How to Read Food Labels

To read the label on any food, first look at the serving size, then check the label colors for sugar, salt, fat and trans fatty acids, and finally read the ingredient list; the earlier an ingredient appears, the more of it there is. Don't stop at words like "diet" and "sugar-free" on the front; the numbers and the ingredient list usually tell the truth better.

This article is for education and doesn't replace advice from your own doctor or dietitian.

Why reading labels is worth it

A lot of the sugar and salt we eat every day doesn't come from the sugar bowl and the salt shaker. It comes from packaged foods: biscuits, cakes, fruit juice, soda, sauces, chips, canned food, sausages and deli meats, and even industrial bread and breakfast cereals. When we buy these without looking at the label, we can go over our daily share without knowing it.

The good news is that you don't need to be an expert. With a few simple steps, you can compare two products in the supermarket in a few seconds.

The colored label, or traffic light

In Iran, many packaged foods carry a colored label, also called a "traffic light" label. It usually shows:

• Energy (calories)
• Sugar
• Fat
• Salt
• Trans fatty acids

Next to each one you'll see the amount per serving, sometimes its percentage of daily needs, and a color.

What the colors mean

• Green: the amount of that item in this product is low. You can choose it more easily.
• Yellow or orange: the amount is medium. That's fine, but watch the portion and how often you eat it.
• Red: the amount is high. Eat this product occasionally and in small amounts.

The color for energy is usually just for information and doesn't mean "good" or "bad" in the same way. One important point: the colors are a quick help, but they don't tell the whole story. A pack of almonds, for example, may be red for fat even though most of its fat is the beneficial kind; on the other hand, a sweet drink may be green for fat but red for sugar. So look at all the colors together, not just one.

The serving size trap

The first thing to find on a label is the serving size. Very often the numbers on the label are for one serving, not the whole pack.

• A pack of chips or biscuits may count as "two or three servings", while most of us eat the whole pack at once.
• A big bottle of juice or soda is usually several glasses, but the numbers are written for one glass.
• Some labels give the numbers per 100 grams or 100 milliliters. This is very useful for comparing two products.

A simple rule: work out how much you actually eat and multiply the numbers to match. If you eat the whole pack and the pack is two servings, count double the sugar, salt and energy.

The ingredient list

The ingredient list is written in order of amount, from most to least. That means the first ingredient makes up the biggest share of the product.

• If the first ingredient in a "wholegrain" biscuit is white flour and the bran appears in the middle of the list, it probably has very little bran.
• If sugar, or another name for sugar, is among the first three ingredients in a fruit yogurt or drink, that product is more of a sweet treat than a healthy food.
• A shorter list of ingredients you recognize is usually a sign of less processing.

Hidden names for sugar

Sugar doesn't always show up as "sugar". If you see these names in the list, there is added sugar:

• Corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup
• Fructose, glucose and dextrose
• Maltodextrin
• Glucose syrup, invert syrup
• Honey, date syrup, grape syrup or fruit concentrate when added to sweeten
• Sucrose and maltose

Sometimes a product has several different sugars, each listed separately lower down, but together they add up to a lot. This is one of the common tricks.

Diet claims on the front

On packaging we see attractive words: "diet", "sugar-free", "low-fat", "light", "natural", "wholegrain". These aren't necessarily lies, but they aren't always what we think they are:

• "No added sugar" means sugar wasn't added, but the product may have plenty of sugar of its own; fruit juice and date products, for example.
• "Low-fat" is sometimes made up for with more sugar or starch to keep the taste. A low-fat fruit yogurt may have much more sugar than ordinary plain yogurt.
• "Diet" or "light" only means it has less than the regular version of the same brand, not that it's necessarily low.
• "Wholegrain" and "multigrain" may contain only a small amount of whole flour. Check the ingredient list.
• "Cholesterol-free" is almost always true of vegetable oils, since plant oils contain no cholesterol; it's a marketing claim, not a special advantage.

Key point: The front of the pack is designed to sell, and the back is there to inform. Always turn the pack over before you buy.

Comparing two imaginary products

Let's see how these steps work together with a made-up example. The numbers and names are invented and are here only for practice; they don't refer to any real brand.

An imaginary comparison of two fruit yogurts (a teaching example, not real products)

Item	Product A: light fruit yogurt	Product B: plain yogurt with fresh fruit at home
Claim on the front	Low-fat and diet	No claim
Sugar color	Red	Green to yellow, depending on the amount of fruit
Fat color	Green	Green or yellow, depending on the yogurt
Start of the ingredient list	Milk, sugar, glucose syrup, fruit concentrate	Milk and yogurt culture
Added sugar	Yes, under several different names	None; sweetness comes only from whole fruit
Better choice for every day	Occasionally	Everyday choice

In this example, the product with "diet" on the front actually has more added sugar. Plain yogurt that you mix yourself with fresh fruit or a few grapes has both the protein of yogurt and the fiber of fruit. To see why protein and fiber keep you fuller, read protein and fiber.

Daily sugar and salt: World Health Organization guidance

To make the numbers on a label mean something, it helps to know the general limits:

1. Free sugars: the World Health Organization recommends keeping free sugars to less than 10 percent of daily energy, with even more benefit below 5 percent. Free sugars means sugar added to food and drinks, plus the sugar in honey, syrups and fruit juice; the natural sugar in whole fruit and milk doesn't count.
2. Salt: for adults, less than 5 grams of salt a day, which is about one teaspoon. That includes the salt in bread, cheese, pickles, sausages and deli meats, chips and ready meals.
3. Trans fatty acids: the World Health Organization recommends keeping trans fat below one percent of daily energy; in practice, the less the better. If you see high trans fat on a label, or "partially hydrogenated oil" in the ingredient list, put it back.

The same applies to tea and sugar: sugar cubes, rock candy (nabat) and sugar in your tea count toward your daily free sugars. To get a rough idea of your total daily energy, use the Rejimist calculator.

If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease or heart disease, your limits for salt, sugar and fat may be different; settle this with your doctor.

A thirty-second routine in the store

1. Find the serving size and compare it with what you actually eat.
2. Check the colors for sugar, salt and trans fat; two reds means an occasional choice.
3. Read the first three ingredients.
4. Look for hidden names for sugar in the list.
5. Compare two similar products using the per-100-gram numbers and pick the one with less sugar and salt.

We've looked at some common beliefs about "diet" products and sugar in common diet myths.

Summary

The colored label, the serving size and the ingredient list are three simple tools that help you make more informed choices at the supermarket. Look at the colors together, measure the serving against what you really eat, learn the hidden names for sugar and don't stop at the claims on the front. The aim isn't to ban foods; it's to know what you're eating. If you'd like these choices to come together in a complete plan, at Rejimist a doctor writes your personal meal plan from your questionnaire and stays with you with a short daily message. Start at start your diet.

Sources

• World Health Organization (WHO). Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children. Geneva: WHO, 2015.
• World Health Organization (WHO). Guideline: Sodium intake for adults and children. Geneva: WHO, 2012.
• World Health Organization (WHO). Healthy diet — Fact sheet.
• World Health Organization (WHO). REPLACE: an action package to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids. Geneva: WHO, 2018.
• Croker H, Packer J, Russell SJ, Stansfield C, Viner RM. Front of pack nutritional labelling schemes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of recent evidence relating to objectively measured consumption and purchasing. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 2020.
• Kanter R, Vanderlee L, Vandevijvere S. Front-of-package nutrition labelling policy: global progress and future directions. Public Health Nutrition, 2018.