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What you should know about food labels . anadians have bought the argument that you are what you eat. More of us are concerned about nutrition than about sev- eral other key health issues. Unfortunately. we're not so sure about what makes up good nutrition, and whatfood packaging labels tell us on the subject. It’s little wonderl For example. consider the statement: “This product is a good source of food energy.” Sounds like it should be particularly health- ful, doesn’t it? In fact. all it means is the item is high in calories. That may be fine, because we all need food energy. But eat too much of these producs and you’ll probably just gain unnecessary weight. The fact is that people want to read the label on food, but they don’t get as much out of it as they could,“ says Suzanne Hendricks. President of the National Institute of Nutri- tion (NIN). “They lack the tools to make use of the information that’s there." We now know considerably more about consumer attitudes towards labelling be- cause of a ground-breaking study undertaken .y the NIN, with coâ€"operation from govern- ment ministries, several companies, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. It found that fewer thanhalf of consumers surveyed could provide accurate definiuons for manufacturâ€" ers' claims. such as “low in fat.” For instance, fully seven out of ten con- sumers who were surveyed believed that a ‘noâ€"cholesterol” claim meant that the food contained less fat. This. of course, isn't the case. In the study, more than 800 shop- it pers from five cities across Canada were surveyed [in the fall of 1991] to determine the importance they placedon nutrition. their knowledge [, 7 and use of nutrition labelling, and what changes they would * like to see. Further discus- sions were held [last] spring with 150 shoppers. The data collected in- dicated clearly that nu- trition is important to nsumer's. But they‘re ‘3: fully satisfied with existing food label formats. Complexity and lack of clarity are their biggest complaints. What shoppers would like. according to the NIN study. is clear. standardized presenta- tion with bigger and brighter print. In Canada, nutrition labelling guidelines have existed for some years. And although it’s not mandatory, many producers incorpo- rate nutrition labelling into their packaging as a service to consumers. The format is as follows: E] the heading “Nutrition Infomraticn;" U the serving size, which may be in grams, millilitres, or a“household" measure such as a cup or package; and, [j the core list of ingredients, comprising energy value (per sewing) in calories and ldlojoules. and the amount of protein. fat, and carbohydrates in grams per serving. Other nutrients may be listed (at the manu- facturer’s option) in this order: El under “fat”: fatty acid groups (that is, polyunsaturates, monounsaturates, and saturates) and cholesterol; C] under “carbohydrates”: sugars, starch and dietary fibre; El following the core list: sodium and potasâ€" sium; and, El following the sodium and potassium: vi- tamins and minerals, expressed as a percentage of the Recommended Daily Intake. Ingredients are always listed in descending order of quantity, starting with the largest. To help you sort out what the claims on the label really mean, [review] the accom- panying chart. T 0 ensure you're buying healthy foods, look for products that are lower in fat and salt and higher in dietary fibre. Much of the information con- sumers need to buy wisely and eat well is already avail- able. It's simply a matter of learning how to use it. Reprinted in par: from the Heard-[ea]!!! Newrletter, Vol. 2, No. 3 , Summer 1992, published a by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Here’s how to read your food labels I Calorieâ€"hoe - Contains no more than 1 calorie per 100 g 0 Calorie-reduced - Contains 50% lower calories than the regular version - Low-calorie â€" Contains 15 calories or less per sewing - Low In sugar » No more than 2 g of sugar per sewing - No sugar added/unsweetened - May contain naturally present sugar, but has no sugar added 0 Sugar-free - No more than 0.25 g of sugar per 100 9; no more than t calorie/100 g o Source oi energy - Contains at least 100 calories per sewing o Cholesterol-tree - No more than 3 mg oi cholesterol per 100 g, and must meet the standard tor "low in saturated fatty acids' (see below) - Fat-free - No more than 0.1 g oi lat/100 g a Law In cholesterol - No more than 20 mg of cholesterol per serving. and must meet the standard for 'low In saturated iatty ac- ids” (see below) . Low In tat - no more than 3 g oi tat per serving - Law In saturated fatty acid. - No more than 2 g oi saturated iatty acids per serv- lng; no more that 15% of total energy derived from saturated fatty acids - "Loan" ground haai- Maximum 17% lat content a “Medium” ground beni- Maximum 23% fat content 0 "Regular" ground bani - Maximum 30% fat content 0 source of dietary ilbro - At least 2 g of fiv hrs per sewing - High source of dietary fibre - At least 4 g of fibre per sewing 0 Very high source oi dietary fibre - At least 6 g oi fibre per serving 0 Low sodium â€" Contains 50% less sodium than the regular product; no more titan 40 mg oi sodium per 100 9; no salt added 0 No added sail/unsalted - No salt added, and none of the Ingredients contain a large quantity of salt - Salt-truaISDdlum-irco ~ Contains no more than 5 mg oisodlum per 100 g Home 5 Country. Spring 1993 5