Reading food labels

FOOD LABELLING –WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

What’s the difference between Fat Free, Low Fat and Fat Reduced? Confusing?

Much of the information we need to know about healthy eating can be found on food labels, but how many of us actually know how to interpret that information and use it for healthier eating?

According to a recent survey about Australian attitudes to food (Jalna Australian Food Attitudes Survey, conducted by Newspoll – see www.jalna.com.au ) Australians are more worried about food safety and quality than 5 years ago. When asked what they checked labels for the highest percentage said fat (76%) then sugar (74%), salt (62%), additives (63%), preservatives (63%), artificial sweetners (59%), colours (57%) and flavours (57%). Interestingly, only 46% said they consciously check for the kilojoule content.

So what do food labels actually tell us?

Firstly, NUTRITION CLAIMS ON LABELS MUST MEET THE GUIDELINES

For a manufacturer to make various claims, their products must meet the following guidelines:

FAT FREE product contains less than 0.15g of fat per serve

LOW FAT product contains less than 3g of fat per serve for solid foods (1.5 per cent for liquid foods).

Reduced fat or salt should be at least a 25 per cent reduction from the original product

Percentage of fat remember 80 per cent fat free is the same as 20 per cent fat, which is a large amount.

CHOLESTEROL FREE product contains less than 2mg of cholesterol per serve

LOW CHOLESTEROL product contains less than 20mg of cholesterol per serve

LOW SODIUM product contains less than 120mg of sodium per 100g serve

SODIUM FREE less than 5mg of sodium

(1 teaspoon of salt equates to 2400mg of sodium, slightly more than the recommended upper limit of 2300mg for adult men and women)

LOW KILOJOULE/CALORIE product contains less than 164kj or 40 calories, of energy (or kilojoule) per serve

SUGAR FREE product contains less than 0.5g of sugar per serve

No added sugar products must not contain added sugar, but may contain natural sugars

HIGH FIBRE product contains 5g or more of fibre

HIGH OR RICH product contains more than 20% of the daily nutritional requirement for the stated nutrient

FORTIFIED product contains more than 10% of the daily nutritional requirement for the stated nutrient

GLUTEN FREE product contains no trace of gluten and is suitable for anyone with a gluten allergy

LIGHT/LITE doesn’t necessarily mean that the product is low in fat or energy. It may refer to the texture, colour or taste of the product. The characteristic that makes the food ‘light’ must be stated on the label.

Glycemic Index (GI) is a measure of the speed which a carbohydrate rich food raises glucose levels in the bloodstream. Only products with at least 10g of carbohydrate per serve can be tested for GI.

THE FOOD LABEL LIST OF INGREDIENTS
All ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight, including added water.

So:

  • The ingredient listed first is present in the largest amount.

  • The ingredient listed last is present in the least amount.

  • If an ingredient makes up less than five per cent of the food, it does not have to be listed.

THE NUTRITION INFORMATION PANEL
The nutrition information panel (NIP) tells you the quantity of various nutrients a food contains per serve, as well as per 100g or 100ml. It’s best to use the ‘per 100g or 100ml’ to compare similar products, because the size of one ‘serving’ may differ between manufacturers.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘USE-BY’ AND ‘BEST BEFORE’
Foods with a shelf life of less than two years must have a ‘best before’ or ‘use-by’ date.

‘Best before’ date – refers to the quality of the food. Food stored in the recommended way will remain of good quality until that date. It may still be safe to eat certain foods after the ‘best before’ date, but they may have lost quality and some nutritional value.

‘Use-by’ date – refers to foods that should not be consumed after a certain date for health and safety reasons, and cannot be sold after that date. This is usually on perishable foods such as meat, fish and dairy products.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
‘Product of Australia’ means that significant ingredients must come from Australia and most of the processing should be in Australia.

‘Made in Australia’ may only mean that the food was ‘substantially transformed’ here and that a certain proportion of the production costs were incurred here. These definitions are currently under review.

HEALTHY GUIDE TO THE NUTRITIONAL BREAKDOWN

Here’s an easy to understand & practical chart from ‘Read the Label’

by Judy Davie (Ebury Press 2008; ISBN 978 1 74166 612 0 (pbk)):

Nutritional category

Recommended amount

Energy per serve

Main meals: 1200 – 2400 kj

Snacks:   300 –500 kj

Fat per 100g

Less than 2g  =  low

2 – 10g    = OK

10 – 20g  = high

Saturated fat per 100g

Less than one third total fat

Sugar per 100g

0.5g  =  low

10g   =  OK

15g   =  high

Sodium per 100g

Less than 120mg  =  low

300mg  =  OK

More than 600mg  =  high

Fibre per serve

3g  =  high

6g  = very high

For extra information:

Available from bookshops

‘Choosing the Right Stuff – the official shoppers’ guide to food additives & labels, kilojoules & fat content’ to answer cosumers’ questions about food labelling.

Developed by FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand)

Published by Murdoch Books (ISBN 978-1-921208-40-9)

‘Read the Label the complete guide to buying the best food in Australian shops’ by Judy Davie

Published by Ebury Press 2008 (ISBN 978-1-74166-612-0) (pbk)

Websites:

www.foodstandards.gov.au

www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au

Better Health Channel fact sheet – “Food Labels Explained”

www.nsw.gov.au

Allergen Bureau home page at www.allergenbureau.net

Posted on July 13, 2009 at 12:10 am by Brigid · Permalink
In: Information, Radio · Tagged with: ,

2 Responses to “Reading food labels”

  1. natural - August 24, 2009

    I keep listening to the news speak about getting grant applications so I have been looking around for the best site to get one.:)

  2. cheryl - September 9, 2009

    The best food label site available.
    I needed to know briefly what was a healthy choice with fat/protein/carb/sugar per 100g…your site so far is the only clear and easy to access and understand site available to me. Thank you.

Post a Comment


| | © 2026 Brigid Treloar