It's bad enough when someone puts salt in your sugar bowl on April Fool's Day. What is worse is when consumers get fooled by misleading label claims every time they buy groceries. The food manufacturer's goal of increasing product sales with catchy label claims does not necessarily match the consumer's goal of making good food choices.

To reduce the chances of being fooled by labels, watch out for these claims that may make a product sound better than it actually is:

1. “Natural” or “all natural.” Because this term is not defined or regulated by the FDA, it is meaningless for all food items except meat or poultry. The USDA, which regulates meat and poultry, requires that a product labeled as natural does not contain any artificial flavor, coloring or chemical preservative.

2. “Made with.” This claim does not tell you how much of that ingredient is in the product. If a bread is “made with whole grains#,” it usually contains more white flour than whole grain flour.

3. “Zero grams of trans fat.” If a serving of a food contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, the Nutrition Facts label can list trans fat as zero. If you exceed the serving size, you may be eating too much trans fat, which increases the bad cholesterol level in your blood. If you see “partially hydrogenated oil#” in the ingredient list on the food label, it means that the product contains trans fat.

4. “Sugar-free.” This does not necessarily mean calorie-free. FDA regulations state that a sugar-free food may not contain sucrose, honey, corn syrup, molasses, fructose or any other ingredients containing sugar. The food may contain sugar alcohol (such as sorbitol or mannitol) which is not calorie-free and may cause digestive upset if you eat more than one serving at a time.

5. “Reduced.” The definition of this term is that the product is 25 percent lower than the original version. Although a reduced sodium soup may be lower sodium than the original soup containing 1000 mg. of sodium, it still is high sodium even though the sodium has been reduced to 750 mg. of sodium.

6. “Light juice.” Juices labeled “light” have fewer calories per serving because water has been added but the price is the same as 100 percent fruit juice. You can make your own “light juice” by adding water to 100 percent fruit juice and save some money as well.

7. “Energy drink.” Energy contained in a food is measured in calories so an energy drink is a drink containing calories. The energizing effect of these beverages comes from stimulants, including caffeine, guarana and ginseng.

8. “Provides 100 percent of the Daily Value for vitamin C.” Just because a beverage has vitamin C added does not mean that it is 100 percent juice or that it even contains any juice. It is very easy to get 100 percent of the vitamin C you need daily just by eating fruits and vegetables.

9. “Enhanced with 12 percent saline solution.” Injecting meat or poultry with a saline solution may make it juicier but you will be getting added sodium and will be paying for the weight of the water that was injected.

Tip of the week:

The food label lists ingredients from most to least by weight. Check the first three ingredients listed to determine what is in the product in the largest amounts.

Christine Gutelius, MA, RD, CDN, is a nutrition resource educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County

Spinach and Cheese Casserole

Makes 6 half-cup servings

Cooking spray

2 eggs

6 tablespoons flour

10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 1/2 cups low fat cottage cheese

1 1/2 cups reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

6 green onions, chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 1 1/2 quart oven-proof casserole dish with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Add flour and mix until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into greased casserole dish. Bake for 1 hour.