Food Labels

Manufacturers are obligated to provide information about the ingredients in their products specifically related to allergens, irradiated products, GMO ingredients, and nutritional information. Ingredients are listed in order of quantity, with the most prevalent ingredient being listed first. Certain ingredients may have different names, e.g., sugar’, maybe in the form of corn syrup, glucose, etc.

Nutritional information is listed per 100 g/ml and sometimes per serving. There is always a detailed list of energy, protein, carbohydrate (further broken down to the ‘% of which are sugars’), fats (further broken down to the ‘% of which are saturated, trans’, etc), and sodium.  Other information may be included such as vitamins and minerals, fiber, or other claims, such as gluten or lactose free.

Many countries have a traffic light code system that allocates points per 100g/ml content of product to help consumers make healthier choices, deep green having a higher score than deep red. In France this is the Nutri-Score system and is designated by the letters (A,B,C,D,E) and colours, with A being a better choice than C. This can seem confusing for certain products such as oil because none are listed as A, even when the oil is know to be a good choice, e.g olive oil. This is simply because of how the metrics for the coding system is programmed. Any product with too much fat would be considered unhealthy, but unfortunately oil by its very nature is just that - fat. The code system does not provide all the information – portion, pesticides, transformation level, etc.

This means that when reading labels, one cannot just consider one aspect, it must be taken as a whole. All the information present in a label is there as a guide to help individuals make informed choices. Learning to interpret this is therefore quite empowering in terms of health.

The following table is a quick rule of thumb to interpret a food label to make a good food choice in 100 grams:

A food containing at least 3 g fiber per 100 g is a good fiber source, double this quantity (6g) is considered a high fibre food.

For individuals with more specific health needs or in need of further information please get in touch with a dietitian. This information is not intended to replace professional advice.