Health Diet Smart Shopping

At the end of a hectic day, she grabbed her handbag and went to the supermarket to buy the next day’s breakfast for her family. Facing an empty refrigerator, she would always have to rack her brains about what healthy meals she could cook for her family. Her father-in-law has high blood pressure and he needs to cut back on his sodium intake; her daughter is only four years old but she weighs close to twenty kilograms, and hence, she has to have a low sugar diet to tackle her weight problems. Her husband was found to have a moderately high level of cholesterol during a recent medical checkup.
She took a loaf of wholemeal bread, a carton of pure orange juice, a crate of fresh ‘low cholesterol Omega-3’ eggs, a carton of ‘low fat’ milk, a jar of ‘no added sugar’ jam, a tub of ‘low sodium’ butter. “Tomorrow’s breakfast shall be these – low fat, low salt, low cholesterol and no sugar added. It should be quite healthy, right?” Back at her home, she turned on the television, and feeling parched, she took out the pure orange juice that she had just bought and started quenching her thirst with it. “Gosh, why is it so sweet?” On closer inspection of the labels on the packaging, she realised that sugar was added in!
In 2005, AC Nielsen did a survey on consumers and their knowledge of goods packaging. The results showed that less than half of the global consumer population has a good understanding of the nutritional chart reflected on the labels. And among all the countries surveyed, Asian consumers have the least knowledge of the nutritional chart – sixty per cent of the participants do not understand the nutritional chart at all. Are you in the habit of reading the labels before making your purchases? Do you let this affect what you buy?

The real meaning of “Low Fat”, “No Added Sugar”?
Do you know the real meaning of “No Added Sugar”, “Low Fat”, “Low Sodium”, “Low Cholesterol”? Let us take a look at what they mean according to the Malaysian Nutritional Value Labeling Standards:
What kinds of food require the nutritional chart to be labeled?
Since 2005, Malaysia implemented the Guide to Nutrition Labeling & Claims by Food Safety & Quality Division-Ministry of Health Malaysia, requesting for over fifty types of common consumable products to be labeled accordingly by law. This includes locally produced and imported wheat products, bread, sugary food, dairy products and by-products (examples include condensed milk and the fermenting procedures, etc) ; canned foods (meat, fish, vegetables) ; canned fruits and packaged fruit juices ; salad cream and mayonnaise ; and all kinds of common beverages (including plant-based drinks, soft drinks, soybean milk, soy drinks, etc).
What kinds of nutrients have to be included in the labels?
Currently, it is required under the Malaysian law that the content on the labels include ‘Energy’, ‘Carbohydrate’, ‘Fat’, and ‘Protein’ – four kinds of nutritional values. Beverages will require their ‘Total Sugar’ content to be listed. Listing of other nutritional values can be optional as long as they comply with the legal requirements.

Example 1 – Label on a box of biscuits:1. Serving Size refers to the average weight of each biscuit, and here it is stated as 22.3g.2. Serving per package indicates that the biscuits can be served eight times.3. Per Serving – refers to the nutritional value each biscuit provides; Per 100g – refers to the nutritional value of 100g of biscuits.4. Energy – each biscuit provides 116 kilojoules of energy.5. Total Fat – each biscuit contributes to 6g of fat.6. Total Carbohydrate – each biscuit contributes to 13.1g of Carbohydrates.7. Protein – each biscuit contains 2g of protein.8. Cholesterol – each biscuit yields 0g cholesterol.9. Sodium – each biscuit contains 99.5g of sodium.10. Calcium – each biscuit yields 6% of calcium.
Example 2 – Label on a fruit juice carton:1. Serving Size refers to the average weight of a glass of juice.2. Serving per package refers to the carton of juice that can be served four times.3. Per Serving – refers to the nutritional value of each glass of juice; Per 100g – refers to the nutritional value of 100ml of juice.4. Energy – each glass of juice provides 115 kilojoules of energy.5. Protein – each glass of juice contains 0g of protein.6. Fat – each glass of juice contains 0g of fat.7. Cholesterol – each glass of juice contains 0g of cholesterol.8. Total Carbohydrate – each glass of juice contains 28.8g of carbohydrate, of which 26.3g is from sugar, hence, it is important to note that ‘no added sugar’ does not mean no sugar added.9. Dietary Fibre – each glass of juice contains 0g of dietary fibre.10. Vitamin C – each glass of juice contains 45mg of vitamin C.
From now on, whenever you do your grocery shopping at the supermarket, take some time to read the nutritional chart labeled on the food items. This concerns the health of your family, and you can make improvements in every aspect of their health, and start off having healthy dietary habits!