These are the 1) Ingredients List; 2) Nutrition Information Panel and 3) food origin symbol (help on how to read food origins labels here). Please note, there is other information on food packaging that must be included and may be relevant to you, such as potential allergens.
Food labels are regulated in Australia by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), meaning there is a set of rules that all packaged foods need to contain. But there are always products that slip through the cracks - intentionally or unintentionally. If you spot something that doesn't look right and feel the social responsibility to report it, we encourage you to send a quick email to your local food unit. See the FSANZ website for information on the contact details in your state.
How to read an Ingredients List
The key with the Ingredients List is that the less ingredients is often the better. Ultra-process packaged products are often full of unnecessary additives, preservatives, and fillers (cheap ingredients), most of which are not needed for good health or the environment.
The most important thing to remember is that the Ingredients List is in order of most prevalent to least prevalent ingredient, so there is the greatest amount of the first listed ingredient in the food, and this is sometimes listed as a percentage.
How to work out if the sugar is added or naturally occurring
When it comes to sugar, we recommend you look at the Ingredients List first because the sugar amount listed in the Nutrition Information Panel does not identify whether the sugar is naturally occurring (like in fruit or milk) or added to the product. It is added sugar that has been linked to poor health outcomes (if eaten too often) and not naturally occurring sugars. Bearing in mind, some added sugars, such as honey, have antimicrobial properties so are more nutritious (and often more sustainable) than something like cane sugar.
If the Ingredients List has a sugar added, then look at the Nutrition Information Panel and aim for foods with less than 15g/100g (ideally less than 5g per 100g).
There are many names often used for added sugar in the Ingredients List, such as:
- Agave nectar
- Brown sugar
- Cane crystals
- Cane sugar
- Coconut sugar
- Corn sweetener
- Corn syrup
- Crystalline fructose
- Dextrose
- Evaporated cane juice
- Fructose
- Fruit juice concentrates
- Glucose
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Honey
- Invert sugar
- Lactose
- Malt sugar
- Malt syrup
- Maltose
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Palm sugar
- Raw sugar
- Sucrose
What to look for on a Nutrition Information Panel
The first step to learning how to read Nutrition Information Panels is to compare food products per 100 grams.
The 'serving size' is determined by the food manufacture and may not reflect the amount you do (or plan to) eat! Try to bear this in mind as you'll often eat a greater volume of tinned soup than soy sauce, for example!
By law in Australia, Nutrition Information Panels need to contain the energy (kilojoule) content of the product, plus its protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, and sodium (salt) content. You may also see other nutrients listed, such as dietary fibre, iron or calcium - food companies will often choose to include these if it's going to help sell their product!
How much is too much?
There are four key numbers to know when reading Nutrition Information Panels. Try to look for food products with:
1) Less than 400mg of sodium (salt) per 100g
2) Less than 10g of saturated fat per 100g
3) Less than 5g of sugar per 100g
4) More than 3g of dietary fibre PER SERVE
What about calcium?
When it comes to calcium content in plant-based dairy alternatives, we want to look for at least 120mg calcium per 100mL of milk, cheese or yoghurt.