Nutritional information on labels

There are two main types of food labelling that are currently used that can help you select food products for healthy eating.

1. ‘Sign-post’ food labelling

The Food Standards Agency has approved a traffic light system for use on labels which a lot of stores and manufacturers now use.

This shows at a glance whether the food product has high, medium or low amounts of certain nutrients (including calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt) using the colours red, amber and green where:

• red = high
• amber = medium
• green = low.

You should aim to choose foods that have more green and amber lights and choose those that have red lights less often as this means the food is high in something we should all be trying to cut down on.

The traffic light system is designed to help you select healthier foods more easily.

2. Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) labelling

The Guideline Daily Amount scheme, developed by the Institute of Grocery Distribution, is used by some manufacturers and gives you a guide as to how much energy and nutrients an individual needs in order to have a balanced diet.

The nutritional panel

The nutrition panel on the food label provides information on the nutrient content of the food. 

This is not compulsory but a number of products include a nutritional panel. Amounts must be given per 100 grams (g) or per 100 milliliters (ml). Often amounts per serving are also listed. Nutritional panels must contain information on:

• energy (kilojoule (kJ) and calories (kcal))
• protein (g)
• carbohydrate (g)
• fat (g).

To understand this information it is important to know why these nutrients are important for health.

Energy

This is the amount of energy in the food. It can be measured in kilojoules (kJ) or calories (kcals). 

Protein

Needed for growth and repair, most adults eat more than enough protein. Protein rich foods that are also gluten-freeWhen a food has less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten so it is safe for people with coeliac disease to eat. include plain meat, fish, eggs, milk, cheese and pulses (peas, beans and lentils).

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrate foods provide you with energy. There are two forms of carbohydrates, starches such as rice, potatoes, bread and pasta and sugars such as added sugars and natural sugars found in fruit and milk. The main source of energy in your diet should be starchy carbohydrates and you should limit the amount of sugary food and drink that you eat.

High is more than 15g sugars per 100g
Low is 5g sugars or less per 100g

Fat

Fat content may be given as total fat or broken down in to different types of fat. There are three different types of fat – saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Some fat is needed in the diet but in general we eat too much and should be cutting down on the amount of fat we eat. Try to replace saturated fat with unsaturated fat.

Total fat

High is more than 20g fat per 100g
Low is 3g fat or less per 100g

Saturated fat

High is more than 5g saturates per 100g
Low is 1.5g saturates or less per 100g

Fibre

Fibre is important to keep your gut healthy and we should all include a wide variety of foods rich in fibre in our diet. A high fibre food would be one that contains at least 6g of fibre per 100g. Good sources of fibre suitable for a glutenA protein that is found in the cereals wheat, barley and rye. -free diet include: fruits and vegetables, pulses (peas, beans and lentils), rice, nuts and seeds.

Sodium

Sodium is another word for salt. Sometimes only a figure for sodium will be given, or sometimes both salt and sodium will be listed. 

Some salt is needed in the diet but most of us eat too much. This can increase the risk of high blood pressure and can lead to heart disease and stroke. It is recommended that no more than 6g (about a teaspoonful) of salt is eaten each day.

High is more than 1.5g salt per 100g (or 0.6g sodium)
Low is 0.3g salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium)

What else will I find on a food label?

• product name or description
• the manufacturers name and address
• instructions for safe storage and using the food
• the weight of the product.