Health claims

Many foods make claims such as ‘low fat’, ‘reduced sugar’ or ‘95% fat free’. It can be really hard sometimes working out whether these claims mean the food is ‘healthy’ for us.

To help you get to grips with all the health claim jargon here’s a quick guide:

Low fat

Low fat Indicates that the food has less than 3g of fat per 100g of the food or product. Some foods that fit this category are yoghurts, many fruit and vegetables, bread, rice and pasta. It is always worth looking at the label and checking to see how much sugar is in a food claiming to be low fat. For example, some low fat yoghurts are really high in sugar.

Low sugar

indicates that the food has no more than 5g of sugar per 100g or per 100ml of food.

No added sugar

means that no additional sugar has been added to the food or drink. That does not mean that the food or drink is not high in natural sugar already for example pure fruit juice.

Reduced fat

means that the product must contain 25% less fat than a similar or the original product. So, importantly it does not mean that the product is ‘low fat’. Think of margarine, butter or mayonnaise – all the standard versions are very high in fat, even a reduced fat version of these products would still be high in fat.

95% Fat free

sounds great, but it still means that there is 5% fat! Remember a 100g snack that makes the claim to be 95% fat free will have 5g of fat – well out of the low fat tolerance.

The best advice is to see food labels as they actually are – they may seem confusing at first, but they do provide most of the information we need to make better food choices; but ultimately the calories that you get from fat and sugar are the ones to watch.

So, the next time you do your weekly shop don’t be fooled by food claims and always read the label – you will be well on your way to healthier and more nutritious diet.Traffic light labelling