Reading labels
In Australia, packaged foods include nutritional information on their labels which provide the exact quantities of all the nutrients found in that product. Reading and understanding these labels can, however, take time to learn. A quick first step is checking the “Health Star Rating”, which gives us a quick insight into how nutritious that food is compared to other similar products. Next, check the levels of the less healthy things and aim for less than 10g of fat, less than 3g of saturated fat, less than 15g of sugar and less than 400mg of sodium. Knowing how to read and understand food labels allows us to make informed decisions about what we eat and is an essential skill for eating well.
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Understanding Food Labels
Being able to understand a food label is a good start to making healthy choices. There are many parts to a label, with the nutrition information panel and the ingredients list being the most important parts to consider. This video by Diabetics SA explains each component of the nutrition information panel, which components of the nutrition information panel to use, which nutrients to consider when comparing food products, and the ingredients list.
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Life Kit: How To Read Food Labels, From Free-Range To Fair Trade
These days, shopping for eggs or coffee can feel like an ethical dilemma. Organic? Cage-free? Fair trade? There are good reasons to care about where our food comes from. Agriculture has enormous consequences — it can cause deforestation, destroy habitat for wildlife, pollute rivers and release greenhouse gases. But can any of us reduce those problems by buying food with an eco-label?