Don’t rely on health claims on labels as your guide. Instead learn a few simple label reading tips to choose healthy foods and drinks, for yourself. You can also use the label to help you lose weight by limiting foods that are high in energy per serve.
Nutrition content claims make statements about certain nutrients or substances ina food, for example ‘high in calcium.’ For a manufacturer to make various claims, their products must meet various guidelines including:
no added sugar — products must not contain added sugar, but may contain natural sugars
reduced fat or salt — should be at least a 25 per cent reduction from the original product
low fat — must contain less than 3 percent fat for solid foods (1.5 per cent for liquid foods)
fat free — must be less than 0.15 percent fat
percentage of fat – remember 80 percent fat free is the same as 20 per cent fat, which is a large amount
good source of — must contain no less than 25 per cent of the RDI for that vitamin or mineral.
Health claims can also be made about a food product and relate to a nutrient or substance in a food, and its effect on health. There are two types of health claims:
General level health claims demonstrate the effect on a health function due to a nutrient or substance that is present ina food. ‘Calcium is good for bones’ is an example
High level health claims refer to a serious disease or biomarker and its relationship to a nutrient or substance according to scientific research. For example, diets high in calcium can reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
The nutrients in Nutrition Information Panel are displayed in a standard format, providing amount per serve and per 100 g (or 100 ml if liquid).
- = Not so Good.
- = Really Good
The following are large amounts per 100 g:
- 30 g of sugars
- 20 g of fat
- 3 g of fibre
- 600 mg of sodium.
The following are small amounts per 100 g:
- 2g of sugars
- 3 g of fat
- 0.5 g of fibre
- 20 mg sodium.
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer unchanged.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.
High level health claims refer to a serious disease or biomarker and its relationship to a nutrient or substance according to scientific research. For example, diets high in calcium can reduce the risk of osteoporosis.