How to read food labels
UK food labels tell you what's in a product per 100 g and per portion; once you know the few numbers to look at, you can compare any two products in seconds.
On this page
The nutrition table
By law, prepacked food in the UK must show energy (kJ and kcal), fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt, per 100 g or 100 ml1. Many also show a per-portion column and fibre.
- Check the portion size. Is it the amount you'll actually eat?
- Compare products per 100 g. Portions differ between brands; per 100 g is always like-for-like.
- Look at protein and fibre if you're a lifter: they're the numbers that help most with fullness and muscle.
- Check salt, sugars and saturates using the traffic lights below.
Traffic-light colours
The front-of-pack traffic lights are optional, but most UK supermarkets use them. Green is low, amber medium and red high.
| Per 100 g of food | Low (green) | Medium (amber) | High (red) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fat | 3 g or less | 3–17.5 g | More than 17.5 g |
| Saturates | 1.5 g or less | 1.5–5 g | More than 5 g |
| Sugars | 5 g or less | 5–22.5 g | More than 22.5 g |
| Salt | 0.3 g or less | 0.3–1.5 g | More than 1.5 g |
Drinks have lower thresholds, roughly half those for food: a drink with more than 11.25 g of sugars per 100 ml is red, for example. Big portions (over 100 g, or 150 ml for drinks) are also red if one portion has more than 30% of the reference intake for that nutrient, even when the per 100 g figure is lower2.
Reference intakes (%RI)
The percentage on the front of the pack is how much of an average adult's reference intake a portion provides, based on 2,000 kcal a day. See UK reference intakes for the full list.
Your own needs may be very different, especially if you're a lifter. That's why setting your own targets beats working off %RI.
Ingredients and allergens
- Ingredients are listed by weight, largest first. If sugar is near the top, there's a lot of it.
- Sugar has many names: glucose syrup, dextrose, invert sugar, honey, maltose and fruit juice concentrate.
- The 14 major allergens (including milk, eggs, peanuts, nuts, gluten, soya and sesame) are emphasised in the ingredients list, usually in bold1.
What claims really mean
| Claim | What it means (for food) |
|---|---|
| Low fat | 3 g of fat or less per 100 g |
| Fat free | 0.5 g of fat or less per 100 g |
| Low sugar | 5 g of sugars or less per 100 g |
| Source of protein | At least 12% of the calories come from protein |
| High protein | At least 20% of the calories come from protein |
| High fibre | At least 6 g of fibre per 100 g |
| Reduced (fat, sugar, salt) | At least 30% less than similar products (25% for salt). It can still be high! |
Myth"Low fat" means low calorie.
FactLow-fat products often have extra sugar or starch. Compare the calories.
Myth"Natural" or "no added sugar" means healthy.
Fact"Natural" describes where ingredients come from, not how healthy a food is, and "no added sugar" products can still be high in natural sugars.
Track this in NutriLog
Read a label in a second
Point your camera at a nutrition label and NutriLog reads the numbers for you, with UK traffic lights.
Free to use. No card needed.
References
- UK legislation. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (as retained in UK law). legislation.gov.uk, 2011.
- Department of Health. Guide to creating a front of pack (FoP) nutrition label for pre-packed products sold through retail outlets. GOV.UK, 2016.
- NHS. Food labels. nhs.uk.
- UK legislation. Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods (as retained in UK law). legislation.gov.uk, 2006.