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Guide
To Food Labels
| Picture yourself at the grocery store. You're trying to
decide which foods are the healthiest choices for you. There are so many brands with all
sorts of information on the packages. What are you going to buy? Luckily, food labels can be great tools to get you through the fine print on
packaged foods. Labels can help you work your way through the supermarket maze.
Nutrition information on packaged foods can be found in three
different places, in a Nutrition Claim,
under Nutrition Information, or the Ingredient List. |
All packaged food
must have an Ingredient List, but both the Nutrition Claim and the Nutrition Information
is optional in Canada. |
 Nutrition Claim - is used to
highlight key nutrition features of a product. It is often, big, bold, and on the front of
the package. When claims appear, they must follow government laws. There are certain
standards that a product must meet in order to use terms such as, "source of"
and "low".
Nutrition
Information - is the heading under which you'll find the detailed
nutrition facts about a product. Nutrients are always listed in the same order to allow
for easy scanning of information. All information refers to the food as packaged, so if
you add milk, eggs, or other food, the nutritional content of the food you eat can be very
different.
Ingredient List - Must be found
on all food labels by law. Ingredients are listed in decreasing order by weight (not
volume), so what you see first is what you're getting the most of.
A Closer Look At
Nutrition Information
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| Serving Size |
- The amount of food for which the information is given.
- Check the serving size, as it may not be the same size serving that
you would eat, which means that the calories and content of nutrients will increase or
decrease.
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| Energy |
- The Calories (Cal) per serving. Energy is also given in kilojoules
(kJ). 1 Cal = 4.18 kJ.
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| Fat |
- Shows the total amount of fat in food. Some products also give the
content of various kinds of fat: polyunsaturates, monosaturates, saturates, and
cholesterol. However, choose lower fat foods more often, the most useful information is
the grams of total fat.
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| Carbohydrate |
- Includes the content of sugars, starch, and fibre. In the example of
the left, you get a complete breakdown of carbohydrate. Sometimes you get information on
one type of carbohydrate only.
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| Sodium |
- A measure of the amount of salt in a food.
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| Percentage
Recommended Daily Intake |
- Vitamins and minerals are expressed as a percentage of the highest
recommended amount.
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Sources of
Energy
| SOURCE |
FOOD
SOURCE |
PROVIDES |
| Protein |
milk and milk
products, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, peanut butter and legumes |
4 Calories (17 kJ)
per gram of protein |
| Carbohydrate |
pasta, bread,
cereals, fruits, vegetables, and sweets |
4 Calories (17 kJ)
per gram of carbohydrate |
| Fat |
oils, margarine, butter, shortening,
salad dressing, mayonnaise, cheese, and meat fat |
9 Calories (37 kJ) per gram of fat |
| Alcohol |
alcoholic foods and beverages |
7 Calories (29 kJ) per gram of
alcohol |
**Vitamins and minerals do not provide energy, but some of them help the body use it
more efficiently.
Calorie Claims
| CALORIE CLAIM |
WHAT
CLAIM REALLY MEANS |
| "Calorie-reduced" |
This food contains 50% or fewer
calories than the regular version. This food is suitable for dietary use. |
| "Low calorie" |
This food is calorie-reduced and
contains 15 Calories or less per serving. |
| "Calorie-free" |
Contains no more than 1 Calorie per
100 g. |
| "Source of Energy" |
Contains at least 100 Calories per
serving as indicated on the label. |
Protein
Protein helps to build and repair body tissues such as muscles and
skin. Proteins also help to build antibodies.
Complete Proteins - Contain all nine essential
amino acids in adequate proportions. Sources include: meat, poultry and fish, eggs, milk,
and cheese.
Incomplete Proteins - Do not contain all nine amino
acids. Sources include: cereals and legumes, nuts, and grains.
Carbohydrate
| Carbohydrates Include: |
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Sugars |
- principally sucrose, glucose and fructose which are found in sugar,
honey, brown sugar, molasses, fruits, sugars and syrups used in industry.
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Starch |
- found in bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and cereals.
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Dietary Fibre |
- found in whole grain cereals, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and
legumes.
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| CARBOHYDRATE CLAIM |
WHAT
CLAIM REALLY MEANS |
| "Low in sugar" |
Contains no more than 2 g of sugar
per serving. |
| "No sugar added" or
"Unsweetened" |
Has no sugar added although it may
contain naturally present sugar. |
| "Sugar-free" |
Contains no more than 0.25 g of sugar
per 100 g and no more than 1 Calorie per 100 g; this food usually contains the least
amount of sugar and often the fewest calories; it is suitable for dietary use. |
| "Source of dietary
fibre" |
At least 2 g of dietary fibre. |
| "High source of dietary
fibre" |
At least 4 g of dietary fibre. |
| "Very high source of
dietary fibre" |
At least 6 g of dietary fibre. |
Fat
Fat includes fatty acids (polyunsaturates, monounsaturates, and
saturates), and cholesterol.
Fat in Dairy Products (% M.F.)
Fat content is indicated by % M.F. The higher the percentage, the
more fat the food contains, and frequently more calories.
Butter Vs. Margarine
| SIMILARITIES |
DIFFERENCES |
- Both contain the same amount of fat
- Both contain the same amount of energy, 100 Calories per 15mL (1
tablespoon)
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- Margarine is made principally of vegetable oil
- Butter comes from milk fat
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Tropical Oils
There are four such oils: coconut, palm, palm kernel, and cocoa
butter.
Such oils are known to be high in saturated fat. The claim "No
tropical oil" means that the food does not contain any tropical oil, but it does not
mean that the food isn't high in other fats. Fats like hydrogenated vegetable oil contain
just as much saturated fat.
Meats
| Ground
Beef |
Maximum Fat Content |
| Regular |
30% |
| Medium |
23% |
| Lean |
17% |
| FAT CLAIM |
WHAT
CLAIM REALLY MEANS |
| "Low in fat" |
No more than 3 g of fat per serving.
Low in fat does not always mean low in calories, check to see how many calories are in a
serving. |
| "Fat-free" |
No more than 0.1 g of fat per 100 g. |
| "Low in saturated fatty
acids" |
No more than 2 g of saturated fatty
acids per serving and no more than 15% of the energy derived from these. This does not
always mean that the food is low in total fat. |
| "Low in cholesterol" |
No more than 20 mg of cholesterol per
serving and per 100 g. Product must be low in saturated fat, but food might still have
high total fat content. |
| "Cholesterol-free" |
No more than 3 mg of cholesterol per
100 g. |
**Cholesterol is found in animal fat. There is no cholesterol in vegetable oils, fruits
or vegetables, cereals, nuts or grains, etc...
Salt and
Sodium
Sodium is contained in: salt, sodium bicarbonate, sodium
metabisulfite, monosodium glutamate, etc...
| SALT & SODIUM CLAIM |
WHAT
CLAIM REALLY MEANS |
| "Low sodium" or
"Low salt" |
The food contains 50% less sodium
than the regular product and not more than 40 mg of sodium per 100 g** and no salt has
been added. It is a food suitable for dietary use. |
| "No added salt" or
"Unsalted" |
No salt is added to the food and none
of the ingredients contains a large quantity of salt. |
| "Salt-free" or
"Sodium-free" |
The food does not contain more than 5
mg of sodium per 100 g; foods bearing this claim are usually those containing the smallest
amount of salt or sodium. |
| **2 exceptions: |
- Cheddar cheese may contain up to 50 mg of sodium per 100 g.
- Meat, poultry, and fish may contain up to 80 mg of sodium per 100 g.
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Vitamins
and Minerals
On the labels, the vitamin and mineral content is given as a
percentage of recommended daily intake. This percentage represents the portion of vitamin
or mineral that the food provides compared with the highest recommended intake to meet the
requirements.
| VITAMIN OR MINERAL CLAIM |
WHAT
CLAIM REALLY MEANS ABOUT VITAMIN OR MINERAL CONTENT |
WHAT
CLAIM MEANS IN REGARDS TO VITAMIN C |
| "Source of...",
"Contains..." |
At least 5% of the recommended daily
intake. |
5% |
| "Good source...",
"High in..." |
At least 15% |
30% |
| "Excellent
source...", "Very high in...", "Rich in..." |
At least 25% |
50% |
Light Foods
"Light" or "lite" can only be defined in
comparison to the regular product. When comparing, you will find that the light product
has a nutrient that has been reduced (sugar, salt, fat, etc...) a minimum of 25% in
comparison to the regular project. A minimum of 25% is required, but it can be more of a
reduction.
Beware
Claims such as "light texture", "light taste",
or "light tasting" do not mean that the food contains less of a specific
nutritional element (for example, salt or fat), but simply that its consistency or flavour
is light.
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