Nutrition labels can often be confusing and difficult to understand. In Australia, labels on most packaged foods must meet strict requirements, which include nutritional information, ingredients and food additive listings. Beyond that is the marketing spin, so here’s your guide to the key things to look for on your food labels.
You need to be savvy to make sense of what you read on the nutrition labels of food. Don’t be fooled by clever marketing tactics, and beware of products making nutritional claims such as “fat free” or “no added sugar”; it doesn’t necessarily mean a product is healthy. You need to make sure the claims are backed up by the information in the nutrition panel. Here are some of the common things to look out for to make you feel more confident in what you’re putting in your basket next time you shop.
1 Portion control
Do you struggle with portion control issues? Read the serving size before you dive in. This should give you a guide of how much you should be consuming and help you avoid overeating. Unfortunately, there are no standards for serving sizes, which are determined by the manufacturer so can vary significantly from one product to the next. Many brands intentionally label smaller sizes so nutrition labels make the product seem better. Have you ever seen “just 50 calories” advertised on a bag of chips then realised halfway into eating them there are 10 servings in a packet and you’ve already eaten five? Suddenly the fat content has quickly escalated from 8g to 40g. Ouch! If you need to, just measure out the serving size quickly before you eat.
2 Good fats vs bad fats
This story is from the Issue #23 2019 edition of Eat Well.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue #23 2019 edition of Eat Well.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
ARE YOU TO FU enough?
Love it or hate it, everyone has an opinion about tofu. Tofu is a very popular plant-based protein for vegans and vegetarians, but now this humble bean curd is starting to shine for meat lovers too as an alternative source of protein.
Sweet TRAYBAKES
Whether you want to feed a group of people or make a batch of treats for the week, traybaking is a no-fuss way to cook up something sweet and easy that will please everyone. Your family and friends will love you when you offer them some of our: cinnamon scrolls; fruity chocolate; espresso brownies; lemon & coconut slice; or ginger cake with brown butter frosting.
ROLL UP
When you roll food, whether in Lebanese bread, a thin pancake or whatever you choose, you can create a parcel of nutrition that is perfectly suited to your own tastes and needs. Here are some roll-up recipes that will suit every occasion including: mango, snow pea, & sprout rice paper rolls; oat crepes with coconut yoghurt & mixed berries; or beef meatball & tzatziki flatbreads.
RICE BOWL Lunches
If you are working from home, or even enjoying your weekend, and lunchtime rolls around but you have no plans for lunch, then a rice bowl is an ideal saviour.
PLANT-BASED PIES
Pies are a piece of gastronomic brilliance: a filling with a case and lid you can eat is food genius. The first pies date back to Egyptian times and there is a recipe for chicken pie that was carved into stone more than 4000 years ago. For millennia, however, the pie casing was mostly used to cook the filling, but for around 500 years or more we have been eating the pie crust too.
20 FOOD CRAVING HACKS
Decipher the deeper causes of your cravings and discover tricks to curtail them.
Eggplant (Solanum melongena L)
Eggplant is a wonderful option for vegans and vegetarians, extremely nutritious and highly versatile in the kitchen.
5 PANTRY SAVIOURS
Whether you're cooking a simple breakfast or something more exotic, here are five pantry food staples you should have on hand to cook plenty of delicious meals in the comfort of your own home.
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
Cucumbers are delicious fresh but they also offer plenty more options in the kitchen.
Our Chefs
Meet the chefs who bring this issue's recipes to you: Lisa Guy, Georgia Harding, Lee Holmes, Sammy Jones, Raquel Neofit, Naomi Sherman and Ames Starr.
