Fage, Chobani, Oikos, Two Good, Dannon, and more.

• How to read a nutrition label

  Working guide to the FDA Nutrition Facts panel. What each line means, how serving sizes are set, the difference between added and total sugar, FDA thresholds for 'high in protein,' ingredient order rules, and common ways labels can mislead even when they're accurate.

Coming soon

• What is cottage cheese? Nutrition guide
• How dehydration concentrates protein (jerky, biltong, dried meat)
• Plant-based protein guide: pea, soy, hemp, rice — what works
• Pre-workout vs post-workout: when protein timing matters
• Reading the Daily Value column on FDA Nutrition Facts panels