FoodWorks – Food Groups, Information Panels, Food Labels - FoodWorks for Life - Nutrition & the Food Groups

• Nutrients, Vitamins & Minerals
• Australian Dietary Guidelines
• Nutrition and Information Panels

Nutrition and Information Panels

Sometimes it is difficult to understand the information on a food label and what it means to you. There are two main ways of finding out about the nutritional value of foods you eat - through the nutrition information panels or the nutrition claims.

Nutrition Information

The nutritional information panel is a table of nutrient content information found on all foods. The information and layout of the nutrition information panel is specified by government food regulations so will look similar on every product you pick up. Nutrition information is given in two ways: per serving (serving size as determined by the manufacturer which is stated) and per 100g (allows you to easily make comparisons with other products).

You should take an interest in the nutritional information panel on food labels and as it becomes more familiar, you will find it will be a good guide to help you make a healthy choice.

Take a look at the nutrition information panel below as an example of what you might see on a muesli bar:

Guidelines for low fat products:

Try to use the guide below as a rule for fat content of low fat products:

• Milk - Less than 2% fat
• Yoghurt - Less than 2% fat
• Ice-cream - Less than 2.5% fat
• Breakfast Cereal - Less than 8% fat
• Biscuits - Less than 5% fat
• Pre- prepared meals - Less than 10% fat
• Firm Cheese - Less than 15% fat

Guidelines for choosing high fibre food products:

Foods considered a source of fibre contain more than 1.5g of fibre per serve.

High fibre foods contain more than 3g of fibre per serve. Very high fibre foods contain more than 6 g of fibre per serve.

You should aim for a total of 30g of fibre a day.

Guidelines for low salt products:

The number of ‘low salt', ‘no added salt' or ‘salt reduced' products is heavily increasing. Many of these will be suitable to use when following a low salt diet however you should note the following:

• If the panel shows that it has less than 120mg of sodium per 100g of food, it is considered to be low in salt.
• Products containing 120 - 400mg per 100g of food are moderate in sodium and are acceptable in moderation.

Guidelines for no added and low sugar products:

Foods that have less than 10g per 100g of sugar is considered low in sugar and a healthy choice. There are some food products that are an exception to this rule, having high sugar content because they contain some sugars that come naturally from fruit. Therefore, always look at the food ingredients list to see where the sugar is coming from! Fruit or added sugar?

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