It happened to us all. We’ve seen the food we want to buy, food that’s supposed to be 100% natural, and fat-free, and it is baked, not fried because that’s dangerous for our health, and it has no gluten or dairy or it’s even vegan. And we want them. Really bad. What a nice world to live in would be the one where we won’t have to search details about what we’re eating on Google. You want to be able to make the right decision without thinking too much. And we can help you with this one. Also, if you want food that’s already cooked, Dineamic health food delivery can give you the best meals right at your door.
In this article, we’re looking in detail at the food labels. It will help you make the right choice and you’ll be able to understand better how your food has been made.
The name of the product
This one is usually placed on the front of the package, it’s written big.
Nutritional Panel
This is written in a standard format and show the average amount of nutrients that has each serves and each 100g/ml.
These nutrients are formed from energy, protein, fat, sugar and sodium.
Use the 100g/ml column if you want to compare it with other products which are similar to this one.
Ingredients
These are usually placed according to its weight – from the largest to the smallest – and they show the substances used in creating the product.
Be careful at the ingredients which are listed in the name of the product. A certain amount of quantity should be included in the product.
Allergens
These ingredients can trigger allergic reactions, which at some point can be very severe. Some of the ailments are peanuts, milk eggs, fish, soy and wheat.
You also need to be careful at gluten, as, if found in cereal, can trigger Coeliac diseases and Sulphite if there’s more than 10 mg/kg of the product.
Advisory statements
We’ve all heard of “may contain” – it shows the possible cross contagion.
‘Before’ dates vs ‘use-by’ dates
You have to look carefully at the label for this one, as it is placed differently from product to product.
Every product that’s known to have a 2-year shelf life should have a ‘before’ date or a ‘use-by’. If you see the ‘before’ date, it means that it’s ideally to eat it before that date, but if you don’t, it’s still okay to eat it after. But if you see a ‘use-by’ date, you must eat it before that date, because after it will no longer be good.
Weight
This is usually found in the nutritional table.
The weight is usually written with certainty from the official data from the National Measurement Institute.
It’s important to remember that, when it comes to canned products, the weight which is written there includes all the products that you find in it, even the liquids. To find out the exact weight, check the % from the main ingredient table.