Understanding Food Labels

Nutrition labels can be confusing. DL dietitian Dr Kate Marsh explains how to read the fine print

- Dr Kate Mars

With an increasing number of food products appearing on the supermarket shelves each week, and many of them covered in nutrition ‘claims’, shopping for a healthy diet isn’t always easy. But by understanding what to look for, selecting the right foods for your diabetes-friendly eating plan doesn’t have to be mission impossible.

Check the ingredients

The ingredient list is an often overlooked but important part of a food label. It lists each of the ingredients in the product, in descending order of quantity. The ingredient list can help you to identify the source of various nutrients in the product. For example, is the sugar content coming from the natural sugars in fruit or dairy, or from added sugars? An important tip: if the ingredient list is full of things you don’t recognise as food, leave it on the shelf!

Serving size

The nutrition information panel provides nutrient details across both per serve and per 100g. The serving size is specified by the manufacturer, but it is important to check whether this is the amount you actually eat. When comparing products, it is best to use the figures in the ‘per 100g’ column so you are always comparing the same amount. However, if you want to know the amount of a certain nutrient in a serve of the food – for example the grams of carbohydrate – then the per serve column is where you need to look.