‘High protein’, ‘no added sugar’ caught your eye? Here’s how to read food labels and understand what you are eating

How often have you walked into a grocery store or bought groceries online and added products to your shopping cart simply because the packaging said “high in protein”, “no added sugar” or “no palm oil”? If this sounds familiar, experts suggest turning the packaging over and checking the ingredients before checking out.

You might want to increase your protein intake or change your eating habits, for example, by buying a loaf of bread labelled “not made with all-purpose flour”. However, claims on the front of a packet do not always give a complete picture of what is actually in the product. Understanding how to read food labels and nutrition tables can help you make sense of what you are actually consuming.

Looking at the back of the packaging gives you the product’s ingredients and nutritional information. This has become particularly relevant amid recent action by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) over misleading food claims by some brands. The regulator has also taken action against products found to be unsafe or substandard.

According to Sonal Nakra, consultant nutritionist and founder, Eat and Heal, “Most packaged food marketing relies heavily on the front of the label, which functions more as a distraction than a guide. Words like ‘zero trans fat,’ ‘sugar-free,’ or ‘gluten-free’ are placed right where your eyes land to build a quick health halo.” She added, “If you want the truth, ignore the front claims and flip the package over to the nutrition label and ingredient list.”

How to read food labels

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) explains four key parts of its Nutrition Facts label: serving information, calories, nutrients and percentage daily value. When reading an Indian food label, check the headings carefully, as nutritional quantities may be given per 100g while percentage contributions are calculated per serving.

1. Serving information

Start by checking the serving size and the number of servings in the package, where listed. The serving size is a reference quantity, not a recommendation of how much you should eat. Check separately whether the nutritional figures apply to one serving, 100g or another stated quantity.

For example, the Nutrela Soya Chunks label lists a serving size of 25g and eight servings per packet. However, its nutritional values are given per 100g, which is equivalent to four servings. The product provides approximately 354 calories and 53.19 g of protein per 100g.

If you cook 25g of dry chunks, you would get one-quarter of those amounts: approximately 89 calories and 13.3g of protein. If you use 50g, you would get approximately 177 calories and 26.6g of protein.

Check how much you actually use before interpreting the table. These calculations cover only the dry soya chunks; any oil or other ingredients added during cooking will change the nutritional content of the finished dish.

2. Calories

Calories measure the energy a food provides. On this label, calories appear in the row marked “Energy (kcal)”.

The product contains 354.14 calories per 100g. A 25g serving would provide approximately 89 calories, while consuming the entire 200g packet, which contains eight servings, would provide approximately 708 calories.

3. Nutrients

Looking at the nutrition table can help you make an informed decision based on your dietary needs. Apart from energy and protein, the Nutrela Soya Chunks label lists 33.5g of carbohydrates per 100g. It also lists 7.18g of total sugars but zero added sugar, which shows why these two entries should be read separately. Total fat is listed as 0.82g, saturated fat as no more than 0.19g, trans fat as zero, and sodium as 8mg. These quantities apply to 100g, rather than the stated 25g serving.

The US FDA advises consumers to choose foods that provide more of the nutrients they want to increase and less of those they want to limit.

According to Ashwin Bhadri, founder and CEO, Equinox Labs, “Consumers should pay attention to sugar, sodium, saturated fat, and trans fat.” He added, “For sugar, one must look at total sugar as well as added sugar. ‘No added sugar’ can sound reassuring, but it doesn’t mean the product has no sugar.”

Bhadri also suggested checking sodium, especially in savoury packaged foods, which may already contain substantial amounts. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that adults consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium per day.

4. Percentage contribution to daily intake

Percentage daily values show how much a serving contributes to a daily diet, using reference amounts for nutrients to consume or limit. They help readers assess whether a serving provides a relatively small or large amount of a nutrient.

The Nutrela label uses the heading “Per serve % contribution to RDA”, with RDA standing for recommended dietary allowance. This serves a similar purpose to the FDA’s percentage daily value, although the reference amounts may differ.

One 25g serving contributes 4.42% of the reference daily energy intake, 0.3% of total fat, 0.21% of saturated fat, and 0.1% of sodium. Added sugar and trans fat are listed at 0%. These percentages use the daily reference amounts stated below the table for an average adult, including 2,000 calories.

Dashes beside protein, carbohydrates and total sugars indicate that no percentage is provided, rather than that these nutrients are absent.

Check ingredients and other declarations

While the nutrition table shows how much of each listed nutrient the product contains, the ingredients list shows what it is made of. This Nutrela packet lists “defatted soy”, meaning soy from which much of the oil has been removed.

Also check the allergen information, expiry or use-by date, and storage and preparation instructions. Start with the quantity you plan to eat, then read the ingredients and nutritional figures together to understand what the packet offers.