Episode 16 - Food labels: all the hacks you need

SHOW NOTES

Food labels

• Labels must also have a list of ingredients. Ingredients must be listed by weight in descending order (i.e. the first ingredient contributes the largest amount to the product and the last ingredient contributes the least).
• Regarding additives, products must show the number or the name of any additives they contain (e.g. monosodium glutamate may appear as MSG or 621). If you know you have sensitivities to any additives, it’s important you know their corresponding numbers so you can keep an eye out for them,
• If the product contains any major allergens such as nuts (peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts, etc.), shellfish, fish, eggs, sesame seeds, soybeans, wheat, gluten, they must be declared on the label.
• Sugar No added sugar: No added sucrose, glucose, honey, malt, fruit juice, etc.
• Un-sweetened: No added intense (artificial) sweeteners, sucrose, glucose, honey, malt, fruit juice etc.    Diet: At least 40% less kJ than regular product
• Comparative claims eg ‘reduced’, ‘increased’, ‘light’ or ‘lite’ must refer to the reference food 

Look out for:

• Sugar aliases    - dietitian colleague of ours has put together a list of 48 sugar aliases! Some derived from cane sugar, some from fruit, corn, beets, alternative sweeteners like agave and rice malt syrup, 
• Don’t be fooled by fancy marketing, sugars can have many different names, and we will put this list in the show notes for you all to have a look at. Just because a food contains rice malt syrup or coconut sugar, this is still sugar.

(https://foodwatch.com.au/blog/carbs-sugars-and-fibres/item/48-shades-of-hidden-sugars.html)

• Foods containing more than 10mg sulphite preservatives/kg must be labelled as containing sulphite as this is the level that may trigger 

Health claims 

• These are claims about something in a food and how it can affect your health. E.g. ‘Fibre helps keep you regular ’;.  ‘This food is low in sodium (salt). A diet low in sodium may help reduce blood pressure’. Only pre-approved ‘food-health relationships’ for high level health claims are allowed to be made. All health claims must be supported by scientific evidence. Can’t  refer to the prevention, diagnosis, cure or alleviation of a disease, disorder or condition 

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017C00711

https://foodregulation.gov.au/internet/fr/publishing.nsf/Content/31BDC68CEC4A1964CA25801B00166C1F/$File/Getting-Your-Claims-Right-2018.pdf

https://daa.asn.au/smart-eating-for-you/smart-eating-fast-facts/food-labels/what-are-health-claims-and-what-do-they-mean/

Health Star Rating 

• The Health Star Rating is a front-of-pack labelling system that rates the overall nutritional profile of packaged food and assigns it a rating from ½ a star to 5 stars.
• Aims to provide a quick, easy, standard way to compare similar packaged foods.
• Developed by Aus Gov with collaboration from industry and public 

Drawbacks

• Opt in, voluntary, all, some or none of their products
• Compares products of the same category eg cereals with cereals 
• Food manufacturers and retailers are responsible for the correct and accurate use of the Health Star Rating system
• Nutrients in isolation do not represent the value of a food 
• Doesn't differentiate between whole foods and processed / packaged foods
• Putting a health star rating on a processed food undermines message of good nutrition 
• Added sugars are not differentiated from natural sugars - eg a muesli bar with oats and dried fruit vs bar with tonnes of sugar 
• Products containing additional dietary fibre can get bonus points which can be used to offset negative points they get for saturated fat or sugar,
• This is how Nutrigrain - 4 stars  despite the fact it's still literally 27 per cent sugar. Add inulin = bonus points. Very easy to manipulate. 
• Milo (4.5 stars, only IF consumed with a specific amt of skim milk, otherwise 1.5 stars if eaten alone!) literally receives a higher health star rating if eaten with ice-cream
• Certain brands of clean, unsweetened Greek yoghurts sit at 1.5 stars. Some lolly bags sit at 2.5.
• Salmon sits at 3 stars, beer battered chips sit at 4.

Shelf, fridge and freezer life

https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/cold-food-storage-charts

• Serve size vs Per 100g

We look for (depending on the food of course) 

1. Total kJ
2. Total protein per 100g
3. Sugar per 100g - check ingredients list to explore if natural vs added
4. Saturated / trans fats
5. Sodium
6. Fibre / Vit / Min 

https://livelighter.com.au/Assets/resource-vic/wallet-and-postcard/traffic-lights-wallet-card.pdf

Food Switch App 

Source of product and ingredients

Source : https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/groceries/country-of-origin

Source: https://www.australianmade.com.au/media/477079/amcl_code_of_practice_2017.pdf

Remember, some of the healthiest foods may not have labels or health claims (e.g. fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, lentils, beans, fresh meat and fish).