Getting into the habit of reading nutrition labels is a must if you want to know just what you’re putting into your body. And, becoming a diet detective might make you think a little differently about some of your old foody favourites.
Although they're small, nutrition labels are big on information and can make it easy for you to choose wisely when you’re shopping. But, if you feel like you need a de-coder to understand them, read on…
Start with the essentials
Scrutinise a nutrition label and the first thing you’ll need to weigh up is the energy content of the food; it’s listed in kilojoules and/or calories. Knowing the energy content will help you to think about the total energy in a food as a percentage of your daily calorie target.
The easy-to-use traffic light system on the front of packaging is a great way to know if it's a good option at a glance. This will tell you instantly if it has high fat, saturated fat, sugar and/or salt content. See the table below to familiarise yourself with the traffic light rules:
A product that has green lights is a great healthy choice that can be enjoyed regularly, whereas any foods with lots of red lights, be warned. This is not good for your weight loss success and should only be an occasional treat.
When sizing up products, always compare them by the 100g or 100ml column. Food manufacturers don’t standardise serve sizes, so you won’t have a fair comparison unless you stick with a common denominator.
Sneaky serve sizes
Some serve sizes suggested by manufacturers are impractical or can be difficult to stick to. For example, a 100g bag of crisps may have a serve size of 40g with 2.5 serves per bag. If you just focus on the suggested serve, the calories may not look too bad but you have to ask yourself: will you really be able to stick with the recommended portion? If not, it’s best to shop around for lower-calorie alternatives and/or a smaller pack size.
Ingredients lists
Manufacturers are required to list ingredients in order of quantity. For example, if flour is the principle ingredient in a food product, it will be first on the list. Cast your eye over the listing and if calorie-rich foods such as fat or sugar appear in the first few ingredients, go easy or give it a miss.
Mind games
Some products accentuate their positives to distract you from their short-comings. Classic examples include:
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Confectionery: Just because it’s ‘100% natural’ or includes ‘fresh fruit’ doesn’t make it any lower in calories or any better for you, either.
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Snack foods: Being ‘made with vegetables’ (e.g. root vegetable crisps) or ‘real fruit’ (e.g. strawberry snack bars) doesn't guarantee much of these ingredients – it could be as little as 1-5%. Most of these kinds of snack foods are full of ‘empty’ calories (i.e. they’re short on nutrition). So, you won’t be surprised to find that the best source of vegetables and fruit are, um, vegetables and fruit...
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Sugary breakfast cereals: Impressive quantities of ‘essential vitamins and minerals’ doesn’t discount for the fact that some cereals are high in sugar and relatively low in fibre. Don’t be swayed.
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Organic, natural and health foods: None of these terms have any impact on the energy density of a food, nor are they necessarily any better for you.
Tackling key terms
Fat free, low calorie and lean — they're just some of the terms that we're faced with every day when food shopping. But few of us actually know what they really mean. Here’s a simple break down of the nutritional facts behind some of the most commonly used terms:
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Fat free – less than 0.5g of fat per serving
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Low fat – no more than 3g of fat per 100g
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Reduced fat – at least 25% less fat than the original product
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Lite or Light – the product must be at least 30% lower in at least one area, such as fat or calories, compared to that of a standard product. Be sure to always check the packaging though as definitions can vary between brands.
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Lean – less than 10g of fat and 4.5g of saturated fat per serving and per 100g of meat, poultry or fish.
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Extra lean – less than 5g of fat and 2g of saturated fat per serving and per 100g of meat, poultry or fish.
Foods and their many disguises
Ingredients such as fat, sugar and salt are not always easy to spot on a food label. Below are some of their many alternative names:
Sources of
FAT |
Sources of
SUGAR |
Sources of
SALT |
| Beef fat |
Corn syrup
|
Baking powder |
|
Butter
|
Dextrose |
Booster |
|
Shortening
|
Disaccharides
|
Celery salt |
|
Coconut
|
Fructose
|
Garlic salt |
| Coconut oil or palm oil |
Glucose
|
Sodium |
| Copha |
Golden syrup
|
Meat or yeast extract |
| Cream |
Honey
|
Onion salt |
| Dripping |
Lactose
|
Monosodium glutamate (msg) |
| Lard |
Malt
|
Rock salt |
| Mayonnaise |
Maltose |
Sea salt |
| Sour cream |
Mannitol |
Sodium bicarbonate |
| Vegetable oils and fats |
Maple syrup |
Sodium metabisulphate |
| Hydrogenated oils |
Molasses |
Sodium nitrate/nitrite and stock cubes |
| Full-cream milk powder |
Monosaccharides |
|
| Mono-, di- or triglycerides |
Sorbitol |
|
| Mayonnaise |
Sucrose
|
|
| |
Xylitol |
|