Reading Food Labels

Chloris Leung

Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD, DA)

Accredited Dietitian (AD), Hong Kong Academy of Accredited Dietitians (HKAAD)

Full member & Training & Development Officer, Hong Kong Dietitians Association (HKDA)

What is the very first thing that you would notice on a food packaging? Besides the colourful prints and fancy packaging designs that catches your eye and attracts you to buy a product, there is a whole lot more information that a food packaging can provide so consumers can make informed food choices, for health, food safety and other reasons. Here is a list of things to watch out for.

1) Name of the Food – must reflect its true nature without any kind of deceptive element

2) Name and address of manufacturer or packer – in cases of food recalls or enquires

3) Indication of durability/ date marking 

– Use-by date: foods should be eaten before a certain date for health or safety reasons. Often seen in easily perishable foods (e.g. dairy products)

– Best-before date: when food has a longer shelf life but less than two years. Most likely it is still safe to eat a food after its best-before date, its quality or nutritional value may have lost to some extent.

4) List of ingredients – listed in descending order by weight (the earlier an ingredient appears, the higher percentage it is used to make this food product)

– Allergen information*

– Food additives – they may be identified by their class name (e.g. ‘thickener’ or ‘colour’) followed by the food additive name or number (e.g. E621)

5) Statement of special conditions for storage or instructions for use – so that a food can be kept until its use-by or best-before date; directions must also be included if a food needs to be prepared before consumption for health or safety reasons.

6) Count, weight or volume – suppliers are responsible to ensure foods are labelled with accurate weights and measures.

7) Nutrition label – it is mandatory in Hong Kong for nutrition labels to include information on energy and seven core nutrients, namely protein, carbohydrates, sugars, total fat, saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids and sodium per 100 g/ mL, or per serving specified. Any claims made about certain nutrients on the packaging much also be declared.

Information for people with food allergies or intolerance*

Manufacturers must declare the presence of the follow 8 common allergens on food labels in Hong Kong:

i) Cereals containing gluten (namely wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, their hybridised strains and their products);

ii) Crustacea and crustacean products;

iii) Eggs and egg products;

iv) Fish and fish products;

v) Peanuts, soyabeans and their products;

vi) Milk and milk products (including lactose);

vii) Tree nuts and nut products;

viii) Sulphites (if added at 10 mg or more per kg of food)

These shall be highlighted in the List of ingredients, with their “common or usual name” in brackets, underlined or bold to make them being easily identified by consumers.

Another method to disclose the presence of allergens in a product is using a statement of “Contains (name of allergen(s))”. Such statement is usually placed at the end of the ingredient list.

“May contain allergens” disclaimers, or precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) are voluntary statements to guide consumers on the potential risk of contamination of one or more food allergens during production and handling.

Such warning statements may be presented in the following formats:

a) “May contain traces of (name of allergen(s))”;

b) “Contains traces of (name of allergen(s))”;

c) “Produced in a factory where (name of allergen(s)) is/are also handled.”

Some common misconceptions when reading food labels

Reduced fat/ sugar ≠ Low fat/ sugar

When a food product is claimed to be reduced fat/ sugar it does not necessarily mean it is low in fat/ sugar. Such nutrient comparative claims may be made whenever the nutrient content has a difference of 25% or greater by the same weight between the “lighter” versus the “original” version of the food.

The following table summaries the definition for “low” fat/ sugar or fat/sugar “free”: