sugars naturally present in foods such as dairy products and fruit . But here ’ s where it gets a bit tricky . In some foods such as flavoured yoghurt and fruit based products , the natural sugars present in the food are not separated from the added sugars , so it is very difficult to know how much sugar has been added in . In a flavoured yoghurt for example , the sugar content in the NIP may look relatively high , but around half of this sugar is lactose , the natural sugar present in milk - so bear this in mind when checking the sugar content .
Fat – the good and the bad
Fats are separated into total and saturated . The fat that is not saturated fat , is called unsaturated fat . These are the healthy ones found in foods like olive oil , oily fish , nuts , seeds and avocado . Saturated fats are the type that we want to limit as they contribute to cardiovascular disease . They ’ re found in animal products , coconut products and many highly processed snack foods .
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Servings per package : 8 Serving size : 33g
Per serving Per 100g Energy 550kj 1680kj Protein 2.4g 7.2g
Fat Total 3.6g 11.0g Saturated 1.3g 4.1g
Carbohydrate Total 21.5g 55.1g Sugars 10.41g 30.7g
Dietary Fibre 1.7g 5.7g
Sodium 20mg 70mg
This tells you how many serves there are in the whole packet .
This indicates the size of one serving of this food .
This tells you the nutrients in 100g of this food and is the best way to compare similar products .
This indicates the nutrients in a single serve of this food . In this case , it ’ s 33g .
Fibre Fibre is an important nutrient that we need to be having plenty of in our diets . Fibre may or may not be listed on the NIP , unlike the other nutrients its not legally required unless the food makes a claim about its fibre content ( e . g . ‘ high in fibre ’). If fibre is listed , go for the product with the highest fibre .
STEP 4 . Look at the ‘ per serve ’ column
When it comes to nutrition and healthy eating , size definitely matters . This column will tell you exactly how much of each nutrient you are going to eat . But , beware - the ‘ serve ’ used in the ‘ per serve ’ column is determined by the manufacturer , so it ’ s not necessarily realistic and may be completely different to what you would classify as ‘ a serve ’.
Often a very small serve size will be given so that the product appears to have fewer calories and less fat , sugar , etc . For example , breakfast cereals will
WHAT ’ S LISTED IN THE NUTRITION INFORMATION PANEL :
Energy : may be listed as kilojoules or calories ( 1 calorie = 4.2 kilojoules ).
Protein : indicates the number of grams of protein in the food . Most foods contain protein , although in many packaged foods it may only be a small amount .
Carbohydrates : total = all types of carbohydrate ( i . e . sugar , starch and fibre ).
Sugars = just the sugar component of the carbohydrate .
Fat : total = both saturated and unsaturated fats .
Saturated = the type of fats that contribute to cardiovascular disease ( i . e . the ones we want to avoid ). Note : both types of fats have the same energy ( calorie ) content .
Sodium : tells us how much salt is in the product .
Depending on the type of food , fibre , vitamins and minerals such as calcium may also be included .
WINTER 2016 YMCA HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINE 15