Reading labels

Serving size: Determined by the food manufacturer; useful in estimating how much of a nutrient you are eating and to help calculate your daily total fat intake from packaged foods.

Quantity per 100g/ml: Helps you compare similar products, and the percentage of a nutrient present.

Energy/kilojoules: The total kilojoules released when food is used by the body.

Protein: Found in meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk and cheese, as well as lentils, dried peas, beans and nuts.

Fat: Fat listed in the nutrition information panel is expressed in two numbers – ‘‘total fat’’ and ‘‘saturated fat’’. If there’s a claim about cholesterol, saturated fats, trans fatty acids, polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats or fatty acids (eg, a food is high in omega 3s), then the nutrition information panel must also include the amount of these.

Carbohydrates: Found in bread, cereals, rice, pasta, milk, vegetables and fruit, and expressed in terms of starches and sugars.

Sugars: A type of carbohydrate included that is naturally occurring, such as in fruit, as well as added sugar. Products with ‘‘no added sugar’’ may contain high levels of natural sugars.

Fibre: Panels do not need to include fibre unless a claim is made on the label about a food’s high fibre content.

Sodium: Also known as salt. High levels have been linked to high blood pressure and stroke.

Source: Food Standards Australia and New Zealand cereals they would choose, comparing results of products that didn’t feature health star ratings, and products with differing health star ratings. The results were unexpected. Participants were more likely to choose products with a visible health star rating, regardless of what the rating actually was.

Dr Winsome Parnell, a pioneer in the field of human nutrition in New Zealand, sat on the government advisory committee for the standardisation of NIPs in the 1970s, and is on the committee that advises the Food Safety Minister on health star ratings.

She says there are multiple factors involved in whether a person reads a label or not.

‘‘If you’re diabetic and you have to control the carbohydrates in your diet, you will read labels and take notice of them,’’ she says.

‘‘For someone who is on a very tight budget, they will go by the price ... not what’s on the label.’’

A consumer’s age, level of education, and their receptiveness to the message also influence their choices. Taste is also a major driver.

Hamblin posits an interesting conundrum: the health star system, measuring a product’s healthiness, is at risk of being conflated with its palatability: ‘‘You can have this five-star, zero fat carob-coated biscuit, or chocolate Wheatens with two stars. Which ones are people going to buy?’’

Parnell says she’s not a typical consumer. Does she look at the back of the pack? For new and similar products, ‘‘absolutely’’, she says.

Parnell compares the energy content of products first, then the fat and the sugar, and considers whether it’s a product she’s going to buy regularly.

For products you eat most days, ‘‘you should take a lot of trouble to read the labels, and make a good pick’’, she says. ‘‘If you’re buying a treat food for a party, it’s not so important.’’

Where does this leave us?

Hamblin says it ‘‘certainly’’ benefits society to get people to eat healthier. ‘‘The issue is, what’s the best way to do that?’’

Hamblin says the ‘‘keyhole’’ nutrition label used in Nordic countries – where a product has to meet a certain threshold of healthiness to bear the mark – may be more effective in persuading consumers to choose the healthier option, as other cues such as ‘‘fair trade’’ or ‘‘organic’’ do.

Parnell says choice came with responsibility.

‘‘Some individuals are more likely to abrogate individual responsibility, and say the environment is the problem. Others takes control of it themselves.’’