How to use a food label
What information can you find on a label
Name and description of food
All food labels must give a name for the food which is either prescribed by the Code, e.g. Infant Formula, or is a name/description that describes the true nature of the food, e.g. cheese spread. Under Fair Trading and Food laws, these names must be accurate and not misinform or deceive the consumer.
e.g. A food with a picture of a banana on the label must contain bananas. If it contained banana flavouring rather than real bananas, it must be labelled as ‘banana-flavoured’.
Ingredients list
Ingredients are always listed from greatest to smallest by how much they weigh (including any added water) at the time they are added to the product.
Where there are small amounts of multi-component ingredients (under 5%) labels may list the ‘composite’ ingredient only. For example, tomato sauce, rather than listing the ingredients that make up the sauce.
However, any additive, within a composite ingredient, performing a function in the final food, e.g. a preservative, must be listed separately.
| INGREDIENTS |
|---|
| Whole milk, concentrated skim milk, sugar, strawberries (9%), gelatine, culture, thickener (1442). |
Characterising ingredients
Sometimes within ingredients lists, you’ll see a percentage in brackets next to a particular ingredient, e.g. apples (26%). This is known as percentage labelling. These percentages list the proportion of the characterizing ingredients / components included in your chosen product. Remember, apple-flavoured means just that! If it’s labelled as ‘flavoured’ you may not find actual apples in the ingredients list at all.
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