The supermarket has thousands of different products to choose from, so how do we know which are the healthiest to buy?
Buying unpackaged food is best, but we know pre-packaged foods make life easier. Follow these label reading tips to shop smarter.
The Health Star Rating on packaged foods gives the food a star rating from ½ a star to 5 stars and is a quick and easy way to compare similar foods. This means you compare like foods e.g. yoghurt with yoghurt or breakfast cereal with breakfast cereal – don’t compare yoghurt with breakfast cereal. When comparing like foods – choose the product that has more stars.
Some foods don’t have a Health Star Rating so looking at the ingredients list and Nutrition Information Panel can be helpful.
The ingredients in a product are listed in order from the largest amount to the smallest amount. This means the product contains more of the first ingredient.
Choose products with the smallest number of ingredients on the list, as they are usually less processed. Look for wholefood ingredients like oats, wholemeal flour, nuts, seeds and legumes like chickpeas.
Avoid products with ingredients that will contribute saturated fat, salt or added sugars. Check out our table below for names that can be used on the label to describe fat, sugar or salt.
The NIP displays information on the food’s energy (kilojoules), protein, total fat, saturated fat, total carbohydrate, sugars, sodium (salt), and sometimes other nutrients such as dietary fibre or calcium. The amount in the food is provided per 100g or 100mL and per serve.
Use the per 100g or 100mL column to compare similar products as serve sizes differ between brands.
Look for products with the lowest numbers for saturated fat, sugar and sodium and the biggest numbers for fibre and calcium.
Many products have claims on their labels such as ‘low fat’, ‘reduced salt’ or ‘good source of fibre’. Health claims are only allowed on foods that meet set criteria, so they can be helpful when shopping for products that are lower or higher in a specific nutrient.
The Food Switch app is a handy tool when shopping. This handy app allows you to scan the bar code on a product and it will suggest a healthier product to ‘switch’ to.
For more ideas on healthy shopping, check out our blog 10 things you should know before you go shopping.
For more information on label reading see the Eat for Health website.
© Cancer Council NSW 2024 Head Office Address: 153 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011. Cancer Council NSW is registered with the Australian Taxation Office as an Income Tax Exempt Charity: Charitable Fundraising Authority No. 18521.
Some images on this site have been supplied by Cancer Council Western Australia's Crunch & Sip website
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