Senior News Line: A heads up at the grocery store

The time has come to study the labels of foods you buy, even if you’ve used those same products for a long time.

Not only are manufacturers changing the size of the containers, they’re changing the ingredients. At this point we need to take a very close look at what we’re actually eating.

Changes to the ingredients in products we’ve always trusted might well be blamed on supply chain problems.

If a manufacturer can’t easily get one ingredient, they might substitute something else. But it means that what you assumed you were getting might no longer be true.

If, for example, you have to keep an eye on your sodium levels, you might discover that the amount of salt in a particular food has increased.

You might have to adjust how much you eat or look for a different product. We can no longer grab a dozen eggs and assume all will be well.

If you’re baking, too-small eggs won’t work in your baked goods recipes. You need to open the carton and look at them.

If you’re watching your cholesterol, you need to squint and read the fine print on the nutrition panel.

However, a warning: At the beginning of the pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration issued a temporary respite to food manufacturers.

To help them keep producing food, the FDA said manufacturers didn’t have to put certain new information on labels when “minor formulation changes” were made to food.

The policy, started in January 2020, was intended to remain in effect only for the duration of the pandemic and has been renewed every 90 days. It was to expire January 2023.

Since they have to give 60 days notice to end the designation, it’s not likely that it will end until April, if that.