Five things to look for on a food label:

When it comes to healthy eating, you can’t go wrong with fresh fruits and vegetables.

But lifestyle, time, taste, convenience and a range of other factors mean that, no matter how healthy you eat, you will also used packaged food. And that’s when it becomes trickier to know whether what you’re eating is good for you.

Australia is set to have its own 5-star food labeling system in place next year, which shows just how healthy packaged food is. There are also a number of Apps around that help you decode nutrition labels on food - but it's not alway practical to walk around the supermarket constantly referring to an App.  

Here’s a quick guide on how to use the nutrition information on the package to judge what’s in the inside. One important thing to know is that the vitamin or mineral content is less important as a basis for buying a product unless everything else adds up to a healthy choice.

Here are five ways to make food labels work for you:

1.  Size matters

Serving size is always the first item on the label. All other information is based on the serving size. The servings per package tell you how many portions are in the package, which many containing more than one serving. If, for example, a bottle of orange juice says 500 kilojoules per 100ml serving, and you use a 250ml glass, you’ve used up 1,500 kilojoules for the day just in a glass or orange juice.

2.  Look for the good, the bad and the really bad … fat

Check the saturated and trans fat content. Keep saturated fat and cholesterol low and avoid trans fats altogether. Look for food that have 0 grams of trans fat and are lowest in saturated fat and cholesterol. Also try to stay away from foods that have words such as ‘partially hydrogenated vegetable oil’ in the ingredients list. The best oils are healthy unsaturated oils such as olive, canola and safflower.

3.  Salt

Compare the sodium content to the calories per serving. To keep your salt intake in check, consider products in which the sodium content is less than, or equal to, the calories per serving. For a food with 1,000 kilojoules per serving, ideally the sodium content should be no more than 220mg. If you need to restrict your intake on medical grounds, you should be using low-salt or unsalted versions.

4.  Fibre

Aim for foods that have 5g of fibre per serving or at least 1g of fibre for every 10g of carbohydrate.

5.  Stay away from added sugar

No matter what it’s called, sugar contains almost no nutrients other than pure carbohydrate. A heavy sugar intake fills you up with empty calories, keeps you from eating healthy foods and stresses your body’s ability to maintain a healthy blood sugar level. Steer clear of foods that have sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup, fructose – or which use other names such as agave nectar, brown sugar, cane sugar, dextrose, maltose, fruit juice concentrate and glucose.