Why you shouldn't trust heath claims on food packaging
No refined sugar
There are no specific rules around the use of ‘no refined sugar’ on food labels in New Zealand. This claim can be really misleading because it doesn’t mean the product has no sugar. It just means that there are no ‘refined’ sugars like white table sugar, but it may still contain sugar from ‘natural’ sources like honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar or dried fruit. These alternative sugars act the same as refined sugars in our body and aren’t any healthier.
Natural
There is no rule around the use of the words such as ‘natural’ on food labels. It’s often placed on food products to make them seem healthier. However, it can hide some products that are high in saturated fat, sugar or salt. The most natural foods, like fruit and vegetables, don’t have a food label.
No artificial colours or flavours
This means the colours or flavours in the food product are from natural sources (like vegetables, herbs or spices) instead of artificial sources. These words are often used to sell snacks and confectionery, but it doesn’t mean the product is automatically healthy.
Oven baked not fried
There is no rule around the use of ‘baked not fried’ on food labels. It’s common on potato chips and crackers to make them seem healthier. However, it’s usually just trying to disguise products that are higher in saturated fat and salt.
Source of fibre
A food product that is labelled as a ‘Good source of fibre’ must have at least 4 grams of dietary fibre per serve. You might see this on packaged snacks like muesli bars or some breakfast cereals. A lot of these products are processed and we recommend reading the back of the nutrition label to get the full picture.
Protein
A food product that is labelled as a ‘Good source of protein’ must have at least 10 grams of protein per serve. You may see muesli bars or cereals advertised as having extra protein. Remember these foods can be more expensive and most foods that are a good source of protein like eggs and meat won’t have a label or need to make this claim.
Gluten free
A “Gluten free” food product must not contain any detectable gluten, any oats or any cereals containing gluten (or their products).
If a food label says “Contains Gluten" or "Contains traces of gluten" it may have sources of gluten (such as cross-contamination) that are not included in the list of ingredients and should be avoided by people who need to follow a strict gluten free diet for health reasons.
A gluten free product doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthier and shouldn’t be chosen over a regular product if there is no need to eat a gluten free diet.
The heart tick
This food label is retired now in New Zealand. To get the tick a product needed to be lower in trans fat and sodium. While these are both great things it might surprise you to know that there were no regulations around added sugar. Primo a popular flavoured milk had the heart tick even though per serve the sugar content was the same as Coca-cola. I know, wow!
At the end of the day it's important to understand what is in the food we eat however if you are looking for a really good rule of thumb stick to the outside of the supermarket. Here you'll find fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, meat, dairy, bread, eggs and frozens. That will cover the majority of your basis when it comes to healthy eating!
