North Dakota
4-H Consumer Choices
2008
Beginners Study Guides

Beverages
Frozen Treats
Jeans

Many beverage choices are available. Beverages can be an important part of your diet. Labels on beverages give lots of information. Use the label when selecting a beverage.  

Ingredients
Ingredients are listed from the largest to the smallest amount by weight. The first ingredient is the largest amount, by weight, in each beverage.

Answer this question for each label: What ingredient is the largest amount? 

• Juice – Must be 100 percent fruit juice to use the term “juice”
• Orange-flavored – Does not mean the beverage has orange juice in it
• Nectar, cocktail drink and punch – Names for beverages with little or no fruit juice. May give percent of fruit juice – for example: 10 percent fruit juice

Sugar, Sodium and Caffeine

You may wish to avoid these ingredients. When listed on the label, such ingredients have been added to the beverage. If they are a natural part of the beverage, such as caffeine in cola or coffee, they’re not needed on the label.

What are Your Soft Drink Habits?

Answer the following questions to find out: 

1. Do you drink a lot of soft drinks?

2. When do you drink them?

3. Do you drink soft drinks that replace other beverages, such as juice, milk or water? 

If you answered YES to No. #3, think about your habits. You may want to choose healthy beverages to make your diet better. 

Soft Drinks with Sugar

• Provide calories (energy)
• Provide few nutrients

Look at the label for other terms meaning sugar, such as fructose and corn syrup. 

Low or No-calorie Soft Drinks

• Low or no-calorie soft drinks use other sweeteners, such as aspartame (NutraSweet) or sucralose (Splenda)

Healthy Beverage Choices

• Plain water
• Milk and milk drinks, which have calcium. Calcium is important for healthy bones.
• Citrus fruit and tomato juices, which are good sources of Vitamin C.

Nutrition labels give information about nutrients in beverages. 

Comparing Costs of Beverages

• Beverages come in containers of different sizes.
• Beverages may have different serving sizes.
• 1 serving of milk = 8 ounces or 1 cup
• 1 serving of juice = 8 ounces or 1 cup (Nutrition experts recommend that we consume whole fruits more often than juice.)
• 1 serving of a soft drink = Varies, look for serving size on label.
• Comparing cost per ounce is best. To do this, divide the cost of the beverage by the number of ounces in the container.

Keep Beverages Safe and Fresh

• Look for juices that are pasteurized (or heat treated) to kill harmful bacteria.
• Use paper/foil boxes by date on the box.
• Keep milk refrigerated. Some specially sealed packages make milk safe at room temperature when sealed.
• Refrigerate fruit juices after opening.
• Opened soft drinks may be safe without refrigeration, but cover and refrigerate for best quality.
• A bottle with a screw cap will keep beverages fresh. Drink part of it now and the rest later.

Types of Beverage Containers 

• Glass – may break if dropped
• Plastic
• Paper foil boxes
• Other metal
• Paper cartons

Check to see which items may be recyclable in your area. 

What About Sport Drinks?

Some beverages are called sport drinks. An example is Gatorade. These beverages aren’t necessarily more nutritious than similar beverages. Sport drinks are often higher priced.

Adapted by Joleen M. Johnston from information developed by Pat Beck, NDSU Extension Nutrition Specialist;
Learnabouts Eb-50 “ Food and Energy” 1991
Updated by Julie Garden-Robinson, NDSU Extension Food & Nutrition Specialist, 2008

“I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream.” Adults and children love ice cream and other frozen treats.
Almost everywhere you go you can find a place to buy frozen treats.

Types of Frozen Treats 

Ice cream is a dairy treat. It is made from milk or cream, which is a dairy food. Other ingredients are flavorings, stabilizers and emulsifiers. Sometimes ice cream contains eggs or egg yolk solids. Vegetable gum and starch can be added to make ice cream treats smooth and creamy. Ice cream must contain at least 10 percent milk fat and 20 percent total milk solids by weight. 

Flavorings must be listed on the food label. “Strawberry ice cream” and “strawberry-flavored ice cream” are naturally flavored. “Artificially flavored ice cream” means the product includes man-made flavorings.  

Frozen yogurt is another dairy treat. It can come in soft serve or hard form and can be lots of different flavors. It is sold in pints, quarts, cups, cones, bars and on sticks. Look at the label to find out how much fat is in the frozen yogurt treat you choose. Low-fat yogurt must have less than 3 grams of fat per serving.  

Sherbet is also a dairy product. It can contain only 1 percent to 2 percent milk fat and 2 percent to 5 percent milk solids. It also has more sugar added to it than ice cream unless it is sweetened by man-made sweeteners.  

Imitation ice cream is like ice cream but the milk fat has been replaced with vegetable oil. It usually costs less than ice cream. 

Specialty frozen desserts: You may know people who cannot digest the sugar in dairy foods. This is called lactose intolerance. These individuals may choose a frozen dessert made with a soy base, such as tofu. Tofu is a high-protein soybean curd. 

Water ices are like sherbet except they do not contain dairy products. They usually are made of sugar-water syrups, fruit juices, flavorings, stabilizers and other additives that help make them smooth.  

Sorbets are a blend of fruit and sweeteners and may have gelatin or egg whites added to them. The gelatin and egg whites will keep the sorbet smooth.

Read the Label 

Always read the labels on the food you eat. Knowing what you are putting in your body is important. Look at the ingredients listed on the nutrition label. The ingredients are listed in order from greatest weight to least weight.  

Nutrition 

Ice cream and other frozen treats vary in fat and calories. The main nutrients in ice cream are calcium, riboflavin and protein. The more fat that is in the treat, the greater the number of calories in it. Some frozen treats will have nutrients added to them during processing. These nutrients can include calcium and vitamin D. 

Reduced-fat ice cream contains about 25 percent less fat than ice cream. Low fat means less then 3 grams of fat per serving and fat free means less than 0.5 gram of fat per serving.  

Frozen desserts usually have a higher sugar content. Some frozen desserts are sugar free. These products often are sweetened with man-made sugars called aspartame, such as NutraSweet, or sucralose, such as Splenda which are products that give a sweet flavor, but no calories. 

Cost 

The price varies depending upon the type of product you chose and where you buy it. How you buy the product also may affect the price. As an example, a single ice cream treat could cost $2, but if you purchased a box of six or more, you may pay $10 for all six. 

Storage 

Frozen treats must be stored at zero degrees Fahrenheit or lower for best quality. Read the label on the box to see the recommended storage time. 

Make Wise Choices 

Frozen treats can be a part of a healthy diet. If you want ice cream that is high in fat and calories, you can enjoy it. Just remember to eat less of it. Balance snack foods, such as frozen treats, with fruits and vegetables. You also can balance the extra calories with doing more physical activity or exercise. To save money, shop around to get the most out of your money.  

References: Food Service Director, August 15, 1997, American Dairy Council, 1998:
Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist, November 1998.
Adapted for 8-10 year olds by Julie Hudson-Schenfisch, November 1998.
Revised by: Sharon Kickertz-Gerbig, January 2005.

Jeans

Jeans are popular for all family members.  We wear denim jeans for many different activities, from work to recreational activities. Jean styles have varied greatly in the past 100 years. Jeans are available in a variety of fabrics, finishes, styles, colors and manufacturing processes. This can be a real challenge to you as a consumer. 

Fiber

Most jeans are made from 100 percent cotton. They also can be made of blends of two or more fibers. The most common blend is cotton and polyester. 

Cotton: It is absorbent and comfortable to wear. Cotton tends to soften with wear and laundering, giving the feel of well-worn blue jeans. Dyes used in cotton tend to “wash out” when laundered often, so the jeans will look lighter in color the more you wash them. 

Polyester: It contributes durability, stability, shrink resistance and wrinkle resistance. Polyester is easy to care for because it can be washed in the washing machine and dries quickly in the clothes dryer. Dyes that are used with polyester keep their color with repeated washings. 

Spandex: These yarns are added for stretch and comfort. 

Construction

The way jeans are cut and sewn together and the special finishes applied to them will affect how they look and how durable they are. Since you may wear your jeans often, they should be well-constructed.                       

Placket and Closures: The fly area should be faced or of double fabric thickness. The fly either can be closed with a zipper or with buttons.

• If buttons are used, they should be firmly attached to the underlap. The buttonholes should be through at least two thicknesses of denim. They should be the correct size for the buttons being used and be spaced the correct distance apart. The fly overlap should cover the buttons smoothly so the front of the jeans creates a neat appearance when they are buttoned. 

• A zipper fly should be neatly finished. Two rows of stitching are better than one to hold the zipper in place. The rows of stitching should be even and straight. When zipped, the fly should cover the zipper and lie neatly in place. 

Reinforcements: Reinforcements are used in good-quality denim jeans to make them more durable. Rivets and/or thread bar tacks are used in the corners of pockets, belt loops and the bottom of the zipper placket. Side pockets should be inspected when you chose jeans. The bottom of the pockets should be stitched twice so seam edges are enclosed to prevent raveling and getting holes in them. 

Finishes

Years ago, consumers would break in their own denims by wearing and laundering. Now, the trend is to buy jeans already broken in. This fashion look in jeans is called “distressed denim.” Some terms this is called are sandblasted, stonewashed, ravaged, aged, white washed, bleached and prewashed. These treatments give the fabric a softer feel and more texture. 

You may like the look of distressed denim, but you need to know that the durability is decreased, so the life of the garment is shortened. The excessive treatment weakens fibers and may cause holes to form and seams to break in the jeans. Shrinkage will be less of a problem in the purchased jeans because the treatments used on the fabric will pre-shrink it. 

Style  

You have many styles of jeans from which to choose. Do you want slim-fit, regular, relaxed (loose fit) or a baggy look? Do you like flared or bootcut? Do you like low-rise, hip-huggers, a waistband or no waistband? Do you want jeans by a particular manufacturer or designer?

• The leg width adds a fashion detail and influences garment fit. Straight leg, boot cut, flare and soft-slack silhouettes are just some of the choices available.
   

• Fashion and styling details will add special looks to your jeans. These include special designs and additions, such as glitter and brads. Other details are pleats, tucks, buttons or snaps and pocket designs. Brand-name clothing designers are adding distinctive pocket shapes, top-stitching, embroidered labels and other trims to their designs.
   

• The color choices out on the market today are endless. Choose colors that will fit in your wardrobe. 

Brand Names

Do you want jeans by a particular manufacturer or designer?  Brand-name clothing designers add fashion and styling details, such as pocket shapes, top-stitching, embroidered labels and other trims.  Often this adds extra cost to the jeans that may not be necessary for a good pair that is comfortable to wear.  You also can find designer brands at thrift shops or second-hand stores at a lower price.

Updated by Linda Manikowske, Associate Professor NDSU &
Peggy Anderson, NDSU Extension Agent, Burke/Divide County, 2008
 from information developed by
Ruth R. Gulbrandson, NDSU Clothing Specialist,1987
and Sharon Kickertz-Gerbig,
Stark County Extension Agent, 2005

The NDSU Extension Service does not endorse commercial products or companies even
though reference may be made to tradenames, trademarks or service names.