Do you find food labels confusing? Here's your simple guide

(Article for Upwork client)

You walk into the supermarket - you know saturated fat is bad, sugars should be avoided, and additives and preservatives can harm your health. You look at the food label and see a list of ingredients and nutrients followed by a number. And that’s where it can get confusing! Read on to learn the simple way to read a food label. 

What is the purpose of a food label?

A food label has one purpose; it provides nutritional information to consumers about what is in particular food products; this information is designed to assist consumers in making healthy food choices for themselves. The problem is unless you have a degree in nutrition, food labels can be challenging to understand. 

The first step is to become an informed consumer, dampen the confusion by educating yourself on food label basics. Becoming an informed consumer is key to your health, as it will mould the health decisions you make for yourself for the rest of your life. It will be a learning curve, but once you understand how to read a food label, it is a skill you will have and use for life. 

Front food label trickery 

When reading food labels, you should ignore claims that have been placed on the front of the label. Food companies know how effective marketing using “fat-free, or low calorie” statements are at convincing consumers to buy these products. And they are happy to capitalise on these misleading health claims.

The truth is most of these products are often laden with alternatives that are just as unhealthy. For example -  if a product is fat-free, you will likely find it loaded with added sugar; if a product is sugar-free, it is often loaded with artificial sweeteners. Just because something looks and sounds healthy on the front label doesn’t mean it is. The best option here is to stick to understanding the label on the back. 

How to read a food label (the simple way)  

Nutrition information label

Found on the back or side of the packaged food product. This label is one of the most important to understand but by far the most confusing. Here are a few tips to help you know the nutrients you need to keep an eye on. 

Energy:The energy on an Australian nutrition information label will tell you how many kilojoules are in each serve or per 100g. This is good to know as excessive kilojoules in your diet can lead to health problems such as weight gain, heart disease and diabetes. Your health professional can tell you your individual energy requirements; from this, you can use this part of the label as an easy reference to see if this product sits within your energy requirements. 

Fats:Fats are essential, but even more important are the type and quantity. Try and choose foods with less than 10g fat per 100g. For saturated fat, aim for less than 3g per 100g. 

Sugars:It is hard to avoid sugars from packaged foods but try and choose packaged foods containing less than 15g per 100g. If the product contains more than 15g, check the ingredients list and see if the food containing the sugar is in the top 3 ingredients – if so, avoid!

Sodium:Sodium is more commonly referred to as salt. And an excess of salt in the diet has been linked to high blood pressure. Choose foods that have less than 400mg of sodium per 100g. Even better if the food contains less than 120g per 100g. 

Serving size

Check the serving size! Companies will often reduce the serving size to an unrealistic portion that is much smaller than what you would actually eat. This attempts to make the food look healthy (smaller serve = smaller amounts of the harmful nutrients on the food label). Check the serve is a true reflection of how much you are going to eat. 

Ingredient list 

The ingredient list is often filled with a confusing list of things you have never heard of. The best way to overcome this confusion is to focus on the top 3 ingredients. There is more to it than that, but it’s a simple-good start. Look at the top 3 ingredients and make sure they are healthy options and they are low in added sugar, saturated fat, and sodium (salt). 

Note: Food companies will use different forms of a particular food; they do this if the food source is unhealthy. By doing this, it moves the food further down the ingredient list, so it’s less obvious to the consumer. This makes it appear like the product is healthy when in actual fact, the unhealthy foods have been divided and hidden further down the list. Here's a list of the different types of foods that companies hide the harmful nutrients in.   

Saturated fat:Animal fat, coconut oil, milk solids, palm oil, dripping, ghee, vegetable shortening, cream.  

Sugar:Fructose, glucose, sucrose, dextrose, honey, maple syrup, maltose, malt. 

Sodium (salt):Baking powder, sea salt, stock cubes, monosodium glutamate, sodium ascorbate, sodium bicarbonate. 

Health star rating system 

We are lucky to have this system in Australia. It has simplified the complex problem of reading food labels. Generally, a higher health star rating the healthier the food. This means it is less likely to contain ingredients that can increase your risk of obesity and other chronic diseases. Always look for a 5-star rating. 

With so much trickery, you may think it seems impossible to work out what is actually healthy. That is why the best option is to always choose fresh wholefoods and keep packaged foods to a minimum. This eliminates the burden of understanding the food label. 

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