Chapter 2. Designing a Healthy Diet
Interpreting Food Labels and Food Packaging
The Labels on Your Food
Understanding the significance of dietary guidelines and how to use DRIs in planning your nutrient intakes can make you better equipped to select the right foods when visiting the supermarket.
In Canada, mandatory labelling came into effect in 2005. As a result, all packaged foods sold in Canada must have nutrition labels that accurately reflect the contents of the food products. There are several mandated nutrients and some optional ones that manufacturers or packagers include.
Almost all pre-packaged foods are required to have nutrition labelling. This reflects scientific information and makes it easier for consumers to make informed food choices. The label must include four components:
- Ingredient List: The ingredients must be listed by their common names, in descending order by weight (e.g., the first ingredient has the highest weight). Ingredient lists are mandatory on all food labels.
- Nutrition Facts Table: The facts table has a consistent format and provides information on serving size, calories, % daily value, and a core list of 13 ingredients: fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, fibre, sugars, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron. Food manufacturers may include other nutrients but they must follow a template. More information on the Nutrition Facts Table in the section below.
- Nutrient Content Claims: These are statements based on current scientific evidence that can be made when the product meets a certain criteria. Nutrient content claims provide information about the amount of one specific nutrient in a food, such as fiber or fat. Examples of such claims include: “source of omega-3 polyunsaturates” or “25% less sodium”. While nutrient content claims are optional, they must meet government regulations before appearing on a package.
- Diet-Related Health Claims: Health claims are statements that link a food or food component to a reduced risk of a disease or condition. To use a specific health claim, the food must meet specific content criteria. For example, to say a food may lower the risk of hypertension, it must be low in sodium and contain at least 350mg of potassium.
Reading the Nutritional Facts Table
The nutritional facts table consists of 4 key things:
- Serving size
- Calories per serving
- List of nutrients
- % daily value
The first part of the nutrition facts table gives you information on the serving size. For example, a label on a box of crackers might tell you that twenty crackers equals one serving. All other values listed thereafter, from the calories to the dietary fiber, are based on this one serving. On the panel, the serving size is followed by the number of calories and then a list of selected nutrients. You will also see “Percent Daily Value” on the far right-hand side. This helps you determine whether the food is a good source of a particular nutrient. The Daily Value (DV) represents the recommended amount of a given nutrient based on the RDI of that nutrient in a 2,000-kilocalorie diet. The percentage of Daily Value (percent DV) represents the proportion of the total daily recommended amount that you will get from one serving of the food. For example, in the older food label in Figure 2.1 “Reading a nutrition facts table,” the percent DV of calcium for one serving of macaroni-and-cheese is 20 percent, which means that one serving of macaroni and cheese provides 20 percent of the daily recommended calcium intake. Since the DV for calcium is 1,000 milligrams, the food producer determined the percent DV for calcium by taking the calcium content in milligrams in each serving, and dividing it by 1,000 milligrams, and then multiplying it by 100 to get it into percentage format. Whether you consume 2,000 calories per day or not, you can still use the percent DV as a target reference. Generally, a percent DV of 5 is considered low and a percent DV of 15 is considered high.
Of course, this is a lot of information to put on a label and some products are too small to accommodate it all. In the case of small packages, such as small containers of yogurt, candy, or fruit bars, permission has been granted to use an abbreviated version of the Nutrition Facts panel. To learn additional details about all of the information contained within the Nutrition Facts panel, view the Nutrition Facts table information sheet available on the Health Canada website.
The Nutrition Facts table provides a wealth of information about the nutritional content of a product. The information also allows shoppers to compare products. Because the serving sizes are included on the label, you can see how much of each nutrient is in each serving to make the comparisons. Knowing how to read the label is important because of the way some foods are presented. For example, a bag of peanuts at the grocery store may seem like a healthy snack to eat on the way to class. But have a look at that label. Does it contain one serving, or multiple servings? Unless you are buying the individual serving packages, chances are the bag you picked up is at least eight servings, if not more.
Nutrient Content Claims
In addition to mandating nutrients and ingredients that must appear on food labels, any nutrient content claims must meet certain requirements. For example, a manufacturer cannot claim that a food is fat-free or low-fat if it is not, in reality, fat-free or low-fat. Low- fat indicates that the product has three or fewer grams of fat; low salt indicates there are fewer than 140 milligrams of sodium, and low-cholesterol indicates there are fewer than 20 milligrams of cholesterol and two grams of saturated fat. See Table 2.1 “Nutrient content claims” for some examples.
| Keywords | What it means | Nutrients Used With / Nutrient Criteria | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free No 0 Zero Without |
The food provides an amount of a nutrient that is so small it likely won’t have any effect on your body | Calories/Energy | Less than 5 Calories* |
| Sodium/salt | Less than 5 mg* | ||
| Fat | Less than 0.5 g fat* | ||
| Saturated fat | Less than 0.2 g saturated fatty acids AND less than 0.2 g of trans fatty acids* | ||
| Trans fat | Less than 0.2 g of trans fatty acids AND 2 g or less of saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids combined* | ||
| Cholesterol | Less than 2 mg of cholesterol AND 2 g or less of saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids combined* | ||
| Sugars | Less than 0.5 g of sugars AND less than 5 Calories* | ||
| Low Little Few |
The food provides a very small amount of the nutrient | Calories (energy) | 40 Calories or less* |
| Fat | 3 g or less of fat* | ||
| Saturated fat | 2 g or less AND 15% or less energy from the sum of saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids combined* | ||
| Cholesterol | 20 mg or less of cholesterol 2 g or less AND 15% or less energy from the sum of saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids combined* |
||
| Sodium / Salt | 140 mg or less of sodium * | ||
| Protein | No more than 1 g protein per 100 g of the food | ||
| Reduced Less Lower Lower in Fewer |
The food is processed/modified so that it contains at least 25% less of the nutrient when compared with a similar product | Calories (energy) | At least 25% less Calories than the food to which it is compared* |
| Fat | At least 25% less fat than the food to which it is compared* | ||
| Saturated fat | At least 25% less saturated fat than the food to which it is compared* | ||
| Trans fatty acids | At least 25% less trans fatty acids than the food to which it is compared* | ||
| Cholesterol | At least 25% less cholesterol than the food to which it is compared* | ||
| Sodium/salt | At least 25% less sodium than the food to which it is compared* | ||
| Sugars | At least 25% less sugars than the food to which it is compared* | ||
| Lightly | The food provides at least 50% less of the added nutrient | Sodium/salt | At least 50% less added sodium than the food to which it is compared* |
| No added Without added |
The food has none of the nutrient added to it | Fat | Contains no added fats or oils or added butter or ghee, or ingredients that contain added fats or oils, or butter or ghee |
| Sugar | Contains no added sugars, no ingredients containing added sugars or ingredients that contain sugars that functionally substitute for added sugars | ||
| Sodium/salt | Contains no added salt, other sodium salts or ingredients that contain sodium that functionally substitute for added salt | ||
| Source Contains | The food provides a significant amount of the nutrient | Calories (energy) | At least 100 Calories* |
| Protein | Protein rating of 20 or more** | ||
| Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids | At least 0.3 g of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids* | ||
| Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids | At least 2 g of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids* | ||
| Fibre | At least 2 g of fibre, if no fibre or fibre source is identified in the statement of the claim* OR 2 g or more of each identified fibre or fibre from an identified fibre source if a fibre or fibre source is identified in the statement or claim* or the food contains at least 1 ingredient that meets the conditions above, if the food is a pre-packaged meal |
||
| Vitamins/Minerals | At least 5% of the recommended daily intake | ||
| More Higher Higher in |
At least 25% more of a nutrient compared with a similar product | Calories (energy) | At least 25% more Calories, totalling at least 100 more Calories than the food to which it is compared |
| Fibre | At least 25% more fibre, totalling at least 1 g more, if no fibre or fibre source is identified in the statement or claim, or at least 25% more of an unidentified fibre source, totalling at least 1 g more, if a fibre or fibre source is identified in the statement or claim* OR At least 2g fibre if no fibre or fibre source is identified in the statement or claim, or at least 2 g of identified fibre or fibre from an identified fibre source* or the food contains at least 1 ingredient that meets the conditions above, if the food is a pre-packaged meal |
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| Protein | Protein rating of 20 or more and contains at least 25% more protein, totalling at least 7g more than the food to which it is compared ** | ||
| Good source of | At least 15% of the recommended daily intake | Vitamins/Minerals | At least 15% of the recommended daily intake except at least 30% of the recommended daily intake for vitamin C |
| High in High source of |
The food contains at least 4 g of fibre | Fibre | At least 4 g of fibre* if no fibre or fibre source is identified in the statement or claim OR At least 4 g of each identified fibre or fibre from an identified source* if a fibre or fibre source is identified in the statement or claim OR Contains at least 1 ingredient that meets the conditions above, if the food is a pre-packaged meal |
| Excellent source Very high Very high in Very high source Rich Rich in |
The food provides a very large amount of the nutrient | Protein | Protein rating of 40 or more* |
| Fibre | At least 6g of fibre* if no fibre or fibre source is identified in the statement or claim OR At least 6 g of each identified fibre or fibre from an identified source* if a fibre or fibre source is identified in the statement or claim OR Contains at least 1 ingredient that meets the conditions above, if the food is a pre-packaged meal |
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| Vitamins/Minerals | At least 25% of the recommended daily intake except at least 50% of the recommended daily intake for vitamin C | ||
| Light | The food is processed/modified so that it contains at least 25% less of the nutrient when compared with a similar product | Energy | At least 25% less Calories than the food to which it is compared* |
| Fat | At least 25% less fat than the food to which it is compared* | ||
| Lean | Contains 10% or less fat | Fat | The food is meat or poultry that has not been ground, a marine or fresh water animal or a product of any of these |
| Extra lean | Contains 7.5% or less fat | Fat | The food is meat or poultry that has not been ground, a marine or fresh water animal or a product of any of these |
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Data source: (“Nutrient Content Claims,” n.d.)[1]
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Diet-Related Health Claims
The following section covering diet-related health claims was taken from the Health Canada website [2].
To make a health claim about potassium, sodium and reduced risk of high blood pressure, the food…
- must be low in (or free of) sodium
- may also be high in potassium
- must be low in saturated fatty acids
- must be limited in alcohol
- must have more than 40 Calories if the food is not a vegetable or a fruit
- must have a minimum amount of at least one vitamin or mineral
To make a health claim about calcium, vitamin D, regular physical activity, and reduced risk of osteoporosis, the food …
- must be high (or very high) in calcium
- may also be very high in vitamin D
- cannot have more phosphorus than calcium
- must be limited in alcohol
- must have more than 40 Calories if the food is not a vegetable or a fruit
To make a health claim about saturated and trans fats, and reduced risk of heart disease, the food …
- must be low in (or free of) saturated fat and trans fat
- must be limited in cholesterol, sodium and alcohol
- must have more than 40 Calories if the food is not a vegetable or a fruit
- must have a minimum amount of at least one vitamin or mineral
- must, if it is a fat or an oil, be a source of omega-3 or omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids
To make a health claim about vegetables and fruit, and reduced risk of some types of cancers, the food …
- must be a fresh, frozen, dried or canned fruit or vegetable; fruit juice; vegetable juice
- must be limited in alcohol
To make a health claim about plant sterols and lowering cholesterol, the food …
- must contain a minimum level equivalent to 0.65 g of free plant sterols, or stanols per reference amount and per serving of the stated size
- must contain at least 10% of the weighted recommended nutrient intake of a vitamin or mineral per reference amount and per serving of the stated size
- must contain 100 mg or less of cholesterol per 100 g of food
- must NOT contain more than 0.5% alcohol
- must contain 480 mg or less of sodium per reference amount and per serving of stated size, and per 50 g if the reference amount is 30 g or 30 mL or less
- must meet the criterion “low in saturated fatty acids.”
Estimating Portion Size
Have you ever heard the expression, “Your eyes were bigger than your stomach?” This means that you thought you wanted a lot more food than you could actually eat. Amounts of food can be deceiving to the eye, especially if you have nothing to compare them to. It is very easy to heap a pile of mashed potatoes on your plate, particularly if it is a big plate, and not realize that you have just helped yourself to three portions instead of one.
In many restaurants and eating establishments, portion sizes have increased.
