Know what you eat – how to read nutrition information
In a perfect world we wouldn’t eat anything that came in a packet. Everything would be homegrown and homemade. However, we don’t live in a perfect world. We’re going to buy packaged food like bread, crackers, yoghurt, etc. How do we choose the best option for our health?
Food marketing is a clever business. “Natural”, “Perfect for the lunchbox”, “low sugar” – what do these statements really mean?
The only way to know what’s in the packet is to look at the nutrition information panel. We can use this to see what’s really in our food and compare products. It can help us make healthier choices for our whānau.
Remember:
-
The ingredients are listed in order of quantity. If sugar is the first ingredient you know the product is mostly sugar.
-
When you’re buying processed foods one of the easiest ways you can make healthier choices is to compare similar products to each other e.g. compare yoghurt with yoghurt; canned beans with canned beans, etc.
Compare the three S’s – sugar, sodium and saturated fat in the 100g column.
Choose the product with the least amount.
-
Most of the salt we eat comes from ultra processed foods. The best thing we dan do is eat more whole foods and have less ultra processed foods.
When buying packaged foods check the per 100g column for sodium.
· Low is less than 120mg
· Moderate is 120 – 600mg
· High is more than 600mg
Some foods will be labelled “low in salt” (less than 120mg), but not all. Check the 100g column to be sure.
If you can’t find a lower salt version of your favourite sauce use a bit less!
Follow the 10:10:5 Rule
