Nutritional Claims on Food Labels
Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:28:39 GMT
When shopping, it's really easy to be misled by manufacturers' claims on packaging. "95% fat free" may sound good, but it's still got 5% fat and this might be more than other, similar products - it's all in the marketing!
So what can manufacturer's actually claim, and what do these claims mean? Food labelling regulations mean standard definitions are used:
- Diet - this can only appear on foods if they are low-calorie - in real terms, this means no more than 40 calories per 100g (or 100ml). Also, the label must clearly state that it can only help weight-loss if consumed as part of a calorie-controlled diet.
- Fat-free - contains no more than 0.15g of fat per 100g.
- Reduced fat - contains a minimum of 25% less fat than the standard product.
- Low in saturates or low saturated fat - contains less than 3% saturated fat per 100g.
- Low fat - contains less than 3g of fat per 100g.
- Reduced sodium - contains a minimum of 25% less sodium than the standard product.
- Low sodium - contains less than 40mg of sodium per 100g.
- High fibre - contains at least 6g of fibre per 100g.
- Source of fibre - contains at least 3g of fibre per 100g.
- Sugar-free - contains no more than 0.2g of sugar per 100g.
- No added sugar - contains no sugar or foods made mainly of sugars (such as concentrated fruit juice) added to it or any of the ingredients.
- Reduced sugar - contains a minimum of 25% less sugar than the standard product.
- Low sugar - contains less than 3g of sugar per 100g.
When a food has less fat content, it may have added sugars and starches to help make up the flavour - added those pesky calories straight back in!!! And what about other terms, which are not regulated? These can be rather ambiguous at the best of times:
- Lower fat - less fat than the standard product - even if it's just 1% less!
- Light / lite - could be lower in fat, lighter in weight, paler colour...you get the idea.
- Virtually fat-free - should have only a small fat content but watch out for sugars instead. And if the product is naturally low in fat, check the standard version labels to make sure it's not just clever marketing!
- 90% fat-free - this is what I mentioned at the start - if it's 90% fat-free, it's actually 10% fat. Is this more than the standard product?
You need your wits about you when shopping, but if you are able to spend a little bit of time looking at food labels when shopping, you can make healthy choices for you and your family.
To see more about the nutritional content of various different foods, see www.EasyDietDecisions.com.
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