Food labels carry useful information to help you makechoices about food. The food label will tell you if the food contains anadditive that you may want to avoid. The nutrition information panel helps youto compare the nutrient profile of similar products and choose the one thatsuits your needs. Differencebetween ‘use-by’ and ‘best before’Foods with a shelf life of less than two years must have a ‘best before’ or‘use-by’ date. These terms mean different things. The ‘best before’ date refersto the quality of the food – food stored in the recommended way will remain ofgood quality until that date. It may still be safe to eat certain foods afterthe ‘best before’ date, but they may have lost quality and some nutritionalvalue. By contrast, foods that should not be consumed after a certain date forhealth and safety reasons must have a ‘use-by’ date and cannot be sold afterthat date. You will find ‘use-by’ dates on perishables such as meat, fish anddairy products. Some foods carry the date they were manufactured or packed, rather than a‘use-by’ date, so you can tell how fresh the food is. For example, bread andmeat can be labelled with a ‘baked on’ or ‘packed on’ date. You should: Check the ‘use-by’ or ‘best before’ date when you buy food. Keep an eye on the ‘use-by’ or ‘best before’ dates on the food in your cupboards. Don’t eat any food that is past its ‘use-by’ date, even if it looks and smells okay. The food label list of ingredients All ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight, including addedwater. So: The ingredient listed first is present in the largest amount. The ingredient listed last is present in the least amount. If aningredient makes up less than five per cent of the food, it does not have to belisted. Where there are very small amounts of multi-component ingredients (lessthan five per cent), it is permitted to list ‘composite’ ingredients only: forexample, it may say ‘chocolate’ (rather than cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar) ina choc chip icecream. This does not apply to any additive or allergen – thesemust be listed no matter how small the amount. If it’s called a meat pie, it must contain meat The ‘characterising ingredients’ are usually mentioned in the name of theproduct or highlighted on the label. A characterising ingredient is themain ingredient you would expect to find in the food. For example, thecharacterising ingredient in a ‘meat pie’ is meat and the food label must statethe percentage of meat in the pie. Food additives All food additives must have a specific use and they must be assessed andapproved by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). They must be used inthe lowest possible quantity that will achieve their purpose. Food additivesare given in the ingredient list according to their class, which is followed bya chemical name or number. For example: Colour (tartrazine) Colour (102) Preservative (200) Emulsifier (lecithin). Thesame food additive numbering system is used throughout the world. Vitamins andminerals are also listed under food additives. The nutrition information panel The nutrition information panel (NIP) tells you the quantity of variousnutrients a food contains per serve, as well as per 100 g or 100 ml. It’s bestto use the ‘per 100 g or 100 ml’ to compare similar products, because the sizeof one ‘serving’ may differ between manufacturers. Under labelling laws introduced in Australia in 2003, virtually all manufactured foods mustcarry an NIP. There are exceptions to the labelling requirements, such as: Very small packages and foods like herbs, spices, salt, tea and coffee Single ingredient foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables, water and vinegar Food sold at fundraising events Food sold unpackaged (if a nutrition claim is not made) Food made and packaged at the point of sale. The nutrients listed in the NIP The NIP provides information on seven nutrients: energy (kilojoules), protein,total fat, saturated fat, total carbohydrates, sugars and sodium. Cholesterolcontent does not have to be listed unless a claim is made. Listing saturated fat on the NIP helps consumers decide whether a food productmay affect their blood cholesterol levels. Saturated fat has a more significanteffect on blood cholesterol levels than mono- or polyunsaturated fats. It isgenerally present in higher amounts in animal-based products, but can also befound in non–animal-based foods, such as commercial biscuits and cakes (whichcontain hydrogenated vegetable oil – often listed as vegetable fat orshortening). Listing nutrients Other nutrients such as fibre, potassium, calcium and iron may be listed if aclaim is made on the label. The nutrients are displayed in a standard format,providing amount per serve and per 100g (or 100ml if liquid). 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 amountsper 100 g: 2 g of sugars 3 g of fat 0.5 g of fibre 20 mg sodium. Nutritionclaims on labels Don’t be misled by labelling tricks and traps. The terms used are oftenmisleading. For example: The term ‘light’ or ‘lite’ doesn’t necessarily mean that the product is low in fat or energy. The term ‘light’ may refer to the texture, colour or taste of the product. The characteristic that makes the food ‘light’ must be stated on the label. The claims ‘no cholesterol’, ‘low cholesterol’ or ‘cholesterol free’ on foods derived from plants, like margarine and oil, are meaningless because all plant foods contain virtually no cholesterol. However, some can be high in fat and can contribute to weight gain if used too generously. If an item claims to be 93 per cent fat free, it actually contains 7 per cent fat, but it looks so much better the other way. ‘Baked not fried’ sounds healthier, but it may still have just as much fat – check the nutrition information panel to be sure. ‘Fresh as’ actually means the product hasn’t been preserved by freezing, canning, high-temperature or chemical treatment. However, it may have been refrigerated and spent time in processing and transport. Nutritionclaims must meet the guidelines For a manufacturer to make various claims, their products must meet thefollowing guidelines: 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 per cent fat for solid foods (1.5 per cent for liquid foods). Fat free – must be less than 0.15 per cent fat. Percentage of fat – remember 80 per cent fat free is the same as 20 per cent fat, which is a large amount. Avoidingfats, sugars or salt requires careful checking The ingredient list will specify thecontents of a product. However, if you are trying to avoid fat, sugar or salt,they may be added in many forms and scattered all over the ingredients list.For example, ingredients that contain fat include: Beef fat Butter Shortening Coconut Coconut oil or palm oil Copha Cream Dripping Lard Mayonnaise Sour cream Vegetable oils and fats Hydrogenated oils Full-cream milk powder Egg (cholesterol) Mono-, di- or triglycerides. Oven fried and baked or toastedimplies the inclusion of fat.Ingredients that contain sugar include: Brown sugar Corn syrup Dextrose Disaccharides Fructose Glucose Golden syrup Honey Lactose Malt Maltose Mannitol Maple syrup Molasses Monosaccharides Raw sugar Sorbitol Sucrose Xylitol. Ingredients that contain salt(sodium) include: Baking powder Booster Celery salt Garlic salt Sodium Meat or yeast extract Onion salt Monosodium glutamate (msg) Rock salt Sea salt Sodium bicarbonate Sodium metabisulphate Sodium nitrate/nitrite and stock cubes. Allergysufferers Food labels can help people with allergies or intolerances to foods. Commonfoods that may cause allergies include: peanuts, other nuts, seafood, fish,milk, gluten, eggs, soybeans. The main foods or ingredients that may causesevere adverse reactions must be declared on the label no matter how small theamount. There must also be information to alert people who may be unaware of a possiblehealth risk from some ingredients: for example aspartame, quinine, caffeine,guarana, royal jelly, unpasteurised milk or egg. Country oforigin ‘Product of Australia’ means that significant ingredients must come from Australia and most of the processing should happen here too. A ‘Made in Australia’ statement may only mean that the food was ‘substantially transformed’ here and that a certain proportion of the production costs were incurred here. These definitions are currently under review.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 05:37:56 +0000
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