Reading a Food Label

Food packets must show certain facts by law, and the nutrition panel is where they live. Start at the top with the serving size, because every number below it counts for one serving, not the whole packet. Then find the line for carbohydrate. Carbohydrate is the nutrient that turns into sugar in your blood, so people who count carbs check this line first. Some labels split carbohydrate into fibre and sugars. Fibre is the part your body does not digest, so many people subtract the fibre grams from the total to get the carbs that really count. When you compare two products, check that the serving sizes match before you compare the numbers. A packet can look healthier just because its serving is smaller. Reading a label this way takes a few seconds and tells you far more than the big promises on the front.

Packets often headline per portion numbers because a small serving makes sugar or fat look low. For a fair fight between two products, compare the per 100 grams column instead, where both are measured the same way. Then read per portion when you want to know what you actually get from the amount you will eat.

Some sweet foods hide sugar under other names, and high fructose corn syrup is one of them. The way to catch it is to read the ingredients list before you buy. Ingredients are listed in order, starting with the one there is most of. If sugar or a syrup sits near the top of the list, the food is mostly sweet stuff, even if the front of the packet shouts about fruit or fitness. You might see high fructose corn syrup written as HFCS, glucose-fructose syrup, or corn sugar, so scan the whole list, not just the first line. It often hides in drinks, sauces, cereals, and even bread. When you spot it near the top, look for another brand of the same food that leaves it out. The small print on the back tells the truth that the front of the packet does not.

The same list protects people with allergies: allergen words like milk, egg, nuts, and wheat are printed in bold so they stand out. If you cook for someone with an allergy, that bold print is the first thing to check.

A food label lists fat, carbohydrate, and protein in grams, but the energy is listed in calories. You can check the label yourself with a little maths. Each gram of fat gives about 9 calories. Each gram of carbohydrate gives about 4 calories, and each gram of protein gives about 4 calories too. So if one serving has 10 grams of fat, 20 grams of carbohydrate, and 3 grams of protein, you multiply each by its number and add them up: 90 plus 80 plus 12, which is 182 calories. Try it with a real packet and compare your answer with the energy number printed on the label. They should be close. Remember the label counts one serving, so if you eat two servings you get double the energy.