Importance of Food Labelling

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Importance of Food Labelling

Food labels are a legal necessity to inform consumers about nutritional values, ingredients, manufacturers, health claims, possible allergens, and other important health information. This data empowers consumers to make informed decisions about whether they can consume a particular product. 

Following are the primary reasons why food labels are important:

To Retain Food Quality

One of the most prominent reasons for concerning health issues and their devastating impact is the consumption of food contaminated เว็บพนันออนไลน์ UFABET สมัครง่าย โปรโมชั่นมากมาย with bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins, and chemicals. Labels play a crucial role by providing warnings and essential information such as storage conditions and cooking instructions. This information is vital for ensuring that food remains safe, preventing microbial contamination and spoilage.

To Detect Fake Products

Without legally recognised labels, food vendors might intentionally mislead consumers by providing false information on packaging. Therefore, food labels help ensure transparency and protect consumers from deceptive marketing practices.

Specify Allergens

Without knowledge of a product’s ingredients, there’s a potential for allergic reactions. Food labels indicate whether a product contains common allergens, such as peanuts, soybeans, milk, eggs, fish, and wheat. Food labels will also clearly mention gluten-containing cereals. This information helps those with gluten-related conditions such as coeliac disease and gluten sensitivity.

Make Better Choices

The ingredients and nutritional panel on product packaging help identify if a product is high in trans-fat or saturated fat or contains unhealthy artificial substances that one must avoid. Labels also enable comparisons between different brands of similar items. It helps consumers in selecting the most nutritionally rich alternative.

Origin

Origin information on food labels holds significant importance for consumers who prefer purchasing products from local producers. Certain labels indicating the food’s origin, like Colombian Coffee (Colombia) or Darjeeling tea (India), can capture a customer’s attention who links quality to geographical origins and traditional practices.

How to Read Food Labels?

Interpreting nutrition facts is vital to maintaining a healthy diet. However, if food labels seem confusing, here is a simple explanation of common nutrition claims and terms.

  • Low Calorie: It means the product contains 40 calories or fewer per serving.
  • Low Cholesterol: It means that the food contains 20 mg or less of cholesterol and 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving
  • Reduced: The product contains around 25% less of the specified nutrient or calories than usual.
  • Good Source: The product offers 10 to 19% of the Daily Value of a specific nutrient or vitamin per serving.
  • Excellent Source: It means the product supplies at least 20% or more of the Daily Value of a specific vitamin or nutrient per serving.
  • Calorie-free: It means the product contains less than five calories per serving.
  • Low sodium: The product contains 140 mg or less of sodium per serving.
  • Fat-free/sugar-free: The product contains less than ½ gram of fat or sugar per serving.
  • High in: Product contains 20% or more of the Daily Value of a specified nutrient per serving.
  • Fruit Flavoured: It often means that the product contains artificial flavours or chemicals designed to mimic the taste of the specified fruit. If real fruit is not on the ingredient list, the product likely relies on artificial flavourings.
  • Multigrain: The term “multigrain” can be misleading, as it simply means the product contains more than one type of grain. Without the “whole grain” label, these grains may be refined ingredients. It indicates the food lacks essential nutrients.
  • Organic: Organic products don’t necessarily mean lower calories, fats, proteins, or carbs.
  • Added Sugars: Brown sugar, fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose
  • Artificial Sweeteners: Sucralose, saccharin, aspartame, and acesulfame