Food Label Low Down

Food labels provide information that should help you make informed choices about the foods you eat. But, label reading is often confusing. Here are some straight answers to five common labelling questions.

1.         Where was it made? – A ‘Made in Australia’ claim only has to mean that the food was ‘substantially transformed’ in Australia and that at least 50% of production costs were incurred here.

2.         ‘Use by’ or ‘best before’? – Foods with a shelf life of less than two years must show a ‘best before’ date. This means that food stored as recommended will stay in good condition until that date. ‘Use by’ is reserved for foods that should be consumed after a certain time for health reasons, such as meat and dairy products. Whilst it is legal to sell food past its ‘best before’ date in Australia, it is illegal to sell it past the ‘use by’ date.

3.         How much fruit? – Foods that make claims for characterising ingredients such as fruit and meat content must show the percentage of the ingredient. For example, a label for ‘strawberry’ yoghurt must indicate the percentage of strawberries in the ingredients list.

4.         Where’s the fat and sugar? – Ingredients must be listed in decreasing order according to the quantity in that product. For example, the ingredient listed first is present in the highest quantity. Fat and sugar are often added in various forms so the words fat and sugar don’t top the ingredients list, which makes it harder to spot these in foods. Look for these other names that tend to hide fat and sugar:

a.    FAT – Butter, shortening, copha, cream, vegetable oils, full-cream milk powder, coconut oil, shortening.

b.    SUGAR – Glucose, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, honey, molasses, disaccharides, malt, sorbitol, brown sugar.

5.         Is it really low-fat? – Marketing claims on food labels are potentially misleading as they don’t give the full story. ‘Baked not fried’ sounds healthy but does not guarantee the product will be lower in fat. ‘Light’ is enticing to slimmers, but may simply mean oil is light in colour, not light on fat. When a claim is made, a Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) has to appear so you can check the facts. Shortly, NIPs will be mandatory in Australia.