How to read a nutritional label
The Nutrition Label!
From all my years working with children and having three children of my own, I know how hard it can be to find a healthy snack.
The nutrition label can be challenging to read! But I can help you read it?
Follow me on this journey where we can decipher it together!
Nutrition Information
There are five bars (totaling five serves), in this pack, each weighing 35 grams.
Average Quantity per serving relates to ‘a serve’
Average Quantity per 100 grams relates to enable you to compare an equal weight of this product to other products similar to this.
The numbers in the per 100 gram column represent percentages. For example 36.5 grams of Carbohydrate means that this bar contains 36.5% of carbohydrate
This muesli bar provides 3 milligrams of sodium. Packaged foods low in salt are those less than 120 mg of sodium in 100 grams of food.
Some sugars are naturally forming in fruit and vegetables and should not be avoided, however excluding products with large numbers of added sugars is the key. If sugar content is greater than 15g per 100 grams check the ingredient list for added sugars.
Sugar:
Alternative names for sugars: Dextrose, fructose, glucose, golden syrup, honey, maple syrup, sucrose, maltose, lactose, brown sugar, castor sugar, raw sugar, agave, rice malt syrup.
This muesli bar contains 3.1 grams of dietary fibre, this equates to the same amount of fibre you would find in 2 serves of wholegrain bread.
Dietary Fibre
This muesli bar contains 712 kilojoules (or divide by 4.2 to obtain calories) /170 calories. It also provides 5.2 grams of protein, 10 grams of fat (of which 1.2 grams is saturated) and 12.8 grams of carbohydrate (of which 8 grams are sugars, (divide by 4 grams to get one teaspoon of sugar). When subtracting 8.0 grams sugars from 12.8 grams carbohydrate the remaining carbohydrates are (4.8 grams) coming from nuts, seeds, flour, rice bran and psyllium husks. The sugars listed here are in cranberries, sugar, glucose, honey, rice syrup and apple.
This muesli bar is 'gluten free' and contains sulphite free fruit. Sulphites are used as a preservative, however they have been linked to food intolerance symptoms such as headaches.
Nuts (peanuts, almonds and cashews are the major ingredient being listed first, followed by seeds,dried fruit and sugars. natural vanilla flavour is artificial flavouring that has been added to this product.
Nuts
Peanuts, almonds and cashews.
Serving sizes:
The serving size suggested on the back of the packet is a recommended serving size from the manufacturer. There is no official law or list that guides the manufacturer on how much or how big a serve should be.
For instance, If you have ever bought a packet of chips in a (single, individual mini packs or a large bag for sharing) you will notice the single serve size (which is the whole packet) can actually be more substantial than in a shared packet of chips.
So for best advice regarding how much, turn to the dietary guidelines to help you decide what is best for you. First, start by looking at the recommendations listed below for your age and sex then follow the link to the serving size pages to give you individual servings per food group.
Want more information? Why not send me an email asking a question or suggest to me what other nutritional topics you want more information on. I am only too happy to help.
https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/The%20Guidelines/n55f_children_brochure.pdf
https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/The%20Guidelines/n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_131014_1.pdf
What is a serve?
To find out what is in a serve have a look at the following web page provided by The Australian Government.
https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/how-much-do-we-need-each-day/serve-sizes
References:
National Health and Medical Research Council (2013). Eat for health. Australian dietary guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_131014.pdf
National Health and Medical Research Council (2013). Eat for health. How to understand food labels. Retrieved from https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/eating-well/how-understand-food-labels