What can Food Labels do for our Health and Wellbeing?

Food labels may seem like a meaningless addition to packaging, but knowing how to read a food label could significantly improve your health and assist you in making better dietary choices. This is especially true if you have a health condition such as diabetes or high cholesterol, as chances are you will need to follow a special diet – food labels can ensure that you’re making the best choices for your health, and can stop you damaging your health. But how do they work? When reading the labels on food packaging, you should be paying close attention to the ‘Daily Values’ column, as this highlights the recommended dose of each nutrient. This will help you to balance your diet and ensure you don’t eat too much of one thing – for example, if one food item contains 20 percent of your recommended dose of sugar, you’ll know that the rest of your choices throughout the day need to fall within the remaining remit in order for you to stay healthy. As a general rule 20 percent Daily Value or more is high, and 5 percent Daily Value or less is low. Where beneficial nutrients are concerned, such as calcium or protein, you can use this section of the information to help you choose foods which have higher quantities – similarly, where fats and sugars are present, you can make healthier choices by aiming as low as possible. Be careful of trans fats, as these are damaging to your health – these are generally present in biscuits, snack foods and fatty foods which have been fried. Experts advise striking a balance where possible and aiming to eat plenty of nutrients across the board to ensure you get everything you need. Reading labels can help you achieve this so that your body has everything it needs to stay healthy.