Is this product good for me and my family? What nutritional benefits will I get from it? What ingredients make it up? Will some of the ingredients trigger allergies? How many servings will I get out of this pack?
More and more consumers ask these questions when faced with the many product choices
In supermarket shelves. The key to getting the answers and making informed choices is reading and understanding the labels on product packs.
What Labels Tell Us
The food labels that you see on products should indicate the following basic information:
Type of Product. Is it a cereal drink or a milk powder? Is it full cream or filled milks? Is it tonic food drink or chocolate milk?
Net Weight. This refers to the quantity inside the packages so the consumer will know how much she is paying for. For example, a 150g full cream milk makes 5-6 servings.
Contact Details. If consumers want to give feedback, how can the manufacturer be contacted?
Ingredients List. This provides a list of ingredients used in the manufacture of the product. Ingredients are usually listed from the most to the least amount. So if sugar is number one on the list, this tells us that the product contains mostly sugar.
Best Before Date. Before buying a product, always look for the Best Before date. The consumer will get the most out of the nutrients in the product before the date indicated in the Best Before.
Nutritional Claims. Descriptions such as low fat, fat-free, non-fat, cholesterol-free, lite, good source and excellent source are often found on product labels. But what do these terms mean?
- Low fat means the product has 3 grams or less fat.
- Non-fat or Fat-free means less than .5grams of fat per serving
- Cholesterol-free means less than 2 grams of cholesterol per serving
- Lite means 30% less calories than the original product
- Good Source means the specific nutrient it contains fulfils 10%-19% of the daily RENI (Recommended Energy and nutrient Intake)
- Excellent Source means the specific nutrient fulfils 20% or more of the daily RENI.
Health Claims. What are the potential health benefits of the product?
Function Claims. These describe the way a nutrient or food substance maintains or supports a normal body function.
Nutritional Information. This is a guide on how much nutrients are contributed by the product per serving based on the recommended requirement for the day (RENI). A good Nutrition Information table should have the RENI column that indicates the percentage of nutrients that the product contains per serving.
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