Understanding Food Labels

Understanding Food Labels

What are food labels?

Food labels provide important nutritional information about a food product. The information includes serving size, the number of calories, grams of fat, included nutrients, and a separate list of ingredients.

The Nutritional Panel helps you make an informed choice of healthier options. Always compare like foods and use the 100 per gram column as serving sizes differ from product to product and manufacturers. 

The main components we need to consider are sugar, fats, and salts.

Here is a handy guide to use and become familiar with to ensure you choose the healthier option for you.https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/eating-well/how-understand-food-labels/food-labels-what-look

The list of ingredients is just as important to consider as sugars and fats can carry different names.

For sugar, watch out for names like dextrose, fructose, glucose, golden syrup, honey, maple syrup, sucrose, malt, maltose, lactose, brown sugar, caster sugar, maple syrup, raw sugar, sucrose.

For fat, watch out for names like animal fat/oil, butter, milk solids, coconut, coconut oil/milk/cream, copha, cream, ghee, dripping, lard, palm oil, vegetable shortening.

Another tip is that the ingredients list is listed from the most ingredient to the lesser. If sugar for example is the second ingredient, put that product back on the shelf.

The Health Star Rating System is another way to help you make informed decisions about the products you consume. Developed for Australia and New Zealand this system is conveniently placed on the front of package products and is readily understood, and at a glance provides nutritional information to help guide your choices.

Some products display nutritional claims like fat-free, low-fat, sugar-free and can only be used if the product meets certain criteria. Processed foods are a major source of added fats, sugar, and salt. Fresh and whole-food are best for optimal health.

Marketing term and abbreviations

Something we must consider is the marketing around food. Food manufactures want to make money whether their products are good for our health or not. So bear that in mind, when you select products derived from food. 

We are constantly fed words like fresh, organic, natural etc so what can we do to navigate and find the better products?

Comparing and analysing

As mentioned above, use the 100g column and make sure you are comparing like-foods. For example, no two yoghurts are the same. As you can see from the below examples, Farmers Union is the best choice here.

 If you are following a low-carb or ketogenic diet look at the carbohydrates. They should be less than 5 grams per 100 grams.

Happy Shopping!