Reading Food Labels—Making Sense of the Fine Print

The Importance of Food Labels

With countless products vying for your attention on supermarket shelves, food labels play a crucial role in informing and guiding your choices. Although food labels are not allowed to deliberately mislead you, it still takes a keen eye to navigate and understand the information on them.

To help you navigate clever designs that highlight only the good points while drawing the least attention to the not-so-good points, here are some easy tips on reading food labels.

What’s on a Food Label?

By law, every packaged food must have a label. This label must include vital information to help you identify the product and make informed food choices.

The must-haves include:

• Name of food: This tells you what the food is.
• Statement of ingredients: This shows, in descending order of weight, all the ingredients that make up the food product.
• Net quantity: This is the actual weight of the food excluding the packaging.
• Source of food: This includes the name and address of the manufacturer, importer, or, distributor.

Reading the Fine Print

When it comes to understanding the finer details of food labels, it’s essential to pay attention to both the back and front of the pack.

Let’s start with the back of the pack…

Click on each label below to learn more about it.

Ingredient
List Nutrition
Information
Panel

Not many Singapore residents have the time and patience to read and compare the Nutrition Information Panels of similar products. Thankfully, there are easier ways to help you identify healthier food products such as looking for the Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS), Nutri-Grade mark, and nutrition or health claims on the front of the pack.

Let’s now look at the front of the pack…

Click on each label below to learn more about it.

Nutrition Claims Nutri-Grade
Mark Health Claims Healthier
Choice Symbol

Understanding Health Claims

Health claims provide insights into how specific foods or nutrients can enhance overall health. All such claims must be substantiated by scientific evidence establishing the relationship between the food or food constituents and the proposed health effect. However, you should not interpret health claims to mean that the food product prevents or treats a disease.

Making the Right Choice for Your Needs

Start by comparing a few popular brands of the food product. Focus on a few key nutrients in the Nutrition Information Panel. If you are trying to manage your weight, compare energy values. If you are worried about osteoporosis, select items with higher calcium content. Alternatively, look out for the Healthier Choice Symbol, if available.

In addition, consumers should be cautious of misleading advertisements by being mindful of:

Claims implying the food can prevent, alleviate, or cure any disease or condition

Claims indicating that consuming the food can lead to an improved health or physical condition

Any claim or suggestion that sounds like medical advice from any source

It is advisable to find more information about the nutrient(s) in the Nutrition Information Panel, ingredient list, or other product labels to make well-informed decisions about food choices.

What About When You Dine Out?

You can easily make healthier choices when dining out by looking out for the Healthier Dining Programme identifiers and Nutri-Grade marks to help you select healthier food establishments or options. Similar to the Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS), the Healthier Dining identifier indicates that the F&B outlet serves healthier food and drink items. You can also look out for these identifiers on menus or menu boards where the specific nutrient is indicated (e.g. “Lower in calories”, “Lower in sugar”, “Higher in wholegrains”).

In addition, use the Nutri-Grade mark to guide your drink choices. Limit Nutri-Grade C and D drinks, which are higher in sugar and saturated fat content, and choose Nutri-Grade A and B drinks, where possible.

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Nutri-Grade Mark

Nutri-Grade “grades” your drinks based on their sugar and saturated fat levels. Think of this as a combined score. Drinks graded “A” have the lowest sugar and saturated fat content while drinks graded “D” have the highest. Limit Nutri-Grade C and D drinks, and choose Nutri-Grade A and B, where possible.

You may find the Nutri-Grade mark on the front of packaged drinks, or on menu-boards for freshly prepared drinks. Drinks graded “A” and “B” may not display the Nutri-Grade mark since it is optional. Only Nutri-Grade C and D drinks are required to carry it.

Learn more about Nutri-Grade here.

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Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS)

Products carrying the Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) are generally healthier compared to other products in the same category. They are higher in beneficial nutrients (e.g. dietary fibre and calcium) and/or lower in less beneficial nutrients (e.g. fat, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium). If you are dashing through the supermarket and want to pick healthier items with ease, you can confidently select food products with this identifier.

Find out more about the HCS here.