Joanne Turner's Blog by Joanne_Turner

I don’t want to make your grocery shopping more tedious than what it may already be but to know you are getting good food it is always a good idea to label read. Sometimes we can get caught out by taking in quite literally what the manufacturer has stated on their packaging, for example ‘Lite’, ‘All Natural’, Cholesterol Free’ and ‘98% Fat Free’. There can be so many claims on food packaging it can get all a bit too confusing.

When we look closely at the above claims sometimes they are not exactly what we may think they mean. ‘Lite’ may mean light in colour rather than lower in fat or kilojoules, example being extra lite olive oil, this is talking about the colour of the olives rather than the fat content. ‘All Natural’ means that they use all natural ingredients and no artificial sweeteners, colourings or preservatives but it may still be very high in sugar as seen in The Natural Confectionary Co. As dietary cholesterol is found in animal products only, statements on vegetable oil that it is ‘cholesterol free’ does not mean much to us as it is still fat and needs to be used minimally if we are watching our weight and cholesterol levels, studies have shown that saturated fat has more of an effect on our body cholesterol than does dietary cholesterol. What about claims such as 98% fat free found on for example lollies, these foods may be fat free but may still be very high in sugar and kilojoules and still not kind to our waistlines.

To make sense of the food label you will need to focus on the nutrition panel found on all packaged foods.

• The per 100g column on the nutrition panel is useful to compare similar products, for example choosing a breakfast cereal with the highest fibre.
• When looking at the per serve column always check what the manufacturer states is a serving size to what you are having as a serve, use this as a guide only as to what a serve should be.
• Fats are typically broken up into total and saturated fat, sometimes it will also state on products the amount of unsaturated fats (eg. polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats). As fat is very energy dense it is a good idea to keep fats to a minimum, aim for less than 10g per 100g. As saturated fats contribute to cholesterol try and keep this as low as possible, less than 2g per 100g.
• Carbohydrates are the main fuel for our bodies and are broken up into total carbohydrate and sugars (note sugars are always incorporated into the total carbohydrate so you do not need to add these two together). It is the total amount of carbohydrate that will affect the energy content of the food and not just the sugars but do always double check where the sugar is coming from. Sugar may come from natural sources such as milk (lactose) or fruit (fructose) which is an ok sugar source, if the sugar is high from an added source such as ‘glucose syrup’ or simply just ‘sugar’ then it may be best to leave this food.
• Fibre is found in some foods (plant based) but not all. When looking at foods such as breads, cereals and crackers compare using the per 100g column and choose the product that has the most fibre.
• Sodium (salt) can be quite high in some processed foods so always choose foods that have less than 400mg per 100g of sodium. Choose canned products that have no added salt or salt reduced.
• Percentage daily intake is now seen on some food products. As daily energy intake can vary from person to person due to age, gender, physical activity levels and other factors use this as a guide only.
• The ingredients list is listed in descending order with the ingredient found most in the product to the ingredient found least in the product. It is always good at least to take a look at the first three ingredients in the list, to see what are the main ingredients in the food.

There is a lot to look at within a food, pick what if priority for you first and go from there, for example maintaining blood sugar levels focus first on the amount of carbohydrates. With label reading, as like anything, practice (and continual use) makes perfect.