Reading Nutrition Labels

There are so many different messages on food packets these days, the ones targeted at kids will put absolutely anything on the packet to make them sound "healthier", "no gluten", "sugar free", "additive free", "made with real fruit", "carefully selected grains", what do these even mean? Do they really make it any healthier?

Let's take a look at the product with the "made with real fruit claim" - when looking at the ingredient panel of that particular product it shows this to be 30% apple paste and 47% apple concentrate. Another that used this claim contained only 14% banana puree. What this tells us is that sometimes we need to investigate a little further and use our detective skills to really figure out how beneficial a product is for our little ones!

Whilst there are some front of pack marketing messages that can help work out what a product has going for it - perhaps that a food is fortified with calcium, or distinguishes it as a better choice compared to other products in the same category with the health star rating, the one thing that will help you understand more about the food you're eating is being able to read a nutrition label and the information panel.

Now, whilst nutrition labels can tell us a lot about the make-up of a product, nutrition labels lack context, and that's something you need to apply when reading nutrition labels. This means that even if the nutrition of a product doesn't rate well against the figures we mention below, remember to think also of the when and why your little one is eating a particular food. E.g. how many times would your LO likely eat the food that you're buying? If the answer is every day, then paying closer attention to the nutrition label is important, or perhaps you have to manage a diagnosed allergy - you must know how and what to look for on a nutrition label to ensure its safety. 

So, let's look at how to read a nutrition label.

By law, Australian products must include a Nutrition information panel, which lists the nutrition facts about a product e.g. how much energy, protein, fats, carbohydrates, sodium etc. that it contains. The other is the ingredient list. These two really work together to paint a picture.  

Ingredients lists must, by law list all the ingredients used to make up a product. Ingredients are listed in order of weight. Starting at the product that contributes the most by weight, down to the lowest. Therefore, if an ingredient list reads apple, almonds, sugar, oil, then apples make up the largest amount (by weight) of that product, and sugar, third on the list, makes up a lesser amount. Unfortunately for the everyday individual some ingredients lists may use products that are not well known alternatives for say, sugar, so identifying what's what on an ingredients list can require a bit of background reading. 

Then there is the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP). When comparing products we recommend you refer to the values listed under the amount per 100g. This allows you to compare the values between products like for like, because serving sizes listed on packets are not regulated, and are determined by a manufacturer. They will therefore vary significantly between products, so make it difficult to compare. 

If you've followed us for a while, or participated in any of our groups or bought our program you will know that when it comes to infant feeding in general it is recommended that your LO doesn't consume honey until at least 12 months, that they eat minimal sodium, and that added sugars be reduced. It's also important that an iron rich diet be followed.

So how can these two things, the NIP and the ingredients list tell us this, and what else could you look for when working out the nutrition offered by a product?

• Honey will be identified in the ingredient list of a packaged product; you will not see any mention of it on an NIP - it will contribute some sugar though. 
• For sodium, you can look at the ingredient list to determine if salt or sodium has been added to a product, but it's useful to read the NIP for this one. A product with less than 120mg/100g of sodium is low in sodium, and over 600mg/100g a high sodium product. 
• Sugars are a little more difficult to determine because there is no requirement for sugars to be listed as added or naturally occurring, so you will generally find sugars listed generically under carbohydrates. So determining where the sugars in a food are coming from requires you to look at both the ingredients list and the NIP. First identifying from the ingredients list if there is added sugars e.g. if honey, dextrose, rice bran syrup or maple syrup (there are many others) are listed, then you know that sugar is added to that product. How much though is read from the NIP. If a food has added sugars in it, the goal is to look for <5g/100g for most products. Sugars in foods like fruit are not added sugars per se, but if a food is sweetened with lots of fruits, like many commercial pouches, the amount of fruit being eaten across the day includes what they eat in a pouch, as well as what's served to them in other ways. When a the recommended serves of fruit for a 12 month old are around ½ a serve (e.g. half an apple) this can add up quickly. 
• Saturated fat, looking for a product that has less than 3g/100g of saturated fat is a good guide. 
• Lastly, fibre. Fibre is important for so many reasons and is important for both keeping your LO regular, but supporting them to grow the good bacteria in their cut, which have protective health benefits. Foods where fibre is generally found include breads, cereals and other grains, as well as muesli bars etc. and of course fruits and vegetables. 3g/100g of fibre is a good start. 
• As for energy, protein and carbohydrates, there is such variation in what to look for because different products give us more of some things than others, but both contribute valuable things to a balanced diet. 

How confident do you feel reading nutrition labels? Are there any questions you have about food labelling that you'd like us to provide a little more information on? Leave a comment below.

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