Weight Loss Facts

Reading a Food Label

All too often when we are choosing a food product, we base our decision making on whether the product is 95-99% fat-free. This may be despite the fact that this food product may well be packed full of sugar.

Although a food may be low in fat, this does not automatically mean that the food is low in energy (Calories or Kilojoules).

When reading food labels it is important not to just look at the fat content of food products. This is because some food manufacturers will take the fat out of a product so that it is 95-99% fat free, but they will then sometimes add in a lot of sugar so that it still has just about the same amount of calories as a full-fat product.

When comparing two products you want to look at the:

Energy content - This is how many calories (kcal) or kilojoules (KJ) in the product.

Fat content - If the energy content is similar look at which product has the least amount of fat

Carbohydrate and sugar content - If the product has a similar energy content, also look to see what the sugar content is.

To compare products you need to look at the amounts of these nutrients per serve and per 100g.

Some manufacturers will use small serving sizes so that it looks like you will be eating fewer calories. If the serving size looks realistic, then compare the product's energy, fat, and sugar content per serve. If you are not sure, compare similar products per 100g.

More information on Food Labels

All foods must list all ingredients on the label. Ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance by weight. That is, ingredients are listed from the greatest to the smallest by ingoing weight including added water.

This can allow you to compare different products.

Product: tinned fruit

Product 1: contains "apples, water, sugar"

Product 2: contains "sugar, apples, water"

You can tell that the leading ingredient in product 2 is sugar. This product contains a lot more sugar than product 1.

Percentage Labelling

Packaged foods will carry labels to show the percentage of the key or characterising ingredients or components in the food product, if they are present. This will enable you to compare similar products.

For apricot yoghurt the characterising component is apricots. If this corresponds to a figure of 11%, then the product has 11% apricots. Compare this to other yoghurts.

Nutrition Panel

Nutrition information panels will provide information on the levels of energy (kilojoules), protein, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars and sodium, as well as any other nutrient about which a claim is made on the label. An example of this is if the product claims it is a "good source of calcium". It must then have the amount of calcium on the food label.

The food panel will provide information on nutrients per serve and per 100g of the product.

For some nutrients the product may specify the percentage of the recommended intake that it contains.

Example: A yoghurt may contain 300mg of calcium. The recommended dietary intake (RDI) for calcium is 800mg for adults. Therefore this yoghurt contains about 38% of an adult's recommended daily intake. Therefore, on the food label, a figure of 38% RDI will be present in the calcium section.

Example of a Nutrition Panel

Food Additives

Food additives have many different purposes. These include making processed foods easier to use or ensuring the food is preserved safely. For example, emulsifiers help us to spread margarine, preservatives help to keep food safe and fresh for longer.

Food additives may come from a synthetic or natural source.

All food additives must have a specified use, must have been assessed and approved by the (FSANZ) for safety and must be used in the lowest possible quantity that will achieve their purpose.

Food additives can be identified by their number and are included in the ingredients list.

Information for Allergy Sufferers

The main foods, food ingredients or components of an ingredient that can cause severe adverse reactions in some individuals (e.g. peanuts, seafood, fish, milk, gluten, eggs, soybeans) must be declared on the label however small the amount. This declaration is usually in the ingredients list.

There must also be advisory statements on the label where people may be unaware of the possible health risk posed by unpasteurised milk, unpasteurised egg, aspartame, quinine, caffeine in kola beverages and guarana contained in foods and warning statements where people may be unaware of a severe health risk posed by an allergen in a food. For example, a warning statement for the bee product, royal jelly, which can cause severe reactions in asthmatics.

Date marking

Foods with a shelf life of less than 2 years must have a "best before" date. It may still be safe to eat after the specified date but may have lost quality and some nutritional value.

Foods that should not be consumed after a certain date for health and safety reasons, such as infant formula which may be the baby's sole source of food, must have a "use by" date.

Bread can be labelled with either a "baked on" or "baked for" date if its shelf life is less than 7 days.

What do the Nutrition Claims Mean?

Summary

In general if a product states that it is:

Reduced: (e.g. reduced fat/sugar) then it must not contain more than 75% of the nutrient as compared to the same quantity of reference food.

Low in a particular nutrient:: the product must contain less than a specified amount of the nutrient per 100g

Free of a nutrient: must contain no more than a specified amount of that nutrient per 100g of food product.

x% free of a nutrient: can only be applied to fat.

Light/Lite: This means that the food has some characteristic that makes it light. This may be colour, taste, or apply to a nutrient.

Fats

A food manufacturer may claim that a product is "reduced-fat", "lower in fat" or contains "less fat" if it contains 25% less fat than the standard version. There must be a reduction of at least 3g of fat per 100g of food, or 1.5g of fat per 100g of liquid food, compared with the same quantity of the reference food. There must be a statement of comparison with the reference food.

It is important to keep in mind that this does not necessarily mean that the product is low in fat.

Example:

A standard cheese may contain about 40% dairy fat by weight. The "fat-reduced" version would contain 30% dairy fat by weight. This is still a significant amount of fat.

The food must not contain more than 3g of total fat per 100g of food, or 1.5g of total fat per 100g of liquid food.

The food must not contain more than 0.15g of total fat per 100g of food.

The food must meet the requirements specified for the "low-fat" claim, and must carry a statement of the actual fat content (expressed as a percentage of the food weight) in close proximity to the claim.

Saturated Fat

The food must comply with the conditions for a "low fat" claim; and the food must not contain more than 1.5g of saturated fatty acids per 100g of food or 0.75g of saturated fatty acids per 100g of liquid food.

Reduced saturated fat/reduced in saturated fat/less saturated fat/lower saturated fat:

The food must not contain more than 75% of the saturated fatty acid content of the same quantity of the reference food;

and there must be a reduction in saturated fatty acid content of at least 2g per 100g of food compared with the same quantity of the reference food (or 1g saturated fatty acids per 100g of liquid food);

the fatty acid portion of the food must not contain more than 20% of saturated fatty acids, and must contain at least 40% in total of cis-monounsaturated and cis-polyunsaturated fatty acids; or

not more than 15% of the total energy in the food may be derived from saturated fatty acids; and

there must be a statement of comparison with the reference food.

Lite/Light

You may have noticed that some products are called "lite" versions. This does not necessarily mean that the food contains less fat or calories, but can actually mean that the product has a lighter colour and maybe a lighter flavour! The characteristic which makes the food "lite" must be stated on the label, regardless of whether the term is used as a nutrient claim or whether it applies to some other characteristic of the food.

If the claim refers to a nutrient or to energy, the food must comply with the conditions for the corresponding "reduced" or "low" claim.

Cholesterol

The food must meet the conditions for the claim "low cholesterol", and must carry a statement of comparison with the reference food; and

the food must either meet the conditions for a "low-fat" claim, or the fatty acid component of the food must be no more than 20% saturated fat, and not less than 40% of cis-polyunsaturated or of cis-monounsaturated fatty acids.

The food must not contain more than 20mg of cholesterol per 100g of food; and

the food must either meet the conditions for a "low fat" claim or the fatty acid component of the food must contain not more than 20% saturated fatty acids and not less than 40% of cis-polyunsaturated or of cis-monounsaturated fatty acids.

If the claim is made for a food naturally or intrinsically low in cholesterol, it must refer to the whole class of similar foods.

The food must not contain more than 3mg of cholesterol per 100g of food; and

the food must either meet the conditions for a "low fat" claim or the fatty acid component of the food must contain not more than 20% saturated fatty acids and not less than 40% of cis-polyunsaturated or of cis-monounsaturated fatty acids.

Sugar

The food must not contain more than 75% of the total sugar content of the same quantity of the reference food; and

there must be a reduction of at least 5g total sugar per 100g of food, or 2.5g total sugar per 100g of liquid food, compared with the same quantity of the reference food; and

there must be a statement of comparison with the reference food.

The food must not contain more than 5g of total sugars per 100g of food, or 2.5g total sugars per 100g of liquid food.

The food must not contain more than 0.2g of sugars per 100g of food, or 0.1g of sugars per 100g of liquid food.

This is regulated by clause A1 of the Foods Standards Code, which prohibits the claim unless the food contains no added sugar, honey, malt, malt extract, or maltose.

The product must not contain any added sugars, honey, malt, malt extract, artificial sweetening substance, sorbitol, mannitol, glycerol, xylitol, hydrogenated glucose syrup or isomalt.

Fibre

The food must not contain less than 1.5g of dietary fibre per serving of food.

The food must contain not less than 3g of dietary fibre per serving of food.

The food must contain not les than 6g of dietary fibre per serving of food.

The food must contain not less than 3g of dietary fibre per serving of food.

These claims may only be applied to food which contains, prior to enrichment, at least 1.5g of dietary fibre per serving.

The food must meet the conditions for a "high fibre" claim; and

There must be a statement of comparison with the reference food.

Salt and Sodium

The food must not contain more than 120mg of sodium per 100g, or not more than 50% of the sodium content of the normal counterpart food, whichever is less.

The food must not contain more than 40mg of sodium per 100g of food.

The food must not contain more than 75% of the sodium content of the same quantity of reference food; and

The food must contain at least 90mg less sodium per 100g of food than the same quantity of the reference food; and

The food must not contain more than 600mg of sodium per 100g of food; and

There must be a statement of comparison with the reference food.

The food must not contain more than 5mg of sodium per 100g of food, or 2.5mg of sodium per 100g of liquid food.

The food and its ingredients must contain no added salt, no added sodium compound and must be unsalted.

Energy

The Food Standards Code specifies a maximum energy content which must be contained in prescribed reference quantities of a range of foods if they are described by one of these terms. If the food is not listed in Standard R2 then the Food Standards Code prohibits these terms used to describe the food. (See the Food Standards Code for more information).

The food must not contain more than 75% of the energy of the same quantity of the reference food; and

The food must contain at least 170KJ less energy per 100g of food, or 80KJ less per 100g of liquid food, compared with the same quantity of the reference food; and

There must be a statement of comparison with the reference food.

Diet

When a food is described as "diet" it must either comply with the "Low joule" claim, or must meet the following conditions:

1. the energy content of the food must not be more than 60% of the energy content of the reference food; and
2. there must be a reduction in energy content of at least 170KJ per 100g of food, or 80Kj of liquid food, compared with the same quantity of the reference food; and
3. there must be a statement of comparison with the reference food.

Lactose

Must be accompanied by a declaration of the proportion by which the lactose content has been reduced.

The product should not contain more than 0.3g of lactose per 100g of the food.

The food should contain no detectable lactose.

Gluten

The product should contain no more than 20mg gluten per 100g of the food, and no oasts or malt.

The food product should contain no detectable gluten, and no oats or malt.

Omega Fatty Acids

Where a nutrition claim using the word "omega" is made in relation to the omega fatty acid content of a food, the word "omega" must be qualified by the type of omega fatty acid present and this qualification must appear immediately after the word "omega".

A claim must not be made in relation to the omega-3 fatty acid content of a food (other than fish or fish products that have no added saturated fatty acids) unless:

1. total of saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids is less than 28% of the total fatty acid content of the food; or
2. food contains no more than 5g of saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids per 100g of the food.

1. no less than 200mg alpha-linolenic acid per serving; or
2. no less than 20mg total eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid per serving.

The food contains no less than 60mg total eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid per serving. Where a nutrition claim is made, the nutrition information panel must indicate the source of omega-3 fatty acids, namely alpha-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid.

A nutrition claim must not be made in relation to the omega-6 or omega-9 fatty acid content of food, unless the:

1. total of saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids content of the food is no more than 28% of the total fatty acid content of the food; and
2. fatty acid in respect of which the nutrition claim is made comprised no less than 40% of the total fatty acid content of the food.

Heart Foundation Tick

To obtain the Heart Foundation Tick a product must meet certain criteria. The following is a summary of this criteria:

Cereal and Cereal Products

• Should contain <5g of fat per 100g of the product.

• Bread and crispbreads should contain <5g added sugar per 100g
• Breakfast cereals, cakes, cereal bars, cereal and fruit bars, cakes and biscuits should all contain <15g of added sugar per 100g.

• Bread and crispbread; breakfast cereals; cakes, cereal bars, cereal and fruit bars, should have >3g of fibre per 100g.
• Flour should have >5g of fibre per 100g.

• Bread and crispbread should have <450mg of sodium per 100g
• Breakfast cereals should have <400mg of sodium per 100g
• Cakes, cereal bars, cereal and fruit bars; biscuits and crackers; self-raising flour, pasta, should have <350mg of sodium per 100g
• Flour, meal should have no added sodium

Vegetables

All fresh vegetables are acceptable

• Frozen, dried, canned and vegetables canned in sauce should contain <5g fat per 100g

• Frozen and dried vegetables should have no added sodium
• Canned vegetables should contain <120mg per 100g
• Vegetables canned in sauce should contain <300mg per 100g
• Vegetable juice should contain <120mg per 100g

• Vegetable juices should contain <4g fibre per 100g

Fruits

• Fresh, frozen and dried fruits should contain no added fat unless used as a processing aid
• Fruit bars and fruit pies should contain <5g fat per 100g

• Fresh, frozen and dried fruit should contain no added sugar. The sugar content should be similar to fresh counterpart
• Canned fruit should have a sugar content similar to fresh counterpart
• Fruit bars and fruit spreads should contain no added sugar
• Fruit juice should contain <4g of added sugar per 100g
• Fruit pies should contain <15g of added sugar per 100g

• Fruit bars should contain >3g of dietary fibre per 100g

Seafood

• Processed seafood is assessed on an individual basis
• Canned seafood should contain no added fat

• Fresh and frozen seafood should contain no added sodium
• Processed seafood should contain <350mg of sodium per 100g
• Canned seafood should contain <400mg of sodium per 100g

Meat and Meat Products

• All meat and meat products (including meat pies, pasties, sausage rolls) should contain less than 10g of fat per 100g

• Fresh and frozen meat and meat products should contain <120mg of sodium per 100g
• Meat pies, pasties and sausage rolls should contain <350mg of sodium per 100g
• Processed and canned meat and meat products should contain <450mg of sodium per 100g

Milk and other Dairy Products

• Liquid milk, dairy drinks, dried milk (as reconstituted), and yoghurt should contain <2g of fat per 100g
• Evaporated milk should contain <4g per 100g
• Soft cheese (e.g. Cottage) should contain <8g per 100g
• Semi-soft cheeses (e.g. Mozzarella) should contain <18g per 100g
• Hard Yellow Cheeses (e.g. Natural Cheddars) should contain <25g per 100g
• Processed cheese and cheese spreads should contain <15g per 100g
• Frozen dessert, ice cream, frozen confection, and frozen yoghurt should contain <5g per 100g

• Liquid milk and dairy drinks should contain <5g of added sugar per 100g
• Frozen dessert, ice cream, frozen confection, and frozen yoghurt should contain <15g of added sugar per 100g
• Yoghurt should contain <10g of added sugar per 100g

• Natural cheeses should contain "d600mg of sodium per 100g
• Frozen dessert, ice cream, frozen confection, and frozen yoghurt should contain <120mg per 100g

Eggs

• Egg products and egg substitutes should contain <10g of fat per 100g

• Egg products and egg substitutes should contain <120mg per 100g

• Egg products and egg substitutes should contain <250mg per 100g

Legumes, Nuts and Seeds

All dried legumes are acceptable

• Canned legumes (e.g. baked beans) and tofu should contain <5g per 100g
  • Nuts and seeds will be approved if the saturated fatty acids are 20% or less of total fatty acids
  • Soy beverages should contain <2g per 100g

• Soy beverages should contain <7g of added sugar per 100g

• Canned legumes (e.g. baked beans) should contain <300mg of sodium per 100g
• Nuts and seeds, and peanut butter should contain no added sodium
• Soy beverages and Tofu should contain <1120mg of sodium per 100g

• Soy beverages should contain >120mg of calcium per 100g

Fats and Oils

• Margarine/reduced fat spreads should contain <28% saturated plus trans fatty acids (as a % of total fats)
• Vegetable oils will be approved if the saturated fatty acids are 20% or less of the total fatty acids

Margarine/reduced fat spreads should contain <400mg of sodium per 100g

Bottled Water

• Needs to comply with NHMRC guidelines for drinking water

Convenience Meals

• Should contain <5g per 100g

• Should contain <350mg per 100g

Dips

• Should contain <5g per 100g

• Should contain <250mg per 100g

Pasta Sauces

• Should contain <5g per 100g

• Should contain <300mg per 100g

Soups (as reconstituted)

• Should contain <4g per 100g

• Should contain <200mg per 100g

• Should contain >1.5g per 100g

Mayonnaise

• Should contain <5g per 100g

• Should contain <1100mg per 100g