Nutrition information: how to read food labels correctly

In recent years, with the rise of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and other diseases directly linked to diet, concern among authorities and the population about what we eat has increased. . Global and local campaigns, as well as the media, are increasingly focusing on promoting a healthy and balanced diet, hopefully based on natural and not ultra-processed products.

The ideal, in nutritional terms, would be to buy everything fresh at a fair or market, but modern life does not allow this: the most common thing is that a good part of the foods we buy are packaged and closed, which makes their transport and storage easier. . The challenge is understanding what we actually buy and eat, because many products sold as healthy or nutritious are actually not.

“It is important for the consumer to read the nutritional information,” explains Javier Maruri, an academic in nutrition and dietetics at the Andrés Bello Concepción University campus. “First, being able to make informed, informed decisions about the foods you choose to purchase and consume. » But just as many Chileans have poor reading comprehension, many do not understand food labeling.

What is the difference between the recommended daily dose and the daily reference value? Does the order in which the ingredients appear matter? Why is saturated fat not the same as polyunsaturated fat?

“Reading the nutritional information carefully allows us to know what the product contains, in what proportion, and if there are ingredients that can affect our health, particularly in the event of allergies or food intolerances,” analyzes Karin Gschwender , nutritionist of the platform. . OK to shop dedicated to the analysis of the nutritional labeling of more than 40,000 products from Chile, Peru and Argentina.

To fully understand food labeling and be able to distinguish between a truly nutritious product and one that is not, it is advisable to follow the following steps.

In the global panorama, Chile has been a pioneering country in terms of labeling food products by establishing warning seals, a strategy that has been replicated in countries such as Mexico, Peru and Israel.

“ If we wanted to talk about a checklist of what to analyze, the first step would be to see if it has any warning seals, also called ‘ High in’, which allow you to quickly determine whether a product is high in calories, total sugars, saturated fat or sodium,” explains Maruri. Gschwender obviously adds that “the fewer stamps you have, the better.”

As explained in the the Web According to the Ministry of Health, the third stage of this labeling law (20,606, entered into force in 2019) so that solid foods can be free of seals, they must be within the following limits:

• Calories : less than 275 kcal per 100 g
• Sodium : less than 400 mg per 100 g
• Total sugars : less than 10g per 100g
• Saturated fats : less than 4 g per 100 g.

For liquid foods, such as juices, flavored drinks, milks and others, the limit is even stricter if they wish to promote themselves as stamp-free:

• Calories : less than 70 kcal per 100 ml
• Sodium : less than 100 mg per 100 ml
• Sugars : less than 5g per 100ml
• Saturated fats : less than 3g per 100ml

If the product doesn’t have a seal or only has one – for example, salted nuts will always be “high sodium” – the next step is to read the ingredient list. This is as important a step as the previous one, since the absence of seals does not always guarantee that the food is healthy or nutritious.

This is also particularly important for those with allergies or dietary restrictions. “Reading the ingredients allows us to know what specifically the product contains and whether any of them may affect our health,” says Gschwender.

In the list, “the first ingredients are those that the product contains the most, while additives – such as colorings, emulsifiers and thickeners, among others – are generally located at the end,” specifies the nutritionist. By regulation, the ingredients must be written in descending order, the first being the one with the highest concentration in the food and the last the one with the least.

“If on a package we see that the first ingredient is sugar, as is the case in candies, cookies or milk flavors, this means that this is what is largely found in that product” , observes Gschwender. On the contrary, if we see that the first ingredients are natural or known – such as tomatoes, tomato paste and onion, in an Italian sauce – then it is a processed but nutritious product.

“You also need to look at how many ingredients it contains,” I suggested in a previous article. Ximena Martinez , nutritionist at the UC Christus Health Network Obesity Treatment Center. If it contains more ingredients than the fingers on our hands, “and with names that I don’t use or know, then it’s an ultra-processed food.” And if it’s ultra-processed, then it’s unhealthy.

“It is always advisable to avoid products that contain unhealthy ingredients, such as artificial colors, artificial sweeteners or trans fats, or that contain a long list of little-known ingredients,” adds Maruri.

Now let’s move on to the Nutrition Facts table, which always starts with the suggested serving size and the number of servings that come with the product. “Knowing the portion is useful to compare with the amount we plan to consume and thus have greater clarity on the contributions,” explains Maruri. A 400g package of pasta, for example, is usually designed for five servings, but in Chile it is difficult to serve more than four people. This means that we will review the suggested nutritional intakes.

This is why Gschwender calls for knowing how to differentiate the quantities per 100 g – which are located in the left column – and the quantities of a portion – right column. “When we talk about the latter, it does not correspond to what we usually consume, but to the amount that the producer declares in portions and what this amount provides.” His suggestion, if we want to compare two products nutritionally, is to do so by looking at the intakes per 100 grams, which provide more interpretable information.

In the same area of ​​the labeling we will see the list of nutrients and their quantity in the product. In Chile, this system provides information on calories, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, sugars and sodium contained in foods. “This way we can know how much it will benefit us in each of these sections,” says Gschwender, and prefer those that match our needs. A recommendation from the nutritionist is to prefer products that have a greater intake of proteins and polyunsaturated fats – which are the most beneficial for health – and to avoid those that contain more saturated or trans fats, as well as a lot of sodium and sugar.

1. Total calories: “It is important to see if the calories we consume adapt to our needs,” explains Maruri. It’s also not about using a calculator, “but it’s about getting used to adjusting portions.”
2. Fats: “We should not consider fats only from the point of view of quantity,” adds the UNAB academic, “but also their quality.” His suggestion, as we said, is to “choose products with less saturated, trans and cholesterol fats, and prefer those with more mono- and polyunsaturated fats.”
3. Fiber: This is another relevant element that we need to look at. Dietary fiber is very important for healthy digestion and helps maintain a feeling of satiety,” explains Maruri.
4. Carbohydrates: Here you need to understand the difference between added sugars and total sugars, explains Gschewender. When we talk about added sugar, “this corresponds to all the types of sugar that the producer has added to the product, not counting that which he brings by himself”. Total sugar, on the other hand, refers to “all the sugar in the product, including natural sugars, such as fructose and lactose, added to added sugar.”
5. Sodium: Here you will be able to see the exact amount of sodium or salt present in the product. Remember that excessive sodium consumption can contribute to high blood pressure problems and cardiovascular disease.

Another key detail related to the nutritional table, but not always understood, concerns the vitamin and mineral intake which appear as a percentage, if the product contains them. “For example, if a certain food indicates that its vitamin C content is 25%, this means that with one serving of the product you are ingesting 25% of the vitamin C that is recommended to consume in a day,” explains Maruri. This is called the recommended daily intake (RDD) established by Minsal.

But here you have to be careful, because a product can be enriched with vitamins or minerals but at the same time be rich in sugars, sodium or calories. If we consume a lot of it, we will hardly benefit from the benefits of the vitamins, but rather we will suffer the consequences of its effects. Therefore, to get enough nutrients daily, it is best to get them through fruits, vegetables and natural foods.

Just as there are warning labels, there are also other signs indicating healthy characteristics of products, which sometimes go a little unnoticed by consumers. “These measures are always important, especially for people who have an illness or dietary restriction that prevents them from consuming any food,” says Maruri. Labels such as “gluten-free”, “sugar-free”, “good source of fiber” or “lactose-free” can be “very important in the choice”.

Other nutritional labels that can be found in packages include “kosher” — suitable for the legal diet —, “vegan” — without animal ingredients —, “vegetarian” — without meat —, “halal” — suitable for the Muslim diet — , among others. “This tells us whether the product meets certain specific characteristics,” explains Gschewender.

A good ally for obtaining nutritional information and comparing it between different products is the application OK to shop , which analyzes and verifies food packaging, examining ingredients, traces, seals, certificates, nutritional table and all its contents. It is particularly useful for people with dietary restrictions, such as celiacs, lactose intolerants, people allergic to nuts or cow’s milk proteins, among others. Just download the app — for free on App store , Google game And App gallery —, scan the product barcode and that’s it.