How many times has the promise of 95% fat free, sugar free, 30% less fat or gluten free, helped you decide what you buy from the supermarket shelf because you thought it was healthy? Do you know what the products in your shopping trolley really contain, or even the food that you send your children off to school with? Well let’s find out...

There are three key things to look for when you buy packaged food; the list of ingredients, nutritional information and any fine print about what the product advertises.

List of Ingredients

The ingredients list on the packaging is in order of quantity. The first ingredient is always the most dominant one. What you are hoping for is the least amount of ingredients as possible as this means the product is as close to it’s natural state as possible. Also, be mindful of artificial colours and flavourings.

Here’s a comparison of two breakfast cereals ingredient list:

Kellogg’s Nutri Grain ingredients: Cereals (44%) (Wheat flour, oatmeal, maize flour), sugar, wheat gluten, molasses, salt, barley malt extract, minerals (calcium carbonate, iron), mineral salt (sodium bicarbonate), natural colour, vitamins. As you can see from the list of ingredients, only 44% of the breakfast cereal is actually...well cereal! However, what the cereal is made up of is mainly forms of flour, so it is highly processed and will have therefore lost most of its nutritional value. The other 56% is made up of the other 9 ingredients mainly sugar, molasses and barley malt extract (two other forms of sugar). Also notice that salt is listed twice! (salt and mineral salt)

Uncle Tobys Vita Brits has only two ingredients: Whole Wheat (99%) and salt. Both products have very similar carbohydrate content per 100g, however, the Vita Brits has 45% less sugar than the Nutri Grain.

Nutritional Information

When reading the nutritional panel, always check the column that lists ‘per 100g’. This is the best way to compare products and gauge their nutritional value as you are looking at the exact same quantities. Now, keep in mind the product that you are looking at.

For example: If you are comparing, a breakfast cereal, then think about the fact that it is a carbohydrate. Therefore, it should be high in carbohydrates, low in sugar and salt as well as high in fibre.

If you are comparing cans of tuna, it is a protein, so it should be high in protein, low in salt and low in saturated fat. (Notice that we say saturated fat and not fat in general, because this kind of fish has omega three essential fatty acids and is required to help maintain a healthy heart and has recently been proven to improve weight loss).

If you are ever stuck, feel free to ask one of our fully qualified trainers.

The fine print

The fine print can be very important when choosing a product. Some products will advertise 40% less sugar, contains 30% fruit, or 90% less fat. The key with these is to actually read the packaging and find the little asterix (*) or star that explains what it means. When it says that it is less than something, it is usually comparing it self to something that is going to make it look good. Also, if it is 30% less fat, it can be that the product is actually 30% smaller that the previous product they sold.

Confused? Here’s an example: Uncle Tobys Fruit Roll-Ups offer 40% less sugar. When reading the fine print it is 40% less sugar than it’s original recipe. This is good because it’s an improved version of the previous product. However, you still need to look further at the information given to see if it’s the best. Compare it to other similar products. Read the nutritional information See what the sugar content is like as it is still very high in sugar. Ask yourself if is it the best thing you can buy for a treat?

Now, we understand that everyone leads a busy lifestyle and it can be very confusing, but if you spend a little bit of time comparing your products once (and now that you know what to look out for), then your next trips will be easier as you will get to know the brands that are the best.

So, the next time that you are in the supermarket, make sure that you are not only looking at the nutritional labels. Compare the ingredient list and look out for that hidden fine print. You might be surprised at what you find in your favourite packaged foods and how misleading the marketing is.