Everyone should know how to read a nutrition label to support their health and fitness goals. 

Often these panels can seem quite daunting and confusing. 

Nutritional panels are found on the back of food items, they provide information on the energy content of the food, the protein, carbohydrates, fat, saturated fat, sugars and sodium that a product has. They will also show any other nutrient claims, fibre content, allergens and additives 

They must show the amount per serve and the amount per 100g of the food item. Nutritional panels are often in kilojoules.

To convert kilojoules into calories you simply divide the total energy value by 4.2. For example, if the per serve value on the nutritional panel said 432kj, you would take 432 and divide it by 4.2 which would give you 102 calories per serve. 

Key things to look out for:

• Total Fat: Try to keep under 10g per 100g
• Saturated Fat: Aim for less than 3g per 100g 
• Discretionary foods: try to keep them under 600kj per serve
• Sugar: keep sugar under 15/20g per 100g 
• Salt: try to keep salt less than 120mg per 100g
• Fibre: Always aim to have more than 3g of fibre per serve
• Energy: Try to ensure the energy totals of your day match your fitness and nutrition goals, this can be done by calculating your daily requirements and understanding your daily nutritional energy needs.

HAPPY SHOPPING!