Let's read the labels

A label must be placed on food offered for trade in Jamaica and it consists of three main areas:

A picture/display panel.

An ingredient listing and

Contact information for the manufacturer.Most labels also contain a nutrition panel which is not mandatory under Jamaican law.

With increased consumer education about food and its impact on health, many people are making healthier choices. However, some people may have difficulty understanding the labels on packaged foods. There are others who say they only check prices and brand and yet another group of consumers, those with chronic diseases, who say they only check for the amounts of sugar or cholesterol in the product.

The 'no cholesterol' flag

The 'no cholesterol' flag seems to be used as a marketing tool and sometimes placed on labels of food which do not naturally have cholesterol (note that cholesterol is found only in animal foods and their by products). The 'no sugar added' flag is also a great marketing tool as people forget that many foods, such as juices, already have sugar as part of the product, so not adding sugar does not mean 'no sugar'.

The ingredient panel

Items on the ingredient panel are listed in order of largest amounts first and others in descending order according to amounts. There are terminologies on labels which indicate certain ingredients.

If you are monitoring sodium, look for this word as a part of another name, for example, sodium casenate, sodium aluminosilicate, monosodium glutamate, and of course, salt is sodium chloride.

If you are monitoring phosphate, as in renal patients, you will not see this ingredient in the nutrition panel but in the ingredient listing in many variations, for example, dipotassium phosphate. Sugars come in many forms - syrups and words ending in 'ose'.

The nutrition panel

Information on the nutrition panel is product specific and refers to the designated serving size. Note what a serving size is, for example, one slice, one cup and so on. Next are the caloric value and then the nutrients in bold font with subheadings under each. For example, total fat 12 grams, then this is further broken down into saturated fat and cholesterol to indicate the amounts that make up the 12 grams.

Next are vitamins and minerals listed such as vitamin A, C, minerals, iron and calcium. Larger packaging will also contain as a footnote to this panel, daily values for carbohydrate, fat, saturated fats, cholesterol and sodium as a percentage of a 2,000- and 2,500-calorie diet.

Some food terms revealed:

'Reduced fat' means 25 per cent less than regular brands.

'Light' means less than 3 grams per serving.

'Trans-fat-free' means 0.5 grams per serving.

Do not rely on the picture panel for the whole story.

Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.