Do not be fooled by misleading words and claims on labels

Busy lifestyles and convenience are pushing more and more people to choose packaged foods instead of buying fresh ingredients and cooking your own meals. This makes it vitally important to understand and correctly interpret the labels on food packs to make appropriate food choices. Otherwise, you can easily be lured into buying processed and packaged foods which make tall nutritional claims such as ‘fat-free’, ‘enriched with vitamins’ etc. but are not really healthy. Here are some tips to help you make better choices.

Do not get fooled by claims on the front of pack

A good way is to completely ignore claims made on the front of the pack as these are placed specifically to lure you into buying products by making health claims. Some of these labels are highly misleading. For example, a breakfast cereal claiming to be ‘whole grain’ is in fact loaded with sugar.

Beware that Sugar can have different names on labels

Sugar goes by various names many of which you may not recognize. To avoid accidentally consuming too much sugar, look for the following names commonly denoting sugar in the ingredient list:

• Sugar Types: Brown Sugar, Coconut Sugar, Date Sugar, Invert Sugar, Jaggery, Muscovado Sugar, Organic Raw Sugar, etc.
• Types of syrups: Gold syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey, agave syrup, malt syrup, maple syrup, oat syrup, rice bran syrup and rice syrup.
• Other Added Sugars: Molasses, lactose, corn sweetener, dextran, malt powder, ethyl maltol, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, galactose, glucose, disaccharides, maltodextrin and maltose.
• Sugar alcohols: Sugar alcohols are low calorie sugar substitutes. Examples are sorbitol, xylitol and mannitol. Foods that contain sugar alcohols are not necessarily low in carbohydrate or calories.

Just because the product claims to be ‘sugar-free’, ‘reduced sugar’, ‘no added sugar’ or ‘without added sugar’ does not mean that it is calorie or carbohydrate-free. Always check the label for total carbohydrate and calories. The Nutrition Facts labels on foods are the key to making wise and healthy food choices. Ignore advertising hype, tall claims on packages and always take the time to study label before buying.

Common Misleading Claims

These are some of the most common claims made to convince you that the product is healthy.

• Light/lite: These claims are made to show that product has less calories or fat. But check carefully to see if anything such as sugar has been added instead.
• Multigrain: This sounds very healthy but only means that a product contains more than one type of grain. Check the amount of different grains in ingredient list and if they are refined or whole grains (preferable).
• Natural: It simply indicates that one or more ingredients is from a natural source (such as apples, rice etc.).
• Organic: Organic does not necessarily mean that a product is healthy. For example, organic sugar is still sugar. Organic oil/fat is still fat.
• No added sugar: Some products may be naturally high in sugar. Check nutrition facts for sugar content. Also, unhealthy sugar substitutes may have been added.
• Low-calorie: Compare with regular version of the product to know what ingredients have been removed/replaced/added. Read and compare labels carefully when buying.
• Low-fat: This usually means that the fat has been replaced by adding more sugar. Read the ingredients list carefully.
• Low-carb: Low-carb foods are positioned as healthy. But they are still processed foods.
• Made with whole grains: The claim can be misleading if whole grains are not in the first three ingredients as their amount is negligible.
• Gluten-free: This is another recent trend. Gluten-free does not mean healthy. Many gluten-free foods are highly processed and loaded with unhealthy fats and sugar.
• Fruit-flavoured: The product may not contain any fruit, only chemicals designed to taste like fruit. These are also called ‘nature identical’ flavours on the label.

Remember

The ingredients listed on the pack of the food product in order from the largest to smallest amount, by weight. This means a food is made up of the heaviest amount of the first ingredient and the least amount of the last ingredient.

• A good tip is to see the first three ingredients as they make up the largest part of what you are eating.
• If these include refined grains, any type of sugar, or hydrogenated oils, avoid buying the product as it may be unhealthy.
• If the ingredients list is very long, then the product is highly processed.
• Check for presence of food additives such as artificial/permitted flavouring and colours.