What they mean and what to look out for

Nutritional labels on food packaging can help you choose between products and eat a balanced diet. But it's important to know what those labels mean in order for you to do this.

Most pre-packed foods have a nutrition information label on the back or side of the packet. These labels must include the amount of energy (kJ0, usually known as calories. They must also include the amount of fat, saturated fats, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and salt.

There are specific guidelines that tell you if the product is high in these areas:

Fat

• High - more than 17.5g per 100g
• Low - 3g of fat or less per 100g

Saturated fat

• High - more than 5g per 100g
• Low - 1.5g or less per 100g

Sugars

• High - more than 22.5g per 100g
• Low - 5g or less per 100g

Salt

• High - more than 1.5g per 100g
• Low - 0.3g of salt per 100g

Colour-coded nutrition

Many supermarkets also highlight these guidelines on the front of packaging, alongside the reference intake. You'll recognise these by their red, amber and green colour coding:

• Red means high - limit intake
• Amber means medium - safe to consume the majority of the time
• Green means low - the healthier choice

So the next time you go food shopping, and you want to make the healthier choice, take a look at the nutrition label and see what colour it's displayed as - try to go for more greens and ambers and fewer reds.