Read the Label
Ever stood in the aisle of your local supermarket trying to work out what the label is telling you? Then read on:
If the label says 'low fat' or 'reduced fat' will the product be a healthy choice?
To claim that a product is 'reduced fat' the amount of fat must be at least 25% lower than the standard product. But these types of products tend to be high in fat and energy in their original form, so the 'reduced fat' version can still have quite high amounts of both.
Foods labelled 'low fat' or 'reduced fat' aren't necessarily low in energy. The fat is replaced by other ingredients, quite often sugar, so the product can end up with the same or even higher energy (calorie) content. "Low fat" yoghurts sometimes contain a lot of sugar
Also, if you're tempted to use more of a reduced-fat product than you would of the full-fat version, you might end up having the same, or even more, fat and energy.
What does 'may contain' labelling mean?
Some food labels say 'may contain nuts' or 'may contain seeds'. This means that even though nuts or seeds aren't deliberately included in the food, the manufacturer can't be sure that the product doesn't accidentally contain small amounts of them. It usually means that the food is being manufactured in a factory or on a production line where products containing nuts and seeds have been made. If you have a nut or seed allergy you should avoid these food products.
What does lite or light mean?
The law doesn't say what 'light' or 'lite' means, and so manufacturers may use these terms to give the impression that a food has less fat or fewer calories than similar foods.
Because there are no rules to say how much less fat or how many fewer calories 'light' foods must contain you will need to look at the information on the label to find out exactly what their claim means.
Fat content - what's high and what's low?
If you want to try to cut down on fat, or you just want to watch how much fat you are eating, you can compare the labels of different food products and choose those with less total fat and less saturated fat.
You will see figures for the fat content on many food labels and some foods will also give figures for saturated fat. Use the following as a guide to what is high and what is low fat content per 100g food.
20g fat or more per 100g is HIGH
5g saturated fat or more per 100g is HIGH
3g fat or less per 100g is LOW
1.5g saturated fat or less per 100g is LOW
If the amount of total fat is between 3g and 20g per 100g, this is a medium level of total fat. Between 1.5g and 5g of saturates is a medium amount of saturated fat. Remember that the amount you eat of a particular food affects how much fat you will get from it.
Sugar - how to check food labels
When you are checking food labels, you can use the following as a guide to see what is high and what is low for sugar per 100g food.
Look for the 'Carbohydrates (of which sugars)' figure in the nutrition information panel on the label.
15g sugars or more per 100g is HIGH
5g sugars or less per 100g is LOW
Between these figures, then this is a medium level of sugars. Remember that the amount you eat of a particular food affects how much sugars you will get from it.
These figures can't tell you how much of the sugars come from milk or fruit and how much comes from added sugars.
Sometimes the figure you see in the nutrition panel is a total figure for 'Carbohydrates', and not for 'Carbohydrates (of which sugars)'. This means the figure will also include starchy carbohydrates.
So, to get a feel for whether the product is high in added sugars you might also need to look at the ingredients list.
Added sugars must be included in the ingredients list, which always starts with the biggest. Watch out for other words that are used to describe added sugar, such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, hydrolysed starch and invert sugar, corn syrup and honey. If you see one of these near the top of the list, you know that the product is likely to be high in added sugars.
Some foods that you might not expect to have sugar added to them can contain lots, for example some breakfast cereals and cereal bars. Other foods can be higher in added sugar than you might expect, such as tins of spaghetti or baked beans.
Salt is sodium chloride and it is the word 'sodium' rather than salt that is often listed in the nutrition information: you may not find the word 'salt' actually listed on food packaging at all! To work out the salt content you must multiply the 'sodium' amount by 2.5. For example if a portion of soup contains 640mg of sodium, this means it actually has 1.6g of salt ( 640mg x2.5 = 1600mg or 1.6g ).
1.5g and more salt per 100g is HIGH
0.3g or less salt per 100g is LOW
Between these figures, that is a medium level of salt. Remember that the amount you eat of a particular food affects how much salt you will get from it.
Allergen Labelling
The new European labelling legislation came into force in November 2005.
The following 12 allergens, where present, are required to be declared on the label of food/drink products:
- Tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, mustard, celery, fish, shellfish, soya beans , cereals containing gluten, eggs, milk, sulphur dioxide and sulphites at levels above 10mg per kg or per litre.
|