Label Reading Made Easy
Information on food labels can be confusing, but when you know how to read them, you’ll find that the label is the best source of information about a product.
Labels make comparing different products much easier, and mean that you can make more informed choices for yourself and your family.
Did you know:
- The nutrition information panel is an excellent tool for comparing similar products, as the nutrients are listed in a standard format of each nutrient per serve and per 100g (or 100mL if liquid). Here's a guide of some things you can use the panel for:
- To compare between similar products, look at the ‘per 100g’ column and choose the product with the least number of kilojoules.
- Try to choose products with less than 10g fat per 100g, and less than 3g fat per 100g when suitable (i.e.. for foods naturally low in fat, such as cereals, breads etc).
- Look for products with less than 10g sugar per 100g. Breakfast cereals containing fruit should have less than 25g sugar.
- Aim to choose fibre-containing foods such as breakfast cereals, bread and pasta with more than 3g of fibre per serve.
Ingredient List
All the ingredients in the product are listed in descending order of amount.
The key ingredients in a product are listed with the percentage indicating how much of that ingredient is actually in the product.
Watch Out
- If a product ingredient list has fat, sugar or salt, at or near the top, then it may contain large amounts.
- Fat, sugar and salt may be identified in ingredient lists under other names. Beware when shopping!
- FAT – animal oil or fat, vegetable oil or fat, butter fat, shortening, milk solids, copha, chocolate, tallow, lard.
- SUGAR – sucrose, glucose, fructose, lactose, maltose, dextrose, golden syrup, corn syrup, honey, malt, molasses.
- SALT – rock salt, vegetable salt, baking soda, baking powder, sodium, sodium bicarbonate, monosodium glutamate (MSG), stock cubes, yeast extract.