How to Read Food Labels
They say it takes a single moment of inspiration to create your New Years Resolutions and a grand total of ten days to break them.Good planning will help you stick to your promises to kick the sugar habit, stop drinking booze, eat less (or smarter) carbs, go organic, lose weight generally, or simply get fit BUT you also need to be well informed - and knowing exactly how to read food labels is a huge part of that.Even most trainers and nutritionists I know get confused by all the whizz-bang, weird and wonderful ingredients on labels these days and that’s before we even get to understanding how much sugar (yes even the ‘natural’ kind) is too much.Over the next few weeks and months I’ll be posting blogs and video content to help you decode the labels on specific kinds of products – all your favourites like cereals, biscuits, health bars and organic snacks, crackers and dairy.Until then, here are my top tips and general things to look out for when it comes to reading food labels.
- First things first, when you’re checking food labels you should always look at the per 100g column, NOT the per serving column because the serving size is determined by the manufacturer and therefore not consistent.
- When it comes to SUGAR, you’re ideally looking for products with 5g or less per 100g but in reality, so long as it has single digits (less than 10g), you’re doing OK.
- When it comes to CARBS, well that depends on what your goals are. If you’re keen to shift some weight, eating low carb is important, so you’d want to aim for lower carbohydrate products, with between 0-20g of carbs per 100g. You would also want to make sure you’re eating less than 100g of carbs in total per day, so watch your serving sizes too. Lastly, make sure any grains you eat are unrefined, whole grains (wild rice, quinoa, amaranth, steel cut oats are all good examples of this. Pasta and bread do NOT fall into this category, unfortunately).
- FAT content is a bit of a tough one. Healthy, natural fats in the diet will actually help keep you lean, boost your immune system and improve brain function, so I rarely even glance at the fat content of products that I know are healthy (raw nuts, avocado, organic yoghurt, grass-fed meats, fish). It’s usually carbs and unnatural fats (think deep fried foods, donuts, biscuits, chips, margarines and processed oils, sweets) that stack on the weight, NOT normal, healthy fats so the only thing you should really pay attention to is whether the product contains trans fats, or altered fats. Saturated fats from natural products, like grass-fed meats, can actually be good for you but as a general rule, on packaged products I don’t like there to be more than 1.5g of saturated fats per 100g.
- Sodium, otherwise known as SALT is another one to look out for. As a general guide, less than 300mg of sodium per 100g is A-OK.
- Also make sure you check the FIBRE content of your foods. This is perhaps the only nutrient that’s worth checking out ‘per serve’ and any product with more than 3g fibre per serve is a winner.
- Try and choose products with as few ingredients as possible and that are close to their natural state. An apple is an apple but I’m not sure what apple-caramel-splice-treats are and I certainly don’t want to eat something containing ‘maltodextrin’. Basically if your granny doesn’t recognise an ingredient, it’s gotta go!
- Don’t be fooled by ‘Low Fat’ products. The full fat, less tampered with products usually contain less sugar and more nutrients. They also help with satiety.
- If in doubt, stick to foods that don’t require a label – veggies, fruit, grass-fed meats, fish, eggs, nuts, beans and other ‘one ingredient’ products always win!