Nutrition label
The nutrition label on every pack shows energy, fat, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt per 100 grams – here's how to read it properly.
Ausführlich erklärt
Since December 2016, almost every packaged food in the EU has had to carry a nutrition table – the “Big 7”: energy (kJ and kcal), fat, of which saturates, carbohydrate, of which sugars, protein and salt. The legal basis is the EU Food Information to Consumers Regulation (known in Germany as the LMIV). Fibre, vitamins and minerals may be added voluntarily.
The values always refer to 100 grams or 100 millilitres – which makes products easy to compare. Manufacturers may also state a “portion”; these portions are often smaller than what people actually eat (30 grams of crisps, 25 grams of muesli). So it's better to compare per 100 grams and then work out what that means for your real portion.
As a guide (the UK traffic-light system, per 100 grams): fat is low up to 3 grams and high above 17.5; saturates are low up to 1.5 and high above 5; sugars are low up to 5 and high above 22.5; salt is low up to 0.3 and high above 1.5. For drinks, roughly half these values apply per 100 millilitres.
The ingredients list is your second check: it's sorted by quantity, so there's more of the first ingredient than of anything else. If sugar (including as syrup, dextrose or maltodextrin) is near the top or appears several times in different forms, the product is sweeter than the front of the pack suggests. Claims like “30% less fat” or “no added sugar” say nothing about the total amount – the table does.
When you're losing weight, three lines are particularly interesting: energy per 100 grams (energy density), sugars and protein. A product high in protein and fibre with a moderate energy content usually keeps you full for longer. By the way, reading labels is a great thing to practise with children – as a detective game in the supermarket.