Nutrition Labelling

On Pack Nutrition Information

We are in the process of making all our food packs complete with nutrition information

The nutrition facts give nutrient content of a food and follow guidelines set by Unilever and Pakistan legislations. The information provides the consumer profile of nutrients contained in the food. - Energy value, the amounts of protein, carbohydrates, sugars, fats. The amounts of any other nutrient for which a nutrition claim is made or is considered relevant for maintaining a good nutritional status is also mentioned

Information at a glance

Nutrition labelling gives the profile of the product and indicates what nutrients are high or low in the product and if it is rich in vitamins and minerals. World Health Organisation recommends that the amount of fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium and sugar should be limited, since these are nutrients which when taken in excess can be detrimental to health. On pack nutrition information gives you information on energy, protein, carbohydrates of which, how much is sugars and fats of which how much is saturated (bad fat), vitamin and minerals per 100g and per serving wherever feasible. Some of the products, also indicate the percentage of the recommended daily amount of these nutrients, the product contributes to your daily diet. This can help you choose a product that can easily fit in your balanced diet. Nutrition labelling helps you compare two products belonging to a same category of foods and assist in choosing the better option. General thumb when comparing two products, choose the one which is lower in saturated fat, trans fat, sugars and salt/sodium but is higher in protein, good fats like polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats ,vitamins, and minerals.

What does 'Recommended Dietary Allowance' mean?

The Recommended Dietary Allowance or RDA is defined as "the average daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all healthy individuals.

Our requirements for calories and nutrients differ according to gender, age, size, body weight and activity levels. We follow RDAs given by US Food and Nutrition Board and Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority.

The table below shows the RDAs for an average adult:

The five key nutrients

Most nutrition labels will give you information for these five nutrients: Energy, Protein, Carbohydrate (of which sugars) and fats (of which saturated), and salt or sodium. The nutrition information can be extended to other nutrients provided broad international agreement on recommended amounts.- did not quite understand this line – sounds ok

Energy:

Energy is essential for rest, activity and growth. Energy is needed not just for exercise but for everything you do, even breathing and sleeping. The three components of food that provide this energy are carbohydrates, protein and fat. You need to ensure that the energy expenditure is equal to energy intake and to maintain a healthy body weight. If you are over weight or obese your energy expenditure should exceed energy intake. An average person needs about 2,000 calories per day.

Protein:

Proteins are vital to the living process and are needed for the various functions of the body. Proteins constitute the chief solid matter of muscles, organs, and endocrine glands. The adequacy of protein in the diet is an important measure of quality of diet. Protein quality is important – milk, egg, lean meat, soyabean etc. Protein is a potential source of energy, each gram of protein yielding on the average 4 kcal.

Carbohydrates:

Carbohydrates are important energy yielding foods. It consists of sugars, starches and fibres- both soluble and insoluble. The sugars in your diet come from various sources - some of them from obvious sources like sugar sprinkled on strawberries or stirred into a cup of tea, others where you may not expect them to be, like the naturally occurring sugars found in fruit, fruit juice and milk. You should aim to include more complex carbohydrates like whole grain bread, whole wheat, lentils etc and restrict the amount of sugars.

Fat:

Fat is an important component of diet and serves a number of functions in the body. The fat in food product typically includes both unsaturated fat and saturated fat. A healthy diet should always include a certain amount of fat because, among other things, it provides energy and essential fatty acids, and helps you to absorb vital fat soluble vitamins. Try to eat no more than your guideline daily amount, though, and go for unsaturated fats as much as possible – like the ones you find in oily fish, nuts and seeds, avocado and sunflower, rapeseed or olive oil and spreads made from these. The RDA for fat for an average adult is 65g.

Saturates:

The on pack nutrition information represents the total amount of saturated fat in a portion of the product. These are also known as “bad fats” as they are implicated in heart diseases by raising bad cholesterol when eaten in excess,

Trans fat is another fat which considered bad for health and is considered worse than saturated fat as they not only raise bad cholesterol, but also lower good cholesterol and have an adverse effect on heart health. Trans fat naturally present in fatty meat, full-fat dairy products, butter, and products made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, like cakes, pastries, snack products, deep-fried fast food and takeaways.

Salt:

Too much salt* in our diet is linked to high blood pressure and heart disease. Many of us consume far more salt than we need, so our daily diet should not contain more than the guideline daily amount of 2400mg of sodium or 6 grams of salt

Alternatively you may see sodium on nutrition labels instead of salt. Sodium is the part of salt which is responsible for raising blood pressure. Sodium content can be converted to salt content by multiplying it by 2.5. Make conscious efforts to choose products lower in sodium.