A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING FOOD LABELS

Food labels are not just about expiry dates! They are a great way to know and develop a relationship with what you are eating and what it contains. They provide information about the ingredients, nutritional value, allergen warnings, among others.

It is important to know that food labels vary depending on the country where the food is manufactured due to the different legislation of each country. However, there are some basic information that cut across.

What Can You Learn From The Label About The Food That You Are Buying?

Product name, nutrition Facts, Ingredients, Allergen Warnings, safety and usage information are some of the basic info you would see on a food label. Let’s explain each of these.

Suggested reading: Good health through appropriate nutrition

PRODUCT NAME

You might say this is obvious. But think a second about this, you walk into a grocery store to buy milk. The gallon in which the milk is is translucent so you can still see that it is milk. But when you read the label, it says “tomato paste”. What would be your reaction?

The name of the food product is important to give identity to that product. It even becomes more important if consumers are not familiar with the product. And it also differentiates between products that may be similar, or same products from different brands. Surely, a consumer who does not know much about fruit juices may not be able to differentiate cranberry juice from grape juice. What about your favorite brand of milk as against another brand? The product’s name counts!

NUTRITION FACTS

The nutrition facts give consumers information about the nutritional value of a food item. This is usually accompanied by a nutrition panel where you see info related to calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium, sugar, calcium, etc. Let’s take a closer look at this panel.

If you see “total carbohydrate 30g of which sugars 15g”. This implies that the sugars make up 15g or 50% of the total carbohydrates in the food. Pay attention if you see “total fats 10g of which saturated fat 2g”. The later part of this info tells you how much saturated fats makes up the total fats in the food.

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INGREDIENTS LISTS & ALLERGENS

Ingredients labels list most the core ingredients that make up the food product. These are usually straightforward and you can easily understand them if you know the ingredients. In this section, some ingredients are written with their E-numbers. These are usually additives added to enhance the food in one or the other – preservative, antioxidant, color, etc. Whether these additives are appropriate or not is outside the scope of this article.

“Most” of the core ingredients ingredients are listed. Why “most” and not all? Usually, food recipes can be easily compromised by competitors and other people. Due to this, some companies do not list all the ingredients on their labels. They usually leave out ingredients that are Generally Recognized As Safe, GRAS. There may be other reasons as well.

Experts have evaluated the safety of these ingredients and have proved that they do not cause harm when they are used as intended. Also, some substances that have been extensively used in food by people prior to 1958 are also considered as GRAS. This method of recognizing an ingredient as GRAS is however, fading out due to its lack of scientific basis.

There may also be allergen warnings on food labels to provide information on ingredients that may cause allergic reactions or other adverse health effects when consumed by certain individuals. The ingredients which contain these allergens may be boldened in the ingredient list or simply indicated separately, usually after the main ingredient list.

SAFETY INFO

Finally, safety labels provide information on how to store or handle the food item appropriately. The use by, best before or expiry date info also falls within this category. On some labels, you might also find “how to dispose” information. It should be noted that food is safe and maintains its quality when stored and handled as instructed by the food manufacturer or producer.

Suggested reading: Use by, best before, expiry date – what do they mean?

NUTRIENT CONTENT CLAIMS

You might have seen those products which boldly says “contains no trans fat” or “good for diabetic patients” or “vegan certified”. These are claims made by the producers or manufacturers of the food product. Usually, depending on the type of claim, the food product might have undergone some form of scrutiny such as clinical trials on patients or other certification processes. You should definitely look out for such info on food products. But they are not requirements so you will not find this on all food products.

CONTACT OR IDENTITY

You would also find the contact and identity of the food producer or manufacturer. This would typically include the company’s name, logo, phone number(s), address and other forms of contact or info they want to share.

Food labels usually have the following information – product name, nutrition facts/panel, ingredient list, allergen warnings, safety information and company identity.

NOTE THAT

Information on food labels are important to inform you of what the food contains and how you should use it for your optimum benefit. You should read and understand them before making purchases. This is a good way to achieve good health through appropriate nutrition.