understanding nutrition tables

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your MENU

Helping you and your team to be compliant

Food labelling, ingredients and legislation

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The UFS Food Labelling Guide 2012 is published by:

Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

15 Nollsworth Crescent, La Lucia Ridge

La Lucia Ridge Offi ce Estate

La Lucia

4051

www.ufs.com

Copyright © 2012

This work is the property of Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

This work is protected under the Berne Convention. In terms

of the Copyright Act 98 of 1998, no part of this work may

be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording

or by any information storage and retrieval system without

permission in writing from Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that

the information published in this work is accurate,

Unilever South Africa (Pty) Ltd, the editors, publishers

and printers take no responsibility for any loss or

damage suffered by any person as a result of the

reliance upon the information contained therein.

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Nutrition tableThere are 1 billion overweight adults and a staggering 300 million cases of obesity worldwide. This fi gure is expected to rise to 1.5 billion by 2015 unless everyone, including the food service industry, takes action now. In South Africa, 68% of the population is overweight and 33% are considered obese.

As chefs and operators, you can play a big part

in trying to reverse this trend.

For instance, the nutrition table explained in this

chapter can help you compare products, so you

can choose the best food choices for your guests.

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The key nutrients of food are listed in the nutrition

table on the pack.

Nutrition tables are required on all pre-packed foods

that make a nutritional claim.

The nutrition table will help you compare these key

nutrients and serving sizes, whilst some packs will

also include information on percentage daily intake.

Serving size

Nutrition information should be listed per 100g or

100ml product and by the recommended serving

size. The serving size is the amount of product that

is generally used per one serving. For example 50g

of dry soup is used to make one serving.

Chapter 5 Nutrition table

Good to knowAlthough the package might actually

contain several servings, nutritional

facts in tables are usually based on just

one serving. Always look at the serving

size of the product and how many

servings you are actually consuming.

For instance, if the serving size is 250ml

but the pack contains 500ml of product,

this means there are 2 servings per

pack. Therefore the nutritional

information on the label per serving

will be 2 times more if the entire pack

is consumed.

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Percentage daily intake

Some food products also list

percentage daily intake

information.

This information is a guide to

what percentage of the total

recommended daily amount of

key nutrients is in a serving,

based on a predetermined kJ per

day diet. It should be used as

a guide to the total amount of

energy and key nutrients that a

typical healthy adult should eat

in a day.

Energy

This is the amount of energy that the food contains. Energy is

written either in Kilojoules (kJ) or Calories (kcal). In South Africa,

energy is written as KJ, however you may see labels with Kcal, to

convert. 1 calorie = 4.12 kilojoules. The energy content of foods

depends on the amount of carbohydrates, fats and proteins

present in the food. One kcal from fat is the same as one from

sugar. But 1g of fat delivers more energy per gram (9kcal/g) than

alcohol (7kcal/g), protein (4kcal/g) and carbohydrates (4kcal/g).

Did you know?Fat free doesn’t mean Kilojoules or

Calorie free. Lower fat items may

have as many Kilojoules/Calories

as full fat versions because these

items may contain a high level of

added sugar.

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Protein

Protein is expressed in grams, and is essential

for growth and repair of body tissues.

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrate is expressed in grams; this

value is the total value of carbohydrates

in the product. The body turns carbohydrate

into fuel for the body.

Total sugar

Total sugar is expressed in grams. This is

the amount of carbohydrate in the product

that is made up of sugar (mono – and

disaccharides).


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Total fat

Total fat is expressed in grams. This is the total

amount of all the different kinds of fat in the

product. Fat has many important functions

in the body. It is a source of energy, provides

essential fatty acids and helps us absorb fat

soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

Saturated fat

Saturated fat is expressed in grams. This is

the amount of fat in the product that is made

up of only saturated fats. Saturated fats are

known as ‘bad fats’ because they increase

the bad (LDL) cholesterol in your blood.

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Good fat versus bad fat

People tend to think of fat as bad,

but that’s not entirely true. Some

fats are good for you. Not only do

they have important nutritional

benefi ts, they also make your

food taste good. Fats are a source

of energy and some help keep

your heart healthy, and provide

essential building blocks for all

the cells in your body. This means

we need to be aware of how much

and what kinds of fat we eat.

Good fats: There are two kinds of

unsaturated fats: polyunsaturated

(found in oily fi sh, plant oils,

margarine, mayonnaise) and

mono-unsaturated (found in olive

oil, nuts, avocado).

Bad fats: Saturated fats and Trans

fats. Too much ‘bad’ fat (found in

butter, fatty meats, cheese, full

cream dairy products) in your

diet is one of the main causes of

elevated cholesterol. Too much

cholesterol in your blood can

increase the risk of heart disease.

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Sodium

Total sodium is expressed in milligrams (mg).

Sodium is a component of salt and adds fl avour to

foods. The body needs sodium to maintain water

balance and for muscle and nerve activity.

If you know the sodium content of a food, you

can estimate its salt content: salt = sodium x 2.5.

Did you know?The World Health Organisation (WHO)

recommends no more than 5g of salt (2000mg

of sodium) per day, whereas the average content

of daily salt intake for South Africans is between

9 and 12 grams.

Eating too much salt is one of the strongest

risk factors in the development of raised blood

pressure, and this risk increases with age.

Worldwide, one in four adults (26%) has high

blood pressure, and approximately 8 million

deaths are attributed to it annually.

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Dietary fi bre

Dietary fi bre is expressed in grams. Dietary

fi bre or sometimes roughage (ruffage) is the

indigestible portion of plant foods. Fibre helps

to maintain a healthy bowel function and gut

health and plays a role in satiety.


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FAQs

Why should I read the nutrition table?

• Unilever Food Solutions fi rst World Menu Report (WMR) ‘What’s in your food?’* showed that your guests want to know more about the food they are eating when out of home. They would like to know where the food was sourced from, how it was prepared, what the ingredients and food additives are, and the energy and nutrient content. The fi rst World Menu Report also showed that guests would like chefs to be able to answer their questions on the food prepared for them. By knowing what is stated in the nutrition table you are well prepared to answer the questions of your guests, e.g. regarding energy content and/or fat.

• According to the latest research, there are 1 billion overweight adults and a staggering 300 million cases of obesity worldwide. This fi gure is expected to rise to 1.5 billion by 2015 unless everyone, including the food service industry, takes action now. In South Africa, 68% of the population is overweight and 33% are considered obese.

• As chefs and operators, you can play a big part in trying to reverse this trend. The nutrition information can guide you to make healthier choices for your guests and even enables you to make comparisons between products in order to make more informed decisions.

*Visit www.ufs.com to view the Unilever Food Solutions World Menu Reports.

Below are some frequently asked questions from a chef’s perspective concerning nutrition tables found on pack

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How do I know if the products I use are nutritious?

There are various ways to check if a product is nutritious:

• The nutrition information can guide you to make healthier choices when comparing the nutrition table between products.

• Some food products also list percentage daily intake information. This information is a guide to what percentage of the total recommended daily amount of key nutrients is in a serving, based on a predetermined kJ per day diet. It should be used as a guide to the total amount of energy and key nutrients that a typical healthy adult should eat in a day.

• There are also health logos which can be labelled on food products if certain nutrition criteria is fulfi lled. In South Africa the Heart and Stroke Foundation (www.heartfoundation.co.za) gives food producers and manufacturers the opportunity to use, under licence, the Heart Mark for approved products.

Why is salt not mentioned in the nutrition table?

• Labelling guidelines in South Africa stipulate that salt must be represented on pack in its pure Sodium value.

• Salt consists chemically of the molecules sodium and chloride in a specifi c ratio. When you know the sodium value of a product you can estimate its salt content by using the formula below.

400mg Sodium = 1000mg (1 gram) of Salti.e. Grams Sodium x 2.5 = Grams Salt


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I have seen ‘as prepared’ nutritional information on some packs. What is the meaning of nutrition values for the prepared product and how are they different from the values per 100g?

• ‘As prepared’ nutrition information is labelled on the pack of somedehydrated products which need to be prepared before they can be consumed. The nutrition values per 100 g/ml prepared product refl ect the nutritional value that the consumer would eat when consuming 100 g/ml.

• Prepared product, in some cases, is just water added to dry product to rehydrate a dehydrated product, e.g. jus, soup, bouillon.

What is the difference between nutrition data labelled per 100g and per serving?

• All nutrition labelling needs to include information per 100g/ml of the product as it is sold on the shelf (i.e. not after preparation). Because all those foods bearing nutrition information stipulate values per 100g/ml it is easier to compare different products for their nutrition content.

• Serving Size is the weight of product that would generally be used per serving. For example: 50g of dry soup is used to make one serving which is the amount in grams that would be used by a consumer for a single serving. Nutrition information per serving gives an indication of how much energy and key nutrients are consumed per one portion of the food.

Do all products have to bear a nutrition table on pack?

• In South Africa it is only mandatory to label the nutrition table on pack if a nutrition claim is made (eg. High in Calcium). If a nutrition table is included on pack it has to adhere to the design stipulated in the respective regulation. However, Unilever is pro-actively labelling nutrition information on the majority of its products. By doing this we provide all relevant nutrition information of our products in a transparent way.


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Understanding food labels

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243

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Nutrition table

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Storage continued...

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