Food Labels

Food Labels

What does this sweetcorn label tell us?

It gives us basic information on the nutritional value of sweetcorn.

Per 100g drained (the can is actually 198g or 165 drained)

Things of interest - they point out that 80g counts as a portion for your daily 5 fruit and veg - so thats half a can is a portion!

They tell you the ingredients are sweetcorn, water, sugar, salt

Sweetcorn is quite sweet - it contains lots of sugars naturally which give it a great taste. This means its got more calories in than other veggies. However you should include it in your diet as it tastes great and can be added to loads of things.

Some food labels are very confusing and give calories per 100g but only give the food volume. This means you either have to weigh out a portion or guess - we recommend weighing out a few times until you get the idea of a portion size and the amount of calories in it.

Pickles - I love pickles of all sorts. 34kcal per 100g drained - which means per whole jar you're probably only talking about 130-140 calories.

Peanut butter is incredibly high in calories - per 100g is 592kcal

A whole jar contains just over 2000 calories. So you'd have to think about how much you use per sandwich, homany sandwiches you get out of it and divide it up. If a jar lasts you 50 sarnies then thats 40 calories per sandwich from the peanut buitter.

Don't binge on things like this as its very easy to scoff a whole jar. If you can't resist then avoid having it in the cupboard.

This is a can of my favourite mediterraen tomato and bacon soup.

Note: they do show the calories per serving - 200g is half a can - do you eat half a can of soup?

It is interesting looking at food labels to get an idea of how calorific foods are, and how much salt, fibre and fat they contain.

Being able to work out the calores per portion is important and sometimes takes some serious maths!

The pictures on labels mustn't be misleadin. If a yoghurt has strawberrys on its label it should have strawberrys in it.

Watch out for misleading or vague terms like "low fat" or "low salt" - there are no legal definitions for low, reduced, high (Except when referring to butter, margarine and other spreadable fats)

Low sugar jam may not be that different to normal jam - although it might cost a lot more!
Things like sugar free museli can often have virtually the same level of calories as museli with sugar so you have to make decisions when you're shopping based on the information given. Don't be afraid to spend time reading and comparing labels in supermarkets and shops.

Special diet products are often dearer than similar normal products - compare the calories and fat levels in each and make your own mind up whether its better to spend the extra.

Lots more information on food labelling