Food labelling

There is a wide range of information on the labels of packaged food that can make it easier for you to make healthier choices about what you and your family eat. A nutrition information panel must be listed on nearly all packaged foods. These panels will list how much energy (kilojoules), protein, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar and sodium (salt) is in the product.

Food labels also let you know about the key ingredients in a food, for example how much strawberry is in a strawberry yoghurt or meat is in a meat pie. There is also good news for allergy sufferers as all major allergens have to be declared, however small the amount.

As well as this information, food labels contain a wide range of other material. Perhaps the best known is the ‘use by’ date but there is also information on ingredients – did you know that the ingredients are listed in order of weight from the greatest to the smallest that is in the food.? There are also storage requirements to tell you if, for example, the food must be refrigerated or kept frozen for reasons of health or safety. Finally, there is information on food additives, which are represented by numbers as some of the additive names can be long and may even include letters from the Greek alphabet for example   the antioxidant listed as either tert-Butylhydroquinone or 319

Research shows that most shoppers regularly read food labels for a number of reasons. It may be that a family member needs to avoid certain products because they have an allergy or intolerance to a food or food additive, or they may have to reduce fat intake. Some may want to avoid genetically modified food for personal reasons.

Shoppers, when surveyed, consistently ask for more information about exactly what food labels mean. The publication "Choosing the Right Stuff - the official shoppers’ guide to food additives and labels, kilojoules and fat content", has been written by Food Standards Australia New Zealand to answer those questions. The first section looks at how to make informed choices about healthier eating from reading nutrition information and claims such as ‘low fat’ and ‘reduced salt’. The next section   consumer information: what is in the ingredients list, percentage labelling of the key ingredient and the country of origin of that food. Then there is a section on how we ensure that food is safe; this is about food recalls, storage requirements and allergens. The book looks at how we ensure new foods and food additives are safe to eat: these are genetically modified foods, novel foods (which are non-traditional foods that have features or characteristics which raise possible safety concerns ), irradiated foods and food additives. All these types of foods are subject to a safety assessment before being allowed on the shelves. A full list of food additives by name and number is at the end of the book.

Finally, to help you make healthier choices about food that is unlabelled, there is a list of the kilojoules and fat in commonly eaten foods and drinks together with a list of useful contacts for more information.

Poster: Food labels - What do they mean poster?  [ pdf ]

Interactive Label Poster

Choosing the right stuff  - a consumer guide to understanding food labels 

Reading food labels for a healthy diet

Unlabelled foods 

Finally, don’t forget that some of the healthiest foods may be unlabelled – fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, lentils, beans, fresh meat and fish are all important foods that contribute to good health.

Not all foods have to be labelled. Here are a few exceptions:

Unpackaged foods such as fresh meat, fruit, vegetables and nuts or food sold in a restaurant.

• Food made and packaged on the premises from where it is sold, for example at a bakers.
• Food packaged in the presence of the customer, for example at a delicatessen or a take-away food shop.
• Packaged whole or cut fresh fruit and vegetables (but not bean sprouts) where you can see the fruit or vegetables through the package.
• Food delivered packaged at the customer’s request, for example home delivered pizza.
• Food sold at a fund raising event for charitable purposes like a school fete.
• Individual serve packages that are sold in a large package such as a 12 pack of corn chips, although the information has to be on the outer package.

Also, nutrition information panels do not have to be on very small packages that are smaller than 100 sq cm (about the size of a large chewing gum package) or on foods with minimal nutrition like herbs, spices, tea or coffee.