Decoding Food Labels

Food labels: the basics

Food labels must carry a nutrition information panel and ingredient list, plus other information that provides you with details about the food you’re eating.

Nutrition Information Panel (NIP)

The NIP must provide information on the amount of energy (kilojoules), protein, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars and sodium in the product. You may also find other nutrients such as fibre, vitamins and minerals in the NIP.

Every NIP has two columns of numbers:

• one showing the amount of nutrients in an average serving of the product (which is determined by the manufacturer)
• the other showing the amount of nutrients in 100 grams of the product

Serving sizes vary from one product to the next, so it’s a good idea to look at how much a serve is listed as in the NIP and compare this to how much of the food you’d normally eat. All McCain Healthy Choice meals are one serve, so the amounts listed in the ‘per serve’ column are what you’re getting from the entire packet.

Handy hint: Because serving sizes can vary, it’s best to refer to the ‘per 100g’ column to compare different products. Healthier products are those lower in saturated fat, lower in sodium, and higher in fibre.

What are the nutrients in the NIP?

Energy

Energy in food is measured by how many kilojoules it contains. Protein, carbohydrates, fat and alcohol all provide the body with usable energy. For maintaining a healthy weight, products with less kilojoules are better choices.

Protein

Protein is needed by the body every day to help build and maintain body tissues. Protein in foods can also help to keep you feeling full for longer. The best protein sources are lean meats, fish, chicken, eggs, dairy foods and legumes.

Total fat

The body needs some healthy fats every day from foods like vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and avocado. Eating too much fat, particularly the wrong types of fat, can contribute too many kilojoules to your diet which can cause weight gain.

Saturated fat

Saturated fat is the unhealthy type of fat that affects cholesterol levels in the blood, so it’s important to minimise this type of fat in the diet. You can do this by cutting back on foods like cream, butter, fatty meats, fast food, pastries, cakes and biscuits. Palm oil and coconut oil also contain saturated fat.

Trans fat

Trans fats are formed when liquid oils undergo a process called hydrogenation to turn them into solid fats. Fat used for deep frying and shortenings used in baking often contain these types of fats. Trans fat has similar effects on the body as saturated fat, so it should be avoided.

Polyunsaturated fat

Polyunsaturated fats are healthy unsaturated fats that are found in a range of foods including sunflower and soybean oils, nuts, seeds and oily fish. Omega-3 is a type of polyunsaturated fat that has benefits for the heart, brain and blood vessels.

Monounsaturated fat

These healthy unsaturated fats are found in olive, canola and peanut oils, avocadoes and some nuts.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is needed to perform several functions in the body. It is found in greatest amounts in organ meats like brain, liver and kidney, though the body can make its own supply of cholesterol when needed. Cholesterol from foods has little impact on blood cholesterol, with saturated and trans fatty acids having the greatest impact on blood cholesterol levels.

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrate is found in food as either starches or sugars and is the body’s preferred fuel source. It comes from foods like bread, cereal, pasta, rice, starchy vegetables, legumes, fruit, milk and yoghurt, as well as sugar.

Sugars

Sugars are found naturally in nutritious foods like milk, yoghurt and fruit. Sugar is also added to sweet foods and drinks and it is these added sugars that need to be minimised in a healthy diet.

Dietary fibre

High fibre foods like wholegrain breads and cereals, vegetables, legumes, fruit and nuts help keep the digestive system healthy and may help prolong feelings of fullness after eating.

Sodium

Sodium is found naturally in some foods, but the highest sources are salty processed or packaged foods. Too much sodium can cause problems in the body, so it is important to choose foods that are lower in sodium.

% Daily Intake values

To make it easier to work out how much a food contributes to a person’s daily nutrient intake, you may have seen %DI on food labels in the supermarket.

So exactly what is %DI and how can you use the information to make healthy eating choices?

What is %DI (% Daily Intake)?

We all need a certain amount of nutrients each day to maintain good health. This includes vitamins and minerals, as well as kilojoules (energy) and major nutrients such as protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars and sodium. This is where %DI comes in.

%DI is the percentage of your daily kilojoule and major nutrient needs that a serving of a food provides. Everyone has different nutrient needs depending on your age, gender, weight and how much activity you do, so the Daily Intake values that are used to calculate how much of your needs the food contains are for an ‘average’ adult. It is important to keep in mind that, for instance, children are likely to have lower requirements whereas very active people may have higher requirements.

The ‘average’ daily values that are used to work out the % Daily Intakes on food labels are:

As a general guide, each main meal of the day should provide you with approximately 20-30% of your daily nutrient needs, with snacks making up the remainder of your day’s intake. To find out how much of your %DI the McCain Healthy Choice meals provide, check out our nutrition information panels here.

Ingredient List

The ingredients that are used to make up a food appear in the ingredient list in order from the highest to lowest amount present, so you know exactly what’s in the food you’re eating. Key ingredients in a food must be listed as a percentage in the ingredient list. For example, McCain Healthy Choice Chargrilled Mango Chicken lists the percentage of chicken (24%) and mango sauce (21%) in the ingredient list.

Food additives, which are commonly identified with a code number, must also be included in the ingredient list. In addition, common foods that people can be allergic to must be identified in the ingredient list or in a prominent position on the label. This includes wheat, milk, eggs, soy, peanuts, other nuts, sesame seeds, fish and shellfish. McCain do this by including these foods in the ingredient list and in a statement below the ingredient list that highlights the meals are manufactured on equipment that processes products containing other allergens.

Nutrient Claims

Claims about nutrients a product may contain are sometimes highlighted on labels. Nutrient claims can make it easier to identify foods with a particular feature you may be looking for, such as being a source of fibre or low in saturated fat. The claims made on food labels are guided by a code of practice so that the same claim on a different food has the same meaning.

Common claims that you will see on McCain Healthy Choice meals include fibre, fat and saturated fat and cholesterol claims. This is what they mean:

• Source of dietary fibre - the meal contains at least 2 grams of dietary fibre per 100 grams of the meal
• Low fat - the food contains less than 3 grams of fat per 100 grams (which means it’s 97% fat free)
• Low saturated fat - the food is low fat and also contains less than 1.5 grams of saturated fat per 100 grams
• Low cholesterol - the food is low fat and also contains less than 20 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams
• No artificial colours or flavours - the food contains only colours or flavours that come from natural sources