Food labels help you make informed choices about the foods you buy. Once you know what to look for, they’re a convenient and reliable way to compare products and help you choose healthier options for you and your family.
In Australia and New Zealand, packaged foods use three main labelling tools to help you understand what’s in a product:
- Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) – compulsory
- Ingredients list – compulsory
- Health Star Rating (HSR) – voluntary
Nutrition Information Panel
The Nutrition Information Panel shows the amount of energy and key nutrients in a food, including protein, fat, carbohydrate, sugars, fibre and sodium. Panels follow the same format, making it easy to compare products.
Each panel lists nutrients per serve and per 100 g (or 100 mL):
- Use per 100 g to compare similar foods.
- Use per serve to see what you’ll get from the amount you eat (remembering that serve sizes are a guide only).
Helpful tips
- Salt (sodium): If you are looking for lower-salt options, choosing products with less than 400 mg of sodium per 100 g can help. Foods with less than 120 mg per 100 g are considered low in sodium.
- Protein: A food is considered high in protein if it contains at least 10 g per serve.
- Sugar: Total sugars include both natural sugars (like the fructose in fruit and lactose in milk) and added sugars. We don’t need to avoid sugar completely, however, try to choose products lower in sugar and avoid those with added sugars listed near the top of the ingredients list. For breakfast cereals, aim for ≤20 g sugar per 100 g (or ≤25 g if fruit is included).
- Fat: Focus on choosing products lower in saturated fat. Foods with no more than 1.5 g saturated fat per 100 g (or 0.75 g per 100 mL for liquids) are considered low.
- Tip: Nuts, seeds, avocados and healthy oils will naturally be higher in healthy fats; however they’re packed with benefits for your brain, heart and even your taste buds.
- Fibre: Products with at least 3 g fibre per serve are a good choice, with 4 g or more considered high fibre. Wholegrain foods, such as wholegrain breakfast cereals, are especially good sources of fibre and other nutrients.
Ingredients list
All packaged foods must list their ingredients.
- Order matters: Ingredients are listed from highest to lowest by weight, so the first few ingredients tell you the most about what’s in a product. If ingredients high in saturated fat (e.g., butter, coconut oil), sugar or salt appear near the beginning of the list, the product likely contains a lot of it.
- Different names: Sugars, fats and salts can be listed under many names, so it pays to read carefully.
- Characterising ingredients: Ingredients (such as fruit) highlighted in the product name or mentioned on the label must show their percentage in the product, in the ingredient list. For example, a mango flavoured yoghurt must list the amount of mango as a percentage.
- Allergens: All common allergens must be clearly declared, including peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, sesame seeds, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, lupin, added sulphites (if >10mg/kg of food), soy, gluten and wheat.In addition, the same consistent names must be used for all allergens.
- Tip: Food laws also require a summary statement of all allergens present in the food to be placed next to the ingredient list, either above, below or beside it. This statement must begin with ‘contains’ making it easy to find.
Health Star Rating
The Health Star Rating provides a quick, at-a-glance guide to the overall nutritional quality of packaged foods. It’s designed to help you compare similar foods and make healthier choices. More stars mean a healthier choice.
Ratings are based on energy, saturated fat, sugars and sodium, with positive points for fibre, protein, fruit, vegetables, nuts and legumes. The system is designed to compare similar products, not different types of foods
For more on the Health Star Rating, check out this video or read our Health Star Rating article. See our products pages for individual product ratings. And, if you have a question our Dietitians are here to help.