How to read food labels... Diabetes Australia

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04 March 2010

A message from the CEO of Diabetes Australia-NSW on Australian Government Health Reforms

The Australian Government yesterday announced major reforms to Australia’s health and hospital system.

26 February 2010

Diabetes increases dementia risk in older people

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09 March 2010

Combined diet and exercise the key to improving insulin resistance

Combining diet and exercise rather than diet and exercise alone leads to significantly greater improvements in body fat distribution and insulin resistance, according to the findings of a new study.

04 March 2010

Salt intake linked with stroke, heart disease risk

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How to read food labels

NUTRITION INFORMATION
SERVINGS PER PACKAGE: 1 SERVING SIZE: 200 g
	Per Serve	Per 100 g
Energy	864 kJ	432 kJ
Protein	8.2g	2.5g
Fat, total -saturated fat	5.0g 2.0g	2.5g 1.0g
Carbohydrate - total -sugars	31.8g 27.8g	15.9g 13.9g
Sodium	298mg	149mg
Ingredients: Full cream milk, concentrated skim milk, skim milk, sugar, thickener, vegetable gums, mineral salts, flavour, colours.

Reading food labels

• The nutrition information panel found on many food products is the most useful guide to food selection.

• The nutrition information panel is required on most foods sold in a supermarket and will show values per serve and per 100g. Products made within the store, eg bakery items, or those sold without packaging, eg fresh fruit and vegetables, are exempt from this label.

• The nutrition information panel must provide information on energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar and sodium.

• To assess fat (total and saturated), look at the amount of fat in the 100g column. This is a good way to compare different products. Less than 3g fat in the 100g column is classed as a low fat food. Try to keep saturated fat as low as possible.

• The ingredients list is also present on food packages and can assist in making healthy food choices. Ingredients are listed from most to least. That is the ingredient that makes up most of the weight of the food is listed first and that which makes up least of the food is listed last.

• Sugar in a nutrition panel includes both natural and added sugars. Use the ingredient list to identify if the sugar is natural (eg milk or fruit are present) or an added sugar (eg glucose, sugar, honey). Added sugar in the presence of healthy ingredients is fine.

• Fibre is not relevant for all foods and as such is not always listed. For those foods which list fibre, aim for foods which provide more than 3g of fibre per serve as this indicates a high fibre food.

• Sodium is an indicator of salt. A low salt/sodium food is one that has less than 120mg of sodium per 100g. Some foods will always be greater than this so using the 100g column will allow you to compare which is the lowest. Another option is to choose foods that say no added salt, low salt or salt reduced.

• Glycemic Index (GI) is gaining more recognition amongst consumers. Some products will have information on the GI listed on their product. Learn more about the official GI Symbol Program.

• Diabetes Australia runs Healthy Shopping Tours (in the Sydney metropolitan and some regional areas) to teach you how to read food labels and help make selecting healthy foods easier.

Page last updated: 17 September 2008