Food Knowing whats important on food labels can be confusing. Heres what to look for so you can make smart food choices istock.com / kali9 FOOD LABELS EXPLAINED Words: Georgina Wintersgill D o you read food labels? Many of us dont. Dr Sarah Schenker, a registered dietitian, nutritionist, and author of the British Dietetic Associations food fact sheet on arthritis, says: When I go shopping, I dont see many people scrutinising the backs of packets. Part of thats because labels have become increasingly complicated. Theres so much information on the back of the pack, the font is very small, and you might not understand the ingredients list. But checking food labels is well worth it, as it can help you make informed decisions and a better diet can have a positive impact on your health. What to watch for Checking food labels is well worth it, as it can help you make informed decisions Pre-packed food has to feature certain information on the back, including the number of calories and the amount of fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, protein and salt per 100g/100ml portion. Checking food labels will help you choose foods that have fewer calories and are lower in fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. Making healthier choices can help you lose excess pounds, which can make a big difference to arthritis symptoms. A 2018 American study, which followed a group of overweight and obese people with knee osteoarthritis over 18 months, found that weight loss reduced pain and significantly improved function and mobility. Traffic light coding Fortunately, theres no need to study the small print on the back of every packet to work out whats healthy, as most of the big supermarkets feature more consumerfriendly information on the front. The traffic light system shows whether a product is high (red), medium (amber) or low (green) in fat, saturated fat, salt, and sugar. It can be helpful as it means you can easily choose between different products, Dr Schenker says. You might look at two or three products that you think are going to be quite similar in terms of ingredients, but when you check the front-of-pack information, one might be significantly higher in fat, salt or sugar. The more green on the front of the pack, the healthier the product, while foods with more red on the front should be eaten less often and in smaller amounts. Choosing ready meals Ready meals arent always the healthiest option, but they can be a real help when your symptoms are bad. And always checking the labels means you can choose the healthiest one available. Dr Schenker advises paying particular attention to the labels advice on portion size, as calories and other measurements are shown per portion. Sometimes, labels can be quite deceptive, she says. Things like pizzas will often say in really small print, Serves two, whereas most people think it just serves one! If its meant for two, either share it or save the other half for the next day, and fill up on vegetables. Reference intakes Many big supermarkets feature reference intakes on the front of pre-packed food. These give you a rough idea of how many calories you should have each day, and the recommended daily limits on saturated fat, salt and sugar. The front-of-pack labels show the percentage of the reference intake that a portion contains. So if the label says 20 per cent under calories, a portion contains 20 per cent of the amount of calories you should have in one day. Understanding ingredients Ingredients lists can be a source of confusion rather than clarity often surprisingly long, and full of things youve never heard of. The important thing to remember is that ingredients are listed in order of weight heaviest first. So if sugar is near the top, or the first few ingredients are high-fat items such as butter, cream or oil, its probably not the healthiest choice. Jargon buster You see these common terms on food labels all the time but do you really know what they mean? Light or lite: Foods described this way must be at least 30 per cent lower in at least one relevant category (such as calories or fat) than standard products. But as products vary so much, you may find that some foods described as light have as many calories or as much fat as similar products that arent described that way. Low fat: Foods described this way must contain no more than 3g of fat per 100g. However, Dr Schenker warns: Quite often the calories are similar to other products, because the manufacturer has used some kind of sugar or carbohydrate to replace the fat. Use by and best before: Eating food after the use by date isnt safe, as that term is only used for foods that go off quickly, such as meat products. Less perishable foods, such as dried pasta, have a best before date instead. After this date, foods may not be at their best. Things like pizzas will often say in really small print, Serves two, whereas most people think it just serves one