Finding healthy foods in the supermarket can be difficult, however being able to understand a food label is a good start when looking for healthy choices. The nutritional information required on the label use a standard of quantity per 100 g so that it is easier to compare food value between products. The nutritional categories are:
- Energy
- Protein
- Fat (saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, trans fat)
- Carbohydrate (sugar, starch)
- Sodium (salt)
In the Nutritional information label for the cookie mix, you can see that the sugars are more than half the contents; and combined with the flour content the carbohydrate becomes over two thirds of the contents.
Sugar in breakfast cereals
Some cereals use different types of sugar. On a food label you may find variations of
| Cane Sugar | Dried Fruits | Fruit Purees |
| Raw Sugar | Brown Rice Syrup | Molasses |
| Honey | Rice Malt Syrup | Sugar Syrups |
In this illustration from Kelloggs they have told us the varying quantities of sugar in a serving of each cereal.
Which cereal do you think would be best for your health?
Click on this link and check out the recommended cereals.
Which of these are considered to have a 5 star rating, and which only receive a 2 star rating?