Food labels are packed with information about your food. They give you all the information you need to know when making choices about what to eat.
They are highly restricted and governed by law, so manufacturers can’t simply say what they think you would like to hear or try to mislead you. For example, strawberry mousse made with artificial strawberry flavouring, and no real strawberries, must not have pictures of strawberries on the carton.
Few of us have time to scrutinise every food label when doing our weekly shop. But with just a quick check, we can learn more about the food we are buying and make healthier choices.
Here’s a couple of tips when reading your food labels:
- Nutritional information includes:
- Energy: (in calories or kcals) that a food provides.
- Fat: different types of fat are listed: polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated.
- Carbohydrate: the total carbohydrate, which includes sugars and starches.
- Sodium: how much salt the food contains.
- The label must display all the ingredients in order of weight. The list allows you to screen for ingredients that you want to avoid, and it also allows you to understand the proportion of ingredients in the product.
- Nutritional information on the label is given ‘per 100g’ or ‘per 100ml’. This is so that you can compare the product with other products easily. It also helps you to understand the amount of each ingredient as a percentage.
- Perishable foods display a ‘use-by’ date, means that the food should not be used after this date because it could pose a health hazard
- Canned and dried foods will usually have a ‘best before’ date. meaning the food can be eaten after this date, but it will not be in its best state: its texture may have deteriorated or its flavour may be less.
- Labels may also contain other advice about storage or how long it can be eaten after the package has been opened.
- The claim ‘reduced fat’ next to a product can only be used if the food contains at least 25% less than its counterpart. The claim ‘reduced calorie’ or ‘light’ means that the food is lower in calories than the standard version. However, remember that these are relative terms - ‘reduced fat’ chocolate cake isn’t the same as ‘low fat’ - it could still contain a considerable amount of fat.
- For the term ‘low fat’ to be used on a product, the Government says that the product must contain less than 3g fat per 100g. However, this is only a recommendation so you should still check the nutritional information.
- GM soya and maize must legally be identified.
- Additives must be listed by their name or E number. Flavourings must also be listed, but not necessarily by their name.
- Recommended daily allowance (RDA) is the minimum amount of a particular vitamin or mineral that we need to eat each day to stay healthy.
For more information and advice on food labels you can visit the Food Standards Agency’s consumer advice website at http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/
