In today’s world where processed food is so common, the skill of “reading labels” is comparable to “recognizing vegetables and grains” in the farming era. If you don’t read labels, it’s easy to eat the wrong thing and pay the “IQ tax”.
This is why the latest version of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents has added the “Reading Labels” guideline as the theme of this year’s Nutrition Week.
▲2022 National Nutrition Week theme poster. Photo: Chinese Nutrition Society
Looking at the label, it is really a skill that needs to be popularized to the public. It is recommended to learn this skill from the doll.
The label of packaged food, usually on the back of the package, or on the side. Look at the label and look at two main parts: the ingredient list and the nutrition facts list.
Ingredient list
Many times, it is difficult to judge the true composition of a food just by the name and the appearance. For example:
There is no milk in milk tea, but creamer, which is actually a cup of “oil tea”; the filling of pineapple cake may be made of winter melon; “whole wheat bread” may just be sprinkled with bran Crust, plain bread colored with cocoa powder…
If you can read the ingredient list, you won’t be fooled by the appearance.
About the ingredient list, one of the most important knowledge points is that the amount of ingredients used decreases. That is to say: The more ingredients, the higher the position; the less, the more backward.
Learn this “secret” and then look at the ingredient list, you will know whether the “whole wheat bread” you bought is genuine, and whether the “healthy snacks” are really healthy.
For example, there are two kinds of black sesame paste, which one do you think is more worth buying? Since it is aimed at sesame, of course, it is the one with more sesame added.
For example, you want to buy some healthy snacks, and friends recommend nuts to you, and they all say that the snacks are healthy.
But if you find “sugar” on the ingredient list and it’s high on the list, or if there’s oil or salt, then this nut isn’t actually a healthy choice.
Many foods you think should contain no sugar, no salt, and no oil, but they are actually added secretly. For example: “non-fried” potato chips and dried vegetables, although they have not been fried at high temperature, they will be sprayed with cooking oil during the baking process; bread and vermicelli have salt in them; no sugar, but honey and fruit juice in the raw materials , jam, are considered added sugar.
So it is recommended that you look at the ingredient list.
In addition, many manufacturers also voluntarily flag allergen information, which can be life-threatening information for some people.
Nutrition Labels
The Nutrition Label is a concise table with 3 vertical columns: Item, Amount/Serving, and NRV%.
Q: Why is there no nutritional content in beer?
Answer: The national standard (GB28050-2011) allows certain types of food not to be labeled with nutrition labels.
For example, fresh food, drinking water, alcohol, ready-made products, etc.
Column 1: Project
There are two categories of items listed on nutrition labels: Mandatory and Optional.
“General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods” (GB 28050-2011) stipulates that the items that must be marked on the nutrition label are:
1.1+4 items, which are calories and 4 core nutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates and sodium.
2. Trans fats: When the raw materials contain hydrogenated oils and fats (such as non-dairy creamers, shortenings, edible oils and fats), trans fats (acidic ).
In addition to the above items, some products will also voluntarily mark dietary fiber, calcium and other items, which belong to the content of “optional labeling”.
Q: Does the absence of an item mean that it does not contain this nutrient?
Answer: No label = No label is required by regulations, and it does not contain a certain nutrient. #Beer has no nutrition label, is it 0 calories? No! #
For example, calcium, a mineral that occurs naturally in nature, is found in almost all foods.
Another example is trans fatty acids. The raw materials do not contain hydrogenated oil, but there are many butter, cream, or fried foods. These products may not be labeled with trans fats, but there are actually more trans fats. Because beef and milk naturally contain trans fats, high-temperature frying will also produce trans fats.
The new General Rules for Prepackaged Food Labeling (GB 28050718-2018) is being solicited for comments. Xiaolizi read the draft and found that 4 new mandatory items have been added:Saturated fat, sugar, calcium and vitamin A.
Q: Is sugar a carbohydrate?
A: Sugar is part of carbohydrates, and “sugar” on nutrition labels includes only monosaccharides and disaccharides in carbohydrates.
Column 2: Serving/Amount
This column indicates the content of each item per 100g or 100ml or per serving of food.
Q: “0 sugar” = no sugar at all?
A: Not necessarily. The national standard stipulates that as long as the content is lower than a certain value, it can be marked as “0”.
For example, per 100g or 100ml of food—
It should be noted that the “sugar” in “0 sugar” and “sugar-free food” generally does not include lactose. Lactose is a naturally occurring sugar in milk. When the total content of sugars other than lactose is < 0.5g, it can be claimed as "sugar free".
In addition to “free” and “low”, the national standard also has requirements for “high” and “rich” nutrition claims. For example
About the “content” part, you need to know 3 conversions-
Conversion of kilojoules and kilocalories
At present, the national standard stipulates that the general unit of heat is kilojoules (kJ), while in daily life, people use more kilocalories, or kilocalories (kcal). The conversion relationship between the two is: 1kcal≈4.184kJ
Sodium and Salt Conversion
Usually when we say “salt control”, it is actually sodium control. Salt, which is the sodium in sodium chloride, can raise blood pressure. The conversion relationship between the two is: 400mg sodium = 1g salt
Conversion of components
Actual serving size and unit serving size indicated on the label.
For example, this biscuit is 30g per serving. If you eat 1 serving, just look at the number above; if you eat 10 pieces (that is, 5 servings), or put If you eat a whole pack, you need to multiply by 5, or multiply by 13 (400/30≈13 servings).
1 biscuit: 140kcal, 6g fat, 2g protein, 0.4g salt
5 biscuits: 700kcal, 30g fat, 10g protein, 2g salt
This string of numbers may be meaningless to a person without any nutrition knowledge, what they mean and how to use them; this requires the use of column 3 –NRV%.
Third column: NRV%
NRV, Nutrients reference value, Nutrient reference value. Simply put, NRV of an ingredient = how much of this nutrient you need to eat each day; NRV% = nutrient per serving, as a percentage of your daily intake.
With NRV%, you can easily assess the nutritional value of food. Generally speaking:
NRV%>20%, a nutrient can be considered “high”
NRV%<5%, a nutrient can be considered "low"
When choosing packaged food, choose multiple:
Dietary fiber, calcium, potassium, vitamin D and other high NVR%
Low Sodium, Sugar, Saturated Fat NVR%
For example, the NRV% of sodium is 10% for 1 serving of biscuits, which is not particularly high for the total amount of sodium needed for a day; but not low either , reminding you to pay attention to the amount of control.
If you eat 10 pieces in one go, the NRV% of sodium at this time is 50%, which has taken up 50% of your daily quota, which is too much. You can choose to eat fewer pieces, or choose a brand with less salt.
It should be noted that the nutrition label refers to the nutrient requirements when the daily calorie intake is 8400kj (2000kcal), and it does not distinguish between gender, age and physical activity. Yes, it depends on your situation.
For example, the NRV of protein is 60g, which is roughly the amount that a 60kg, lightly laboring adult should consume every day.
▲ NRV of other nutrients, please check GB28050-20