It is a useful skill to be able to read and interpret food labels on manufactured food products accurately.

Useful information on a food label for people with diabetes includes:

  • The weight of the recommended portion, weight in 100g of the food and total weight of the packet.
  • The amount of carbohydrates there are in 100g of the food and in your portion.
  • How much sugar is in the food and your portion.

TIP: Ignore health claims eg: ‘lite’, ‘low sugar’, ‘no added sugar’ and ‘natural sugars’, as these are often used to ‘sell’ the product and could be misleading.

It is always better to read the nutrition label and the ingredients list so you can work out what is in the food and how to manage your blood glucose (BG).

Understanding nutritional information

 

Per 100g

ENERGY

1586Kj/

374kcals

PROTEIN

15g
CARBOHYDRATE
of which sugars

of which starch

75g

17g

58g

FAT

of which saturates

1.5g

0.5g

FIBRE

2.5g

SODIUM

SALT

0.45g

1.15g

 

Carbohydrates are split into total carbs and the sugars .

 

Total Carbohydrate include: starch, natural sugar and added sugar.

 

When carb counting, you MUST use the total carbohydrate as all types of carbs will affect your BG.

‘Of which sugars’ include:

 

Natural sugars and added sugars eg:

Natural yoghurt – contains natural sugars only (lactose) Fruit

 

Flavoured yoghurt – contains natural sugar AND added sugar

 

DO NOT use ‘of which sugars’ to carb count

How do I tell if foods have added sugar?

  1. Added sugars will usually make your BG rise high and fast.
  2. Check the ingredients list—ingredients are listed in order of weight, starting with ingredients that weigh the most, down to the least at the end of the list.
  3. Some foods and drink don’t have the word ‘sugar’ in the ingredients list but still have sugar added.
Common names for added sugar are:
  • Honey
  • Hydrolysed Starch
  • Molasses
  • Fruit juice concentrates
  • Nectar
  • Jaggery
  • Anything ending in ‘ose’ (fructose, dextrose, sucrose, glucose etc)
  • Syrups - corn, maize, glucose, fructose

The Traffic Light system

 

  • The traffic light system for ‘front of pack’’ labelling shows how many calories are in the food or drink and is also colour coded to show whether a food is low (green), medium (amber) or high (red) in fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt.
  • The traffic light system does not include the total amount of carbohydrate (so always check the label on the back) BUT it can be an easy way to check at a glance how healthy a food is as it shows the sugar in the portion
  • Try to choose foods for your child with more greens and ambers and avoid foods labelled red for sugars. Always check the full label for more information.

Tip:

Low sugar food: 5g or less per 100g

High sugar food: 22.5g or more per 100g

Carb counting from a food label

Look at the serving size when calculating carbohydrates.

  • A manufacturer’s definition of a portion or serving size may be different from your child’s. Portion sizes given are suitable for adults over the age of 18.
  • Younger children and teenagers may need different amounts.

You can work out the amount of carbohydrate in your (or your child’s) portion by weighing their food portion and comparing the amount to how many carbohydrates there are in 100g of that food portion. You can do this using this calculation:

Carbs in your portion = Carbs per 100g (Food Label) ÷ 100 x weight of your portion

 

Typical value per 100g

30g serving with 125ml of semi skimmed milk

ENERGY

1606kj

379kcal

733kj

173kcal

PROTEIN

14g

9g

CARBOHYDRATE

Of which sugars

Starch

76g

17g

59g

29g

11g

18g

FAT

of which saturates

1.5g

0.5g

2.5g

1.5g

FIBRE

    

 

Example calculation

You are eating Cornflakes for breakfast. You weigh a 62g portion on your scales.

Look at the middle column (per 100g) and look down to the CARBOHYDRATE figure.

The total carbohydrates per 100g is 76g

Using the calculation above:

Carbs in your portion = Carbs per 100g ÷ 100 x weight of your portion

76 ÷ 100 x 62 = carbs in your portion 0.76 x 62 = 47.1

47g carbs in your 62g portion of cornflakes

IMPORTANT NOTE:

 

Food labels usually give the carbs of the dry weight of these foods. As these foods absorb water when cooked, the carb content of the dried weight will be different to the carb content of the cooked weight.

 

So, if you are carb counting cooked foods like paste, rice, noodles, cous cous etc, always use the carbs and cals book (or app) as this shows the carb values for cooked food.

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