Tips for Reading Food Labels

By Taryn Swift APD

Food labels provide a wide range of information to assist you in making healthy food choices. Food regulations require most packaged foods and drinks to contain information about the contents of the package. This information can allow us to make more informed decision about the products we buy.

Ingredient List

The ingredient list can provide clues about how nutritious a product is. Ingredients are listed in order of weight, from the greatest to the smallest amount, so if fat or sugar is one of the first three ingredients, the product is likely to be high in fat and/or sugar. Be aware of other words used to describe fat (animal fat, butter, butter fat, vegetable oil, lard, dripping, milk solids, copha, shortening) and sugar (glucose, sucrose, fruit concentrates, disaccharides, mannitol, golden syrup, molasses, honey, invert sugar, malt, maltose, corn syrup, lactose).

Nutrition claims

Nutrition claims highlight quailities of the food such as the calcium, energy, or other substances like plant sterols or antioxidants. Nutrition claims include statements such as:

1. ‘Good source of calcium’
2. ‘High in fibre’
3. ‘Contains antioxidants’

Nutrition claims are generally on the front of package and designed to be eye catching. When manufacturers make a nutrition claim, they must declare the amount of the claimed substance in the nutrition information panel. There are rules governing how much of a nutrient has to be contained in a food in order to make a claim. For example, if a product such as cheese claims to be ‘reduced fat’, it must be significantly lower in fat than the normal or standard version of the cheese. Remember, a reduced fat product may be higher than average in sugar so always check the nutrition information panel on the back of the label for more information.

Characterising Ingredients

Fair trading requires labels to be truthful. If an ingredient is mentioned in the name of the product or pictured on the label, the percentage of that ingredient must be stated. For example, if a product is called ‘chicken pie’ the ingredient list must state the percentage of chicken in the pie. When purchasing a product with a characterising ingredient in the name, such as strawberry yoghurt or olive spread, check the ingredient list to see what percentage of that particular ingredient the product contains.

Date marking

Best before - means the food is still safe to eat after this date but the quality and some nutrients may begin to decline after this date.
Used by - means food cannot be legally sold and should not be consumed after this date.

Nutrition Information Panel

The nutrition information panel provides information on the per serve and per 100g (or 100ml for liquids) quantity of the food. Nutrition information panels display the amount of energy (kilojoules), protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars and sodium. Other information must be included if a claim has been made such as ‘this food is high in fibre’ in which case, the amount of fibre must also be included in the panel. The manufacturer can determine the serving size of the product, the per 100g column allows you to make a comparison between two similar products.

Energy

The energy content gives you information about how the food will affect your daily energy balance. Daily energy intake is dependent on age, gender, activity levels however as a general rule main meals should be between 1200KJ and 2400Kj and snacks 300kj-500kj.

Fats

The fat content to look for depends on the type of product, for example, milk and yoghurt should be less than 3g/100g of fat and general products should be less than 10g/100g total fat.

Saturated fat

As a general rule, the lower the better, look for products that have the lowest amount of saturated fat.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates provide your body with essential fuel. Look for products that contain low Glycemic Index (low GI) carbohydrates.

Sugars

This includes both naturally occurring sugar and added sugar, some foods may be high in sugar if they have fruit or milk added – check the ingredient list. Generally aim for products with less than 5g per 100g

Fibre

Look for products with a higher fibre content particularly when choosing grain based products such as breakfast cereal, bread and crackers. Remember foods without labels such as fruit and vegetables are high in fibre.

Sodium

Compare the sodium content of similar products and choose one that is lower in sodium. Generally low sodium is less than 120mg/100g and moderate sodium is less than 400mg/100.