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Understanding Food Labelling
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By Amelia Freer
Published 2022
If there is one aspect of healthy food shopping that I think confuses people more than anything else, it is understanding what food labels and nutrition information really mean. So, if this is something that leaves you feeling overwhelmed, then please know you are not alone. There’s quite a lot to it, and often not much explanation given. Hopefully, I can address some of that confusion here.
The basics
- In the UK, nutrition labelling is compulsory for pre-packaged foods but is not always necessary in full for whole foods (such as fruits and vegetables) or those sold loose. I find this reassuring and therefore try to buy mostly things that don’t need a label in the first place.
- Certain pieces of information must be included on food packaging by law, including the name of the product, the weight or volume, the ingredients listed in order of volume or weight – so it will always start with the largest ingredient and end with the smallest, and allergy information, alongside preparation or storage instructions, details of the manufacturer, date marks etc. (although there are some exceptions).
- There is also mandatory back or side-of-pack nutrition labelling, giving values of energy (in kilojoules and kcal), total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and salt per 100g or 100ml. Many also include values of these nutrients per portion.
- Front-of-pack nutrition labelling, including the traffic light system, is currently voluntary.