How To Read Food Labels: Complete Guide For Healthy Eating And Nutrition Choices

National Nutrition Week 2022 (September 1 to 7) is here. It's the perfect time to explore how learning to read labels on food packages can help one make healthier food choices.

Consumption of packaged foods has increased greatly among consumers. Children used to have minimal control over food shopping and choices in the past, but now they’re in charge of their food choices, whether while shopping or helping you prepare food. Because of this trend, you carry more responsibility to educate the current generation about making the right food choices. As children eat packaged foods almost daily, it’s necessary that, apart from a product’s net weight, cost, and date of expiry, they become aware of its nutritional values and what percentage of recommended dietary allowances (ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, 2020) is received by consuming the product. This is where food labels come into play.

Importance of Reading Food Labels in Daily Life

A food label:

• lists product ingredients
• provides information on the types and amounts of nutrients present in the product
• warns consumers if a food contains allergens
• informs if the food is fresh or past its expiration date
• explains how the product must be stored before and after opening it
• instructs how to prepare or cook the food
• gives information on where the food was produced and by which company, so that customers can contact the company in case of any queries or complaints

Essentially, food labels provide consumers with basic information about what is in the food they eat and how best to handle it (refer to Figure 1).

Identifying Nutritional Values in Packaged Food

The food label is based on a 2,000-calorie diet. However, your child’s calorie needs might be different (check with your nutritionist or physician). In the nutrition facts column, you will find some of the nutrients expressed in %DV (daily values), which denotes the proportion of the particular nutrient offered in a serving of the packaged food in a 2,000-calorie meal. That is, if your child consumes two millet biscuits (one serving), and if the label states that one serving provides 2% calcium, it means that the food provides 2% of your child’s daily calcium requirement (assuming that they consume 2,000 calories per day). This means your child will have to eat other foods to get 100% of the calcium needed each day (refer to Figure 2).

Food Additives

According to the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, every food to which a flavoring agent has been added shall be declared in the list of ingredients, provided that

1) in case of artificial flavoring substances, the common name of the flavor shall be declared.
2) in case of natural or nature-identical flavoring substances, the class name of flavors shall be declared.

Here’s an example:

Key Points To Note While Reading Labels

1. The serving size

A food label always lists the serving size, which is the amount of food—such as one cup of cereal, two cookies, or 100ml of juice—that people typically consume at one time. You will find the serving size mostly in the nutrition facts column. Serving sizes help your child understand how much they are eating. If your child eats four cookies instead of two (as per serving size), that would be two servings. Reading labels makes your child do some math, too!

2. Choose nutrients wisely

Nutrients that you need more of: Protein, potassium, fiber, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium. Encourage your child to choose foods with a higher %DV of these important nutrients. Nutrients that you need less of: Saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar. Encourage your child to choose foods that contain lower amounts of these nutrients. Remind them that when comparing the %DV of nutrients, 5% DV is considered low, while 20% DV is considered high. Try to avoid trans fat as much as possible.

Usually, the ingredients listed first, second, and third on the ingredient list are present in the food in the largest amounts. The food will contain smaller amounts of the ingredients mentioned at the end of the list. Keeping this in mind, make your child check ingredient lists to see where sugar appears. Make them limit foods that mention sugar as the first or second ingredient, which means it’s a sugary food. And watch out—sugar has different names, so it might appear in the form of high fructose corn syrup, xylose, rice syrup, molasses, maltose, dextrin, dextrose, corn syrup, sucrose, or glucose.

3. Read the food allergen information

People with food allergies should check the allergen declaration on food labels. Avoid peanuts, soybeans, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, and wheat, as these allergens account for 90% of all food allergies. Certain foods may not contain a food allergy warning. In that case, check the ingredient list to see if any allergens are present in the food.

Frequent label reading is a good practice that needs to be inculcated in an individual, especially children. However, many studies have found that adolescents read food labels less frequently. According to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior in 2013, less than 20% of 316 adolescent respondents (all from Kolkata) reported that they checked nutrition information on food labels. Helping your child understand how to read food labels prepares them for making smart food choices their whole lives. Whether in the supermarket, at home, or at school, there are many opportunities to teach your child about healthy nutrition.

The author is a nutritionist.