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Nutrition Labelling
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Back to Healthy Eating
Know the
Facts
The Nutrition Facts table
gives you information about calories and nutrients for the serving size
shown. The calories tell you how much energy you get from one
serving shown on the Nutrition Facts table. Thirteen nutrients
must be listed: total fat, saturated and trans fat, cholesterol, sodium,
carbohydrate, fibre, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and
iron. You will get the amount of calories and nutrients that are listed
if you eat the serving size shown at the top of the Nutrition Facts
table.
The Percent Daily Value (DV), located in
the right column of the Nutrition Facts table, puts nutrients on a scale
from 0% to 100%. This scale tells you if there is a little or a lot of
a nutrient in one serving of a food. Choose foods with a low
Percent DV of total fat, saturated and trans fat, and sodium. For
example, a food with a Percent DV of 5% or less for fat is a low fat
choice. Choose foods with a high Percent DV of fibre, vitamin A,
vitamin C, calcium and iron. For example, a food with a Percent DV of
15% or more for fibre is a high fibre choice. You do not have to add up
your Percent DV during the day. Instead, use the Percent DV to compare
different foods.
Check the
Ingredients
The ingredient list tells you what is in a
food. The ingredients are listed in order from greatest weight to
least. Therefore the first ingredient in the list is found in the
greatest amount. For example, if you are choosing a fruit juice and
sugar is listed as the first ingredient, this means there is more sugar
than fruit juice in that drink and it is not the healthiest choice.
Some words to watch for in the ingredient list are: hydrogenated,
shortening, sodium, fructose and sucrose. These ingredients indicate
the food contains trans fat, added fat, salt or sugar. The ingredient
list is also helpful to identify whether a product contains allergenic
ingredients, such as peanuts.
Watch for
Nutrition Claims
Nutrition claims highlight features of certain foods that may make those
foods a healthy choice. There are two types of nutrition claims:
nutrient content claims and health claims. Nutrient content claims
tell you about one nutrient such as sodium, fat or fibre. Some examples
of these claims are “Sodium free”, “Low in saturated fat” and “Source of
fibre”. Health claims tell you how the foods you eat can affect
your health. An example of a health claim is “A healthy diet low in
saturated and trans fats may reduce the risk of heart disease. This
product is free of saturated and trans fats”. Nutrition claims can be
helpful to identify healthy foods, but not all healthy products have a
nutrition claim.
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