How to read nutrition labels

Key points

• Most nutrition labels provide nutrient information, an ingredients list and common allergens
• Pay attention to the serving sizes listed on the label
• Look for Health Star Rating or check the “per 100g” column to compare products
• Become familiar with daily recommendations and when they are useful
• Be aware of any redundant claims

Learning how to read nutrition labels is a great way to become more informed about the foods you’re eating. Whether you’re comparing products or just curious about the nutritional value of your snack, the nutrition label has a lot of great information. 

What’s included in a nutrition label?

The nutrition label on a food or beverage gives you:

• The nutrition information panel (NIP) with nutrient information
• Ingredients list (listed from highest to lowest by weight), including additives
• Warnings such as allergens
• Instructions for storage and consuming
• It may also contain Health Star Rating and claims like “gluten free” “vegan” “good source of protein” or “contains vitamin C”
• Other information like best before date and manufacturer

A good way to compare the nutritional value of different foods is to pay attention to the column that tells you about the content per 100 grams.

Certain food products such as vinegar, tea bags, herbs and spices aren’t required to display nutrition information because they have low nutritional value in terms of energy.

What should I look out for when reading the nutrition label?

1. Pay attention to serving size: before you can really understand the nutritional value of your snack, it’s a good idea to understand how big the serving size is. Often, a small packet of chips or chocolate bar will claim that there are two servings in the packet. So, if you (like, let’s face it, most of us) are planning to eat the whole thing, it’s important to be mindful of this.
   
2. Easily compare products with the “Per 100g” column on the NIP:
   The per 100g column helps you compare two products when looking for specific nutrients. For example, you may be comparing sugar in muesli bar A and muesli bar B but they have different serving sizes. When you look at the “Per 100g” column, muesli bar A contains 10g of sugar per 100g and muesli bar B contains 20g per 100g. You can now make an informed choice.
   
3. Health Star Ratings: These give you a quick way to choose between similar products. It takes into account nutrition values such as energy, salt, saturated fat, total sugar, fibre, protein as well as the fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content. The rating starts at half a star and goes up to 5 stars. The more stars, the healthier the product choice, when compared to products in the same category. Keep in mind that Health Star Rating is designed to help with comparing two similar products, for example breakfast cereals. It’s not helpful when comparing different products like breakfast cereal vs yoghurt.
   
4. Ingredients List: Take a quick glance of the ingredients list and check the first three ingredients. This is listed in order of highest ingredient to lowest. Common allergens are usually listed near the ingredients.

Are there any redundant claims to be aware of?

Have you ever seen a packet of sweets or lollies that says ‘fat free’? To the untrained eye, that may seem like a health win. Unfortunately, this is a bit of a redundant claim. Yes, it’s factually correct but isn’t very meaningful when the main ingredient is and reason for enjoying it is sugar. It’s important to be mindful of these claims when reading nutrition labels.

What’s a daily recommendation? 

You may see the phrase ‘x percent of your daily recommended intake’ on your snack’s nutrition label. What does that mean? Basically, it’s there to tell you how much of your daily allowance this snack is taking up of that particular nutrient. 

So, if your edamame snack has 25% of your daily recommended protein intake, you’re a quarter of the way to eating the right amount of protein for the day. It’s important to be aware, though, these amounts are based on a so-called ‘average’ person. So use them as a guide only.

Healthier choices with Food Tracker

Check out Food Tracker by Healthylife. It takes the guesswork out of your groceries by analysing and comparing your shop against the Australian Dietary Guidelines.

Related:

• How to encourage your child to eat vegetables
• Is it possible to overtrain?
• Food Tracker by Healthylife

Reviewed by the healthylife Advisory Board September 2021. Updated September 2023.