Grocery stores with aisles and aisles of tasty foods are a blessing from God. They should make us feel thankful! But we also need to be savvy shoppers.

Food companies work hard to make their products appealing. Today’s consumers have to be part shopper and part detective. Here are a few tips to help you as you sleuth your way through the grocery store:

1. Start with the facts—the nutrition facts, that is. When you pick up a package, go straight for the nutrition label. Only 100 calories in a 20-ounce soda? Look closer. How many servings are in that bottle? Three! You almost got tricked!
2. Don’t judge a product by its package. Just because there’s a picture of a strawberry on the front doesn’t mean it actually contains strawberries. Get out your magnifying glass and check the ingredients.
3. And while you’re looking for that strawberry, here’s another tip. The ingredients are listed in order of amount. So if the first ingredient is sugar and the last is strawberries, you’re buying candy, not fruit.
4. Watch out for “with.” The front of the package may brag, “Made with fruit juice” or “made with whole grain!” Don’t get fooled. Chances are you’ll find that juice and grain at the end of the ingredient list.
5. Watch out for –oses, syrups, and juices. Food companies know some of us read the ingredients, so they’ve learned to “divide and conquer.” Sugar may be the last ingredient. But if it has fructose, glucose, corn syrup, and fruit juice concentrate, guess what? Those are just fancy synonyms for sugar.
6. Watch out for these foods that can “fake you out.”

Honey: The pollen has been removed from most honey on store shelves. That’s great if you like your honey smooth. But it also means you can’t tell where the honey actually came from. Was it contaminated with substances like antibiotics or lead along the way? You’d be better off buying locally made honey.

Fish: Stores and restaurants have been caught selling one species of fish and pretending it’s another. That can be dangerous since some fish contain high amounts of mercury. Tip: Buy whole fish. It’s easier to tell what kind they really are, especially if they are staring back at you.

Milk: Some companies water milk down to make it stretch farther. In the worst cases, a chemical called melamine is used to add protein so you won’t notice the change. But melamine is used to make dinner plates and dry erase boards. It doesn’t belong in your milk! Here’s another case where it might pay to buy local. Food companies are clever, but so are you. With these tips, you can crack the code and discover what’s really inside those pretty packages.