Food Labelling

Food labelling usually includes nutrition information, portion information, allergens, health claims and symbols. The nutrition information can be tricky to navigate. Below is a short guide with key points to remember.

• The ingredients are listed in descending order with the first ingredient being the ingredient present in the largest quantity.
• The nutritional information will contain the quantities of protein, fats, carbohydrates, sugars and any other relevant vitamin or mineral in that food. This will include quantity per portion and per 100g/100ml of the product. It can be useful to compare products using the per 100g/100ml information.
• Reference Intakes (RIs) will also be included on the label. Reference Intakes are guidelines on the approximate amounts of particular nutrients and energy required for a healthy diet. On food labelling it will show what percentage of the RI that food contains.
• EUFIC (The European Food Information Council) have a (opens in a new window)new interactive food labelling resource that explains food labelling clearly
• For more information check out the (opens in a new window)EUFIC guide on food labelling and the (opens in a new window)Safefood guide.

Portions

Most of us eat a larger portion size than what is recommended. Eating the correct portion size for your body is important to maintain a healthy weight.

Below are some useful guides on portion size.

(opens in a new window)https://www.safefood.net/healthy-weight/portion-sizes

(opens in a new window)https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/food-pyramids-plates-and-guides-building-a-balanced-diet