Posted by kathryn in Labels & advertising

It’s Q & A Thursday and the first question is about something which appears on every packet of food: the nutrition information panel. LeAnne has asked:

I’ve been eating a lot of soy products. Everything I buy is dry and I have to soak it in water before I cook it. The nutrition information is on the box for 100 grams of product. Is that 100 grams before or after I soak it?

When it comes to food labelling, the nutrition information panel is your friend. It’s one of the few areas which gives you unbiased, un-marketed, factual information on what’s in the product you’re about to buy.

Most packaged foods have to include a nutrition information panel. The information is presented in a standard format and must include:

• the number of servings in a packet
• the quantity of a standard serving of that food, as determined by the manufacturer
• nutrition information per serving and per 100g or 100ml
• the amount of energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars and sodium in that food
• the amount of any other nutrient about which a claim is made on the packet. If the label claims the food is “a good source of fibre”, the amount of fibre must be shown on the nutrition information panel

Unless otherwise stated, all the information listed is for the food product as it is in the packet. The nutrients shown are for the pre-cooked and pre-soaked product.

A manufacturer doesn’t know how you’re going to use their product. If you soak, cook or add to that food, it does change the nutritional value. Therefore the nutrition information panel gives details on a food as it is in the packet.

What is Q & A Thursday?

This post is part of Q & A Thursday – a weekly burst of blogging, where you get to dictate the subject matter. Q & A Thursday is all about simple, practical answers to food and diet dilemmas sent in by readers.

If you have a question you’d like answered, then leave a comment or send me an email. For more information you can take a look at the Q & A Thursday archives.

25 October, 2007