How to read food labels
Published August 2026
Words by Sabrina Rogers
Expert contributor: Nicole Dynan, accredited practising dietitian
Food labels can be hard to decode – that ‘healthy’ snack might not be as good as it seems. Discover how to read food labels and what people often miss.
Have you ever picked up a packet of food at the supermarket, flipped it over and had absolutely no idea what you're looking at? You're not alone. Ingredients, nutrients and health claims can sometimes be tricky to decipher, but understanding how to read food labels can help you make healthier choices.
“While packaged foods can be low in nutrition, many are convenient,” accredited practising dietitian Nicole Dynan told Heath Agenda. “If you know what to look for, they can be a part of a healthy diet.”
What is a food label and what does it tell you?
The nutrition information panel (NIP) is a box found on packaged food labels that lists the average amount of:
- energy (in kilojoules and sometimes also in kilocalories)
- protein
- fat
- saturated fat
- carbohydrate
- sugars
- sodium (salt).
If there’s a health claim like ‘good source of fibre’ or ‘high in calcium’ on the package, the NIP must also list the average quantity of that nutrient to back up its claim.
Where it can get confusing is the ‘average quantity per serving’ and ‘average quantity per 100g/100ml’ columns. What do they mean and which one should you use?
If you want to know the nutritional value of a single product, start with the serving size. You'll find this just under ‘nutrition information’ in the NIP (along with how many servings are in the package). Then check the ‘average quantity per serving’ column for a breakdown of kilojoules and nutrients per serve.
Keep in mind that serving sizes are set by the manufacturer and can vary a lot between products. That's where the ‘average quantity per 100g/100ml’ column is handy – it helps you compare two products side by side. If you’re trying to cut back on sugar, for example, you might compare two brands of yoghurt and choose the one with less sugar per 100g. Or, if you’re trying to eat more fibre, you might opt for a breakfast cereal with more per 100g.
The ingredients list is a separate section on food labels. It tells you exactly what's in a product, listed in order from the largest amount to the smallest. It also includes the percentage of key ingredients.
For example, a strawberry yoghurt that lists the first three ingredients as ‘skim milk, sugar, strawberry (6%)’ contains a high amount of sugar and not much of its key ingredient, strawberries. You’d be better off finding another yoghurt that has sugar further down the list.
How to read food labels
Now that you know the basic requirements for food labelling in Australia, here are a few other things to look out for.
Allergens
After the ingredients list, you may see another list starting with:
- ‘contains’ (ingredients that are definitely in the product)
- ‘may contain’ (ingredients that could be present in small traces, usually because the product was made in a facility that also handles them).
These indicate ingredients that can cause allergic reactions, including potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis in some people. Common allergens include egg, milk, wheat, peanuts, several types of tree nuts, sesame, soy, lupin, fish, mollusc, crustacean, sulphites, and cereals like wheat, barley, rye and oats that contain gluten.
Free sugars
Free sugars (sometimes called added sugars) are types of sugar that are added to foods by manufacturers, as well as sugars that occur naturally in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. They don’t include the sugars naturally found in whole fruits, vegetables and milk.
Other names for free sugars to watch out for on food labels include:
- dextrose
- fructose
- glucose
- golden syrup
- maple syrup
- sucrose
- malt
- maltose
- lactose
- brown sugar
- caster sugar
- raw sugar.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that less than 10% of your daily energy intake (equivalent to 50g) should come from free sugars. For better health outcomes, limit your free sugar intake to 5% of your energy intake (25g).
As a quick rule of thumb, try to avoid or limit foods with more than 15g of sugar per 100g.
Fats
Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats found in avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil and oily fish can help improve your cholesterol levels, lower your blood pressure, decrease inflammation and reduce your risk of heart disease.
Saturated fats and trans fats, on the other hand, can increase bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and heart disease risk. They’re found in butter, cream, cheese, coconut and palm oils, fatty meats, poultry skin, bacon, salami, cakes, pastries, deep-fried foods, processed snacks and many takeaway foods.
The total fat listed on packaged foods includes both healthy and unhealthy fats, so it can be hard to know whether a food is good for you just by looking at that number. Australian manufacturers are required to list the amount of saturated fat separately on food labels, but they don’t have to list trans fats.
You should limit total fat to a maximum of 30% of your total daily energy intake, with no more than 10% coming from saturated fats and no more than 1% from trans fats, says the World Health Organization.
Be careful of ‘low fat’ products, Nicole cautions. When fat is removed, extra sugar may be added to make up for lost flavour or texture.
“That means the total kilojoules in that food may be the same as a full-fat product,” she says.
Decoding common health claims
To make health claims like ‘low fat’ or ‘source of fibre’ on food labels, manufacturers have to adhere to standards set out by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand. Here are some of the most common claims you’ll see – and what they actually mean.
Light/lite or reduced
The product contains less energy or less of a specific nutrient (like sugar, fat, salt, carbohydrates or cholesterol) than the regular version. Check the NIP and compare to similar products.
Low sugar and no added sugar
‘Low sugar’ means no more than 5g of sugar per 100g (or 2.5g per 100ml for drinks). ‘No added sugar’ means no sugars, honey, syrups or fruit juice concentrates were added during manufacturing.
Low salt
No more than 120mg of sodium per 100g or 100ml.
Low fat
No more than 3g of fat per 100g (or 1.5g per 100ml for drinks).
Low cholesterol
No more than 20mg of cholesterol per 100g (or 10mg per 100mL for drinks).
Source, good source and excellent source of fibre
‘Source of fibre’ means at least 2g of fibre per serving, ‘good source’ indicates at least 4g per serving and ‘excellent source’ means at least 7g per serving. Adult women should have at least 25g of dietary fibre a day and men 30g a day.
Source and good source of protein
‘Source of protein’ indicates at least 5g of protein per serving. ‘Good source’ means at least 10g of protein per serving. Adult women should aim for at least 46g of protein a day and men 64g a day.
How to stay on top of your nutrition
The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating is the best source of evidence-based nutrition information. You’ll also find more about how to read food labels there.
A dietitian can help you better understand food labels and how to make healthy food choices. If you’re an RT member with eligible extras cover, you won’t have to foot the whole bill – you may be able to claim some benefits towards the cost of dietetics appointments.
Need some support with your diet?
If you sometimes struggle to know what’s healthy and what’s not, a nutrition program can help take the guesswork out of it. We’ve partnered with Digital Wellness to give eligible RT Health members access to the evidence-based CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet*. Join over 500,000 Aussies who have improved their health and wellbeing with these easy-to-make recipes.
* Eligibility criteria apply. For more information, see rthealth.com.au/csiro-total-wellbeing-diet
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