One way you can up your shopping game the next time you go for groceries is to pay attention to food labels. Reading food labels on packaged goods can help us make more informed choices about what we buy and consume. If this is new to you, you may be wondering where to even start.
Here are 6 things you should pay attention to help you be a smarter shopper:
1. Start with the front of the pack
Energy icon
Know the amount of calorie (kcal) in each serving of the product and its contribution to you and your family’s daily energy requirement.
Healthier Choice Logo
Use this as a guide to choose healthier options within a similar food category.
Nutrient claims
This makes it easier for you to select healthier choices based on your needs. For example, high fibre, less sugar, high calcium, etc.
2. Ingredient List
- Ingredient lists help us understand what is in the product. This allows you to look out for potential allergens or key ingredients you’re looking to consume.
- Ingredients are listed in their order of weight, from the most to the least contained in the product.
- Ingredient lists also provide useful information such as sources of hidden sugar and salt.
3. Nutrition Information Table
- Nutrition Information Table will list out calorie and nutrients contained in the product.
- Use the “per 100g/ml” column to make a fair comparison on the calorie & nutrient content between 2 or more products.
- Refer to the “per serving” column to help you to understand the amount of nutrients you are getting from each serving.
- From here, you can better select a product that caters to your energy & nutrient requirements.
4. Expiry date & preparation instruction
- Checking the expiry date can help you avoid wastage by purchasing products you know you can finish consuming before it goes bad.
- Differences between best before & use by dates:
• Use by / Expiry date: Tells you the last day a product is safe to be consumed
• Best before date: Tells you that the food is no longer in its best condition beyond the date. This means it may lose its freshness, taste, aroma or nutrients by this date. - Preparation instruction provides guidance on the recommended product preparation method to enjoy the best experience the product offers in terms of taste and nutrition.
5. Halal logo
This indicates the product has been certified Halal by JAKIM or its recognised Islamic bodies from around the world. There are more than 80 logos of Halal certification bodies recognised by JAKIM globally. For more information, visit: https://www.halal.gov.my/
6. Nestlé Nutritional Compass
- Most Nestlé products contain an additional set of information we call the Nestlé Nutritional Compass.
- Through this tool, we aspire to inspire you towards healthy living through tips and reminders, such as how frequently a product should be consumed for best results, highlighting an issue impacting consumption of the product etc.
- This compass features 4 components:
• Good Question: Covers topics on best practices for product intake
• Good To Know: Presents information on the benefits of product
• Good to Remember: Offers additional tips on healthy living
• Contact Us: Shares our Customer Service Hotline for further queries & info
Here’s an example:
Be a smart shopper and start reading food labels today!
