Where would you look on the food label to determine if sugar was added to the product?

If you eat packaged foods, a convenient way to figure out how much carbohydrate is in your food is to use the “Nutrition Facts Label.” The “Nutrition Facts Label” is found on the outside of the container.

  • Serving Size
  • Number of Servings Per Container
  • Grams of Total Carbohydrate per serving

The total carbohydrate tells how many grams of carbohydrate are in one serving. Be careful when reading the label. There can be more than one serving in the package, so if you eat more than one serving, you will need to multiply the grams of carbohydrate accordingly.

Now let’s practice using a sample food label:

Where would you look on the food label to determine if sugar was added to the product?

  • The serving size listed is 3 pieces (or 90 grams if you are weighing the product).
  • The grams of total carbohydrate per serving is 30 grams.
  • If you eat 6 pieces, that is two servings. You would be getting 60 grams of total carbohydrate (1 serving = 30 grams  of total carbohydrate, 2 servings = 60 grams of total carbohydrate).
  • Or, if you only eat one piece, then you would only get 10 grams of carbohydrate. (If 3 pieces equals 30 grams of carbohydrate, then each piece must be 10 grams of carbohydrate.)

Remember, when you are learning to count carbohydrates, measure the exact serving size to help train your eye to see what portion sizes look like. When, for example, the serving size is 1 cup, then measure out 1 cup.  If you measure out a cup of rice, then compare that to the size of your fist.  In the future you would be able to visualize the rice in comparison to your fist. Keep doing this until you get a good idea of the weights and volumes of different foods. Measuring foods at home can also make you feel more comfortable with estimating portion sizes in restaurants.

Nutrition Facts labels list a breakdown of the total carbohydrate from dietary fiber, sugars and sugar alcohols. This can be confusing.

On Nutrition Facts food labels, the grams of dietary fiber are already included in the total carbohydrate count, but because fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest, the fiber does not increase your blood sugar levels. You may subtract the grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate. View this example Nutrition Facts label showing fiber.

On a nutrition food label, subtract the fiber from the total carbohydrate amount.

When you read food labels, the grams of sugar are already included in the total carbohydrate amount, so you do not need to count this sugar amount separately. The grams of sugar listed include both natural sugars, from fruit or milk, and added sugars.

On a nutrition food label, the total carbohydrate includes the sugar.

Some Nutrition Facts labels may also list sugar alcohols under total carbohydrate. Sugar alcohols may be found in products that are labeled “sugar-free” or “no sugar added.” But don’t be fooled – sugar alcohols are still a form of carbohydrate, and they still affect your blood sugar levels, if not as dramatically. Usually about half of the sugar alcohol is counted as carbohydrate. Learn more about counting sugar alcohols.

When counting carbohydrates, include half of the sugar from the sugar alcohol.

View an example of a Nutrition Facts label showing how to count sugar alcohols.

Self-assessment Quiz

Self assessment quizzes are available for topics covered in this website. To find out how much you have learned about  Understanding Carbohydrates, take our self assessment quiz when you have completed this section.  The quiz is multiple choice. Please choose the single best answer to each question. At the end of the quiz, your score will display. If your score is over 70% correct, you are doing very well. If your score is less than 70%, you can return to this section and review the information.

A product can state that it has ‘No added sugar’ only if meets defined criteria. Rather than providing the (long) criteria of what a product cannot contain, let’s look at some examples of sweet tasting ingredients that typically can be used alongside a ‘No added sugar’ claim. These include the addition of fruit, intense sweeteners (for example, sorbitol) or sugar replacements (for example, stevia). For example, a muesli that has dried fruit (without sugar added).

 

Now what?

Now that you know the above, how can you use this information to select healthy foods and be mindful of added sugar?

  • If time permits when food shopping, compare the NIP values and ingredient list between similar products
  • Given the frequent consumption of everyday staple foods, it is beneficial to look at the nutritional quality of these products and change to a healthier product as appropriate
  • Also think about what is realistic in terms of the sugar content in a product. For example, discretionary foods such as biscuits and chocolate contain a higher level of sugar however note that these foods are also intended to be consumed infrequently

Most importantly, aim to eat mainly core foods items (for example, vegetables, whole grain foods, fish/lean meat, legumes/beans, fruit and dairy products/alternatives) and limit intake of discretionary foods (for example, cakes, soft drinks, pies, chips, ice cream, biscuits, sugar and syrups).

Disclaimer: This article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended as advice and should not be relied upon as such. Independent advice suited to individual circumstances should be sought from relevant industry professionals prior to making any decisions.

Where would you look on the food label to determine if sugar was added to the product?

HEALTH.

Food labels can be very confusing and tricky to understand. Often we don’t have the time to spend trying to work out what they mean and how to use them.

However, a few quick tips can make shopping for healthy food a whole lot easier and quicker and can help you lose weight. Knowing what nutrition information to look for, can help you make the best choice for your health and avoid unnecessary saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and kilojoules.

Labels on most packaged food must meet strict requirements that include information for people with food allergies, food additive listings and food storage instructions. More information about food labelling requirements can be found at Food Labels - What do they mean? Food Standards Australia and New Zealand [PDF, 1MB].

While food labels can carry many different types of information, the main things to look at when choosing healthy food are the Nutrition Information Panel.

Nutrition Information Panel

Click on the image for a larger version.

The Nutrition Information Panel on a food label offers the simplest and easiest way to choose foods with less saturated fat, salt (sodium), added sugars and kilojoules, and more fibre. It can also be used to decide how large one serve of a food group choice or discretionary food would be and whether it’s worth the kilojoules. This is particularly important if you are trying to lose weight.

First use the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating to decide whether a food belongs in the five food groups and is an ‘everyday’ food for eating regularly, or a discretionary food best eaten only sometimes or in small amounts.

Then use the Nutrition Information Panel to compare similar packaged foods and to decide which product provides less saturated fat, salt (sodium), added sugars and kilojoules per 100gm and more fibre per serve.

Where would you look on the food label to determine if sugar was added to the product?

Using Nutrition Information Panels to help you lose weight

If we want to lose weight, it’s best to avoid discretionary foods as they provide few nutrients but plenty of kilojoules. However, it is still possible to include small serves of discretionary foods, eaten occasionally and savoured by eating slowly and enjoying the food with all our senses.

The trick is to choose only the foods or drinks that we really enjoy. Some people have a sweet tooth or love chocolate, others prefer savoury and love a great cheese. Other people really enjoy a wine sipped slowly. All food is not equally special for us. We all have our favourites.

The Nutrition Information Panel can help us decide if a food is really ‘kilojoule worthy’. Beware of foods that look like a single serve, but actually contain several servings in one packet. Once we know the kilojoules in a serve, we can weigh up whether our enjoyment warrants the extra kilojoules.

Health Star Rating (HSR) system

Where would you look on the food label to determine if sugar was added to the product?

The Health Star Rating (HSR) system is a front-of-pack labelling scheme developed for use in Australia and New Zealand to ‘provide convenient, relevant and readily understood nutrition information and/or guidance on food packs to assist consumers to make informed food purchases and healthier eating choices’. Health Star Ratings will make it much easier for shoppers to make informed choices about healthier food options.

The HSR on the front of food packages provides an at-a-glance overall rating of the healthiness of the food product (reflected as a star rating), as well as specific nutrient and energy information. The more stars, the healthier the choice.

Generally, the HSR will provide the most useful source of comparison between similar food products (e.g. comparing packaged breakfast cereals). Where the nutrient icons are also displayed, they will provide information about the energy content of a product, as well as the levels of saturated fat, sodium (salt) and sugars, to help you make the best choice to suit your personal circumstances. In some cases, a positive nutrient icon (e.g. fibre) may also be displayed to provide you with additional information to help you choose the right product for you.

The HSR system was developed by Australian, state and territory governments, industry, public health and consumer groups.

Ingredients List

All ingredients in a food product must be listed on the label in order (Food Labels - What do they mean? Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, from largest to smallest by weight.

You can use this to spot foods that might be high in saturated fat, added salt or added sugars because these ingredients are listed in the top three. Also look out for other words on the ingredients list that flag ingredients high in saturated fat, added salt or added sugars.

Using the Ingredients List to help you lose weight

To lose weight we need to eat and drink fewer kilojoules than our bodies use. The kilojoules can come from one source or a combination of fat, sugars, protein, carbohydrate or alcohol. It’s the overall kilojoule total that matters for weight loss, rather than the source of the kilojoules. However, if fat or sugars are high on the list of ingredients, it is a good reason to check how high the kilojoules are in the amount you would eat.

Nutrition content claims

Sometimes labels will include nutrition content claims like ‘low fat’, ‘reduced salt’ or ‘high fibre’. These claims can only be used if the food meets certain criteria. For example, with a ‘good source of calcium’ claim, the food must contain more than a set amount of calcium. While nutrition content claims can generally guide you to healthier choices, it is important to check the claim by looking at the Nutrition Information Panel. For example, products carrying ‘low fat’ claims may not be low in total energy (kilojoules) when compared with similar products.

Health claims

Different to nutrition content claims, health claims link a food, or a nutrient or substance in a food, to a health effect. There are two types of health claims:

  • General level health claims refer to a nutrient or substance in a food and its effect on a health function. For example: calcium is good for bones and teeth.
  • High level health claims refer to a nutrient or substance in a food and its relationship to a serious disease or to a biomarker of a serious disease. For example: Diets high in calcium may reduce the risk of osteoporosis in people 65 years and over. An example of a biomarker health claim is: Phytosterols may reduce blood cholesterol.

A new standard to regulate nutrition content and health claims was gazetted in January 2013 (Standard 1.2.7 – Nutrition, Health and Related Claims). There is a three year transition period which means that by 18 January 2016, foods carrying nutrition content claims, health claims and endorsements will need to comply with the new Standard. Click here for an overview of Standard 1.2.7 from the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand website.

Standard 1.2.7 ensures consumers and health professionals can have confidence that health claims are well supported by scientific evidence, and it helps consumers make informed food choices. Health claims are only permitted on foods that meet certain nutrition criterion, thereby preventing health claims on food higher in saturated fat, sugar or salt.

Percentage Daily Intake

Some labels also list nutrients in a serve of the product as a percentage of daily nutrient intake. This can be used to compare the nutrients in one serve of the food with what an ‘average adult’ needs. Like nutrition claims, this information can give you a rough guide, but your individual needs, particularly kilojoules, could be quite different.

The tables below offer a simpler way to work out how a food fits with your nutrient and energy requirements for a day. It can also be used to plan meals and snacks to lose weight if extra serves and discretionary foods are avoided.

  • Children and Adolescents
  • Adults