As you look for foods to support your diabetes eating plan in the marketplace, first start with choosing fewer processed foods and more whole foods to fill your cart. Using the Diabetes Plate is a great place to start. The Diabetes Plate helps guide you to fill your nine-inch plate with half of non-starchy vegetables, one-quarter lean protein foods, and one-quarter quality carbohydrate foods.
Look at the Nutrition Facts label of packaged products to help you understand the nutrients of any food or beverage and compare different brands. For a product to display the Better Choices for Life mark, the nutrition and science experts at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) have evaluated to ensure it meets the evidence, claim substantiations, and regulatory qualifications for the mark.
What ADA nutrition experts are looking for when they evaluate a food to bear the Better Choices for Life mark:
- How they can be incorporated into the Diabetes Plate and contribute to overall positive nutrition.
- If they include foods or ingredients that are less processed.
- If they use standardized Food and Drug Administration labeling regulations, claim rules, and serving sizes.
- If unproven claims are not listed on the package or in marketing materials.
These guidelines are not part of the ADA's Standards of Care in Diabetes and were created as internal qualifications designed to inform external and internal partners of the current considerations for program inclusion. These qualifications are based on the currently available science and recommendations.1,2
The Better Choices for Life Program is designed to help people with diabetes make informed choices in the marketplace. The food qualifications are intended for people with diabetes. People with additional medical conditions or dietary restrictions should follow the advice of their health care professionals when making choices about foods that fit into their specific eating plan.
- AB Evert, M Dennison, CD Gardner, WT Garvey, KHK Lau, J MacLeod, J Mitri, RF Pereira, K Rawlings, S Robinson, L Saslow, S Uelmen, PB Urbanski, WS Yancy Jr Nutrition Therapy for Adults with Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Consensus Report. Diabetes Care 2019; 42 (5): 731–754.
- Guidance for Industry: Food Labeling Guide. Food & Drug Administration. 2013.
