It is easy to become confused by the claims made by food manufacturers regarding their products. Below is a list to help you to overcome the confusion and to demystify some of the food label claims.

Low Fat
This food must contain 3g of fat per 100g, or less. However, you should read the label carefully because it may be high in sugar instead.

Fat Free
This food must contain no more than 0.15g of fat per 100g of food.

Lite or Light
This descriptive nutrition label on foods doesn't have much meaning at all. Lite could mean that the food is 'lite' in colour or some other ingredient. It does not necessarily mean that the food is lite in fat. For example, 'lite' potato chips have the SAME AMOUNT OF FAT as other chips but they have just been cut more thinly.

No Added Sugar
This food indeed has no 'added' sugar but it could still be high in sugar that has been added in another form; so make sure that you check the label.

Diet or Low-joule
Foods with this label usually have artificial sweeteners added to them instead of sugar. This makes them lower in calorie content; for example diet soft drinks.

No Added Salt
This food has no 'added' salt but that does not mean that it is not high in salt. It could easily be high in salt content despite having no further salt added. So make sure to check the label for the total salt content.
Salt Reduced
Food containing this label has 25% less salt than a similar product. Having a lower salt content than a similar brand is a good thing, but the food may still be high in salt. So check the label.
Low Salt or Low Sodium
This food must have less than 120mg sodium per 100g. It is therefore a good choice.

High Fibre
This food must have more than 3g of fibre per 100g. It is therefore a good choice.

No cholesterol or cholesterol free
This label can be misleading. Low cholesterol does not mean low fat. Many people make the mistake of assuming that cholesterol is the same as fat. It is not. There are many foods that contain no cholesterol but are still high in fat content. A good example is vegetable oil, which has no cholesterol but is 100% fat.

90% fat-free
This label does not mean that this food has 90% less fat than the standard product. It simply means that this food has a fat content of 10%.

Toasted
This usually means that fat has been added to this food during cooking or preparation. For example, toasted muesli will always be higher in fat than un-toasted muesli.

Oven Baked
This is another of those labels that does not have to mean anything at all. Sometimes the product is lower in fat than the standard product that may not specify oven baked, but this does not have to be the case. Reading the nutrition information panel will help you determine the fat content.

Reduced Fat
This does mean that the food has less fat than the standard product but it does not necessarily mean that this is a low fat food. For example, tasty cheese that is fat reduced is better than its full fat counterpart, but it is still quite high in fat.

All Natural
This is another label that can be easily misinterpreted. Most people believe that if a food is 'all natural' it must by definition be good for you. Sadly, this is not necessarily the case. For example, fat and oil are all natural but not necessarily good for our health because they are so high in fat content.
Heart Foundation Tick
Foods that receive the tick are healthy food choices amongst other foods of a similar type. They meet Heart Foundation guidelines for total fat, saturated fat, salt, sugar and, where appropriate, fibre. However that does not necessarily make them healthy foods. You should also be aware that a product is inferior because it does not have the 'tick'. There are many companies that do not make use of the tick, for financial or other reasons, even though their products may qualify.

How to Easily Interpret Food Label Ingredients

All ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight, including added water. As a result:

• The ingredient listed first is present in the largest amount
• The ingredient listed last is present in the least amount

If an ingredient makes up less than five per cent of the food, it does not have to be listed.

Where there are very small amounts of multi-component ingredients (less than five per cent), it is permitted to list 'composite' ingredients only. For example, the label may say 'chocolate' rather than cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar, in a choc chip ice cream.

This does not apply to any additive or allergen – these must be listed no matter how small the amount.

If it's called a meat pie, it must contain meat.

The 'characterising ingredients' are usually mentioned in the name of the product or highlighted on the label. A characterising ingredient is the main ingredient you would expect to find in the food. For example, the characterising ingredient in a 'meat pie' is meat and the food label must state the percentage of meat in the pie.

Food additives

All food additives must have a specific use and they must be assessed and approved by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). They must be used in the lowest possible quantity that will achieve their purpose. Food additives are given in the ingredient list according to their class, which is followed by a chemical name or number. For example:

• Colour (tartrazine)
• Colour (102)
• Preservative (200)
• Emulsifier (lecithin)

The same food additive numbering system is used throughout the world. Vitamins and minerals are also listed under food additives.

For more information and the full list of additives see the FSANZ website at www.foodstandards.gov.au/foodmatters/foodadditives.cfm

Further Reading

The Heart Foundation: Reading Food Labels - www.heartfoundation.org.au
Dietitians Association of Australia: Food Labeling Page - www.daa.asn.au
Food Standards Australia New Zealand – www.foodstandards.gov.au
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is an independent statutory agency established by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991. The website has an Interactive Label Poster to explain the NIP and product packaging, as well as poster version and a recorded explanation from Lydia Buchtmann, Communications Manager from Food Standards Australia and New Zealand.
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/_srcfiles/Food%20Labels%20Posterfinal%20.pdf