Understanding food labels
Checking food labels is a simple way to help you make healthier choices for your family. Many labels now use a traffic light system:
- green means a healthier choice
- amber is okay in moderation
- red means higher levels of sugar, fat, or salt, so try to limit these
If there are no traffic lights, compare the amounts of sugar, fat, and salt per 100g on the nutritional label. Also, pay attention to portion sizes, as labels may show the nutrition for a single portion, not the whole item, which can make it easy to eat more than intended.
Top Tips:
- download the NHS Food Scanner app to easily scan barcodes in the supermarket and find healthier alternatives
- while foods labelled as "1 of your 5 a day" are good, they may still contain a lot of sugar. Limit pre-packaged snacks to one a day where possible